Mia Stainsby
Sun
Ben Macnaughton, 8, wraps his hands around the Legendary splitz Burger as his dad Eric looks on at the Splitz Grill in Vancouver. – PHOTO BY STUART DAVIS
SPLITZ GRILL
4242 Main St., 604-875-9711. www.splitzgrill.com. Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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After 20 years, he’s come down from the mount and, like Moses, he’s brought commandments.
Trevor Jackson cooked in Whistler for 20 years (10 years at Chateau Whistler, 10 years running Splitz Grill, his burger biz). He sold the Whistler Splitz and re-established another on Main Street about five months ago with his wife, Miriam, who looks after the front of house. Before he went to the mount, Jackson worked at Four Seasons Vancouver as chef de partie at the old Chartwell restaurant.
The Main Street menu, like Splitz Whistler, is dominated by burgers, but there’s also a jumbo hot dog, a smokie and chicken fingers which appeal to kids.
The commandments are posted, outlining the directions for ordering: You pay at the cash, declare an interest in extra cheese, bacon, onions or mushrooms which cost a little more, then move on to customize your burger with some 20 topping choices. There are a couple of interesting burgers — the Saltspring lamb burger and lentil burger which they make themselves, leaving whole pieces of lentils in the vegetable mash.
Splitz’s Main Street clientele is perhaps more varied than those sporty Whistlerites. Here, there are families with toddlers in tow, tables of teens, couples, singles. Across from us, two families have joined forces and a child is squealing.
While I wouldn’t say these are gourmet burgers (although I thought the lamb burger was very good), it’s many steps above McDonald’s. The burgers range from $5.20 to $6.75; combos, with fries and a fountain drink, are a few dollars more. I don’t know if our fries were end of the batch, but they were small and roughly hewn.
Splitz is a lively, hectic environment, and if that’s OK with you, a great spot for a fast, inexpensive meal.
Jackson has plans to open more Splitz Grills, so don’t be surprised to see a few more popping up.
Restaurant visits are conducted anonymously and interviews are done by phone. Restaurants are rated out of five stars. ([email protected])
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
