Images via Z-Town burgers
It all started in a small three-metre trailer space, with one grill, two fryers and two brothers flipping patties over the stove top.
Z-Town Burgers may sound like an apocalyptic experience, but the name actually represents owners, Adam and Hasen Zreika.
“The letter Z represents our family name,” Hasen said. “You can see the town, between the burger buns in our logo, it represents us bringing everyone together.”
Before Z Town had a permanent home, it existed as an idea shared between two brothers, but they decided to trust their taste buds and take a leap of faith. “We did trial runs in the front yard of our house,” Hasen said.
“We turned on a gas bottle and made one chicken burger and one beef burger and invited friends and family to taste test.” Clearly, the reward outweighed the risk, and now the juicy burgers have a cult following and a permanent place to chow down.
Z-Town burgers are like a cheat code for happiness, and Hasen tells us the most popular, with no doubt, is the Big Fella. A double smashed patty, American cheese, caramelised onions, and house sauce on a golden bun.
“Our most unique Burger is The Jeff – a brioche bun, thick patty, wagyu strips, shack sauce, honey barbecue sauce, lettuce, and swiss cheese.”
“The Jeff is inspired by my late father… every single burger name on our menu means something to us.” The Big Fella represents the two brothers, because as Hasen describes, “they’re not small guys.”
Another menu favourite and something a bit different to the popular beef patties is the Honey Z. With fried buttermilk chicken, lettuce, jalapeños, Shack sauce and chilli-infused honey drizzled over the top, the mess may be worth the flavour.
For the brothers, quality is non-negotiable in the kitchen. “Every burger we make is our own, nothing is copied or inspired by anything online.”
The team test every new recipe and burger themselves, and although not every item may be popular, like the loaded fries they trialled a few years back, they mostly get it right.
“Some burgers took weeks to get right, for example, The Jeff took six,” Hasen said. “If something doesn’t work, we take it off the menu.”
“We only want top-tier items.”
On day one of re-opening, in early December, Z-Town Burgers’ loyal customers were lining out the door, waiting for the greasy, elite burgers after nearly two months of closure due to restoration works. “Our customers mean everything to us; we wouldn’t be here without them.”
If you visit Z-Town Burgers, you’ll get transparency. A wide window lets customers see right into the kitchen, where the burgers are prepared without any secret sauces or mysterious meats.
“It’s just surreal being in something like this, we never thought it was possible, but now we are here, it’s kind of crazy.”
Z-Town Burgers
Where: Shop 4/115 Findon Road, Woodville South
When: Mon: Closed; Tue-Thurs + Sun 5pm -12am; Fri+Sat 5pm-1am
For more info, click here.
