It is the second week of Burger Month 2025 and we’re continuing our celebration of #NationalBurgerMonth. Like I said in my last post for this year’s Burger Month, this time around, I will be trying to look for those lesser known burger places from around where I live. I want to shine a spotlight on those locations for a couple of reasons. One, I do think they deserve a little attention as hamburgers aren’t exactly a staple in Filipino cuisine. Two, I want to check them out as these may be a hidden gem.

Well, this week, I really went out as I found a burger place that has no social media presence! That, in itself, makes it an oddity in this day where everything is online. I actually only found this place as I just happened to stumble across it by accident a while back and I took a mental note of it to try for Burger Month. And that time is now!

The place is called Burgues and it’s located in the food court of SM Center Shaw or SM Cherry. Yeah, I had to note both of those names as some people may know it by either of those names. But they’re the same place. However you want to call it, this location isn’t a bustling mall as the other SM malls you might be familiar with. There really isn’t much to see here other than the food court, a smattering of restaurants and shops as well as the large supermarket in the lower ground flood. To be fair, it’s not really supposed to be a mall but rather a small commercial hub for workers to go to during their lunch break or to just hang out after work.

Anyway, when I did get to Burgues, I slight ember of fear entered my brain. As I mentioned, Burgues doesn’t really have a social media presence. It didn’t even have an official Facebook page. This did make me wonder why. I mean, most places that serve up food, especially in the Philippines, have a Facebook page by the owner. Burgues doesn’t and it made me wonder if there was a reason for that. Are they unsure if their product is actually good? Well, whatever the reason, I was there so I opted to check it out.

I was actually surprised at the menu and the price range. They essentially serve American styled food. Or, at the very least, American fast food staples. Burgues not only has a variety of burger, but they also have pizza, tacos and burritos. The prices were also, well, very affordable. Their cheapest burger, the Muscle Up, is only P100 Philippine Pesos, which is less than $2 US! That seems like a good deal to me!

However, what really caught my eye was their namesake burger, the Burgues. Burgues’ Burgues Burger (say that three times fast!) was a double beef patty burger with bacon and sausage! While it is priced substantially higher than the aforementioned Muscle Up, their cheapest burger, the mere fact it had much more may be worth the price. Honestly, at P250 Philippine Pesos, it’s just under $5 US. If it’s as substantial as it sounds, it might just justify its higher price point. I also ordered a side of fries to go with it. There is a little side quest to go with the fries but I’ll talk more about that later. I also wanted to get a drink but, apparently, Burgues doesn’t have any drinks. Not a real problem for me as the person did tell me it would take around ten minutes for them to prepare my order. More than enough time for me to dip to the supermarket found in SM Center Shaw/SM Cherry to get myself a can of soda.

After a while I did get my Burgues Burger… but not the fries. They didn’t prepare the fries at the same time as the burger. This wasn’t a problem for me as well as I don’t really mind waiting all that much but I know some people out there who might blow a gasket over this. Anyways, while they were making the fries, they asked me if I wanted it with cheese or barbeque. Seemed odd but I got the fries with cheese… because cheese generally goes with everything. After a few minutes, I got both my Burgues Burger and cheese fries.

Let’s talk about the Burgues Burger and, well, I can definitely it is awe-inspiring as it’s a very tall boy! A part of me knows I shouldn’t have been surprised as it is a double patty burger with bacon and sausage. Still, the first thing that went through my mind when I did see it is I had no way to fit this entire thing in my mouth! I tried… and I couldn’t! I had to take bites in the middle and I was never able to bite into it whole! And believe me, I tried! No shame in that as I don’t really think anyone could take a bite out of everything when everything is stacked that high!

As impressive as the Burgues Burger looks, it’s overall flavor is good but nothing I would call great. The burger patties weren’t exactly juicy, as in they didn’t have a significant amount of fat in them. But, at the same time, they weren’t dry as well. The bacon wasn’t crisp but they did have a really meaty flavor which I did like. The sausage wasn’t really a “sausage” but, rather, it was a hot dog. A pretty good hot dog but just a hot dog, nonetheless. The Burgues Burger didn’t have any real cheese but it was slathered in a cheese sauce. It also had a had some catsup as well as some lettuce and sliced cucumbers.

Everything in the Burgues Burger just good and this is more of a quantity over quality type of deal. And I’m okay with that. Considering you’re getting all of this, two fairly hefty beef patties, a more than decent amount of okay bacon, a nice and plump hot dog and a good dollop of cheese sauce, all sandwiched between a decent hamburger bun, for something at this price range, I think that’s fair. This feels like an affordable burger you can get and you won’t really feel like you were cheated because you’re still hungry after you finish it. Believe me, I really felt full after eating all of this! So, while it’s not exactly the best burger I’ve eaten in a while, it’s one of the more respectively priced ones.

Now, let’s talk about the “cheese” fries. I had to put the “cheese” in quotes as I thought the fries, like the burger, would be covered in cheese sauce. While I guess that would also qualify that being in quotation marks as well, the fries were actually covered in cheese powder. These weren’t the best fries I’ve had as well but, at P75 Philippine Pesos or around $1.25 US, these were just okay as well. The amount you get was satisfactory and they were coated with a lot of cheese dust. I do wish they were fried to a better crisp as, despite them being cooked fresh (as they did prepare them last because they forgot), they did get pretty soggy quickly. Once again, not really all that bad for the price.

Overall, I will say my experience with Burgues’ Burgues Burger and their cheese fries was good. I can’t say these were anything exceptional flavor-wise but, considering the price range, I don’t think they need to be. Not everything has to be gourmet and I can definitely find pleasure in a meal that’s very filling while being affordable. I guess if you want something with a lot of bang for your buck (and when I mean “bang”, I’m talking about quantity), I can say Burgues would have you covered.

But they really should get a Facebook page done. I mean, it is free.

Have you tried eating at Burgues? A better question would be if you’ve tried eating at a place that doesn’t use any social media themselves? Let me know in the comments section below!