![If there is one thing Canberra is not in short supply of, it's burgers. Picture Shutterstock If there is one thing Canberra is not in short supply of, it's burgers. Picture Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hU74HdTxzzWB78D7znDAb9/07374007-c387-4926-b6f3-106ca61a8dfb.jpg/r0_509_4983_3322_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
You know what they say about too much of a good thing - it's the death of anything that once brought joy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And Canberra, if there is one thing that we have too much of, it's burger places.
Don't get me wrong, I love a burger, and I think in the capital we have some of the best burgers in the country.
But it also feels like a week doesn't go by without news of a new burger place opening up. How many burger joints can one city take?
It's all about supply and demand, except - in this case - it's from an emotional point of view. It's easy to get excited about something new, fresh and scarce, but it's harder to have the same excitement about something that's a dime a dozen.
And as I said, we have some of the best burgers in the country, but that also means that there is a very high bar to meet for all of these new places opening up.
It's not that they shouldn't try, but it does make you wonder why some make it harder by opening in, what I like to call, the burger hotspot - Canberra's inner north.
Yes, it's Canberra's foodie destination, with plenty of dining options on offer. But when you have no less than 10 burger places, all within walking distance of each other, it's a bit like finding a needle in a stack of other very similar needles.
Let's face it, there is only a limited amount of diversity that comes with a burger menu. Yes, there are different types and styles of burgers, but when you have multiple burger places in one section of town, there is going to be some crossover.
MUST READS:
You could also argue that there are a lot of Japanese restaurants in Canberra, for example, but at least when it comes to whole cuisine, which has different sub-cuisines as well, you can have a street filled with Japanese restaurants and be able to make clear distinctions as to why you would choose one over the other. One may be great for ramen, while another is known for its sushi, for example.
Perhaps it's our fault, Canberra. Perhaps we will always enjoy a burger, and therefore we will always head to the closest burger place no matter if it is one of five in a street.
And it isn't all bad news - I'm not completely against new burger places opening up. For as much as there is a saturation of burger joints in the middle of Canberra, there are plenty of suburbs outside of the heart of the city that would love a good burger place.
We are seeing great dining options moving out into the 'burbs, particularly since the pandemic. It's almost as if all of that time stuck at home made us realise how much we would enjoy having dining options in the local vicinity.
I think sometimes we put these dining precincts up on a pedestal so much, that we presume that for a restaurant to be good, it must be in a certain location. Of course, that's not the case - we have plenty of Canberra restaurants proving that already, and we could always use some more.
If you're dead set on opening a burger place, it just seems like a good business decision - if nothing else - to open a burger place in a location where there isn't direct competition down the street.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.