Restaurants in Burlington

At Little Louie's Burger Joint and Soupery, customers create their own signature burgers by filling out a checklist of their selections. Starting with options including freshly ground beef, low-fat turkey, or black bean and chickpea patties, they then select toppings, sauces, and aiolis. Though the burgers change according to the season and whether sesame seeds have replaced paper currency, they have included a wide variety of inventive constructions. A chicken wing burger combined a fried patty with hot sauce and celery chutney, and a smoke-infused burger combined chipotle relish, portobello, hickory bacon, and smoked cheddar. Along with burgers, a blackboard lists the soups, sandwiches, and baked goods available each day in the restaurant, which is operated out of an old-fashioned diner built in the ‘60s. Owners Steven Allen and Rachelle Matlow also run an upscale catering business out of the shop.

Daniel's Cheese and Deli supplements a selection of imported and locally sourced cheeses with a menu of housemade gourmet deli fare. The deli pros guide palates through a lineup of 10 different kinds of aged Canadian cheddars sliced thin to top off sandwiches or thick to provide a raft for river picnics. Helpful cheese experts can also help customers navigate an international collection of imported delicacies that include Spanish manchego, English stilton, and Swiss raclette. Patrons wrap mandibles around towering gourmet sandwiches such as a garlic-dip-slathered meatball sub or a grilled wrap stuffed with marinated steak strips. A collection of more than 16 healthy dips entice handmade chips to skinny-dip into mango-chipotle-garlic pools that boast low levels of both fat and cholesterol.

Solara Mediterranean Bistro's chefs artfully plate classic and contemporary flavours from Greece, Italy, and the Middle East. Seafood and lamb are the dominating themes throughout the menu and pasta selection, but dishes also feature chorizo, chicken, and veal. To wash down the rich and savoury bites, bartenders mix up signature cocktails, pour glasses of wine, and decant local brews from Mill Street Brewery and Old Credit Brewing Company. Modern artwork flecks the dining room, where mood lighting and a fireplace's flickers cultivate a cozy, intimate ambience, and the bar's flat-screen TVs broadcast sporting events or footage about the storm system brewing above the restaurant’s freezer.

Rawlicious skips such ingredients as wheat, meat, dairy, and refined sugar to put together a healthful menu of animal-free fare in a café setting. All Rawlicious items are cooked below 118 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that enzymes, vitamins, and minerals are naturally preserved. Load up on living food with the nacho-platter appetizer ($12), Rawlicious' nacho chips served with the tasty troika of guacamole, "sour cream," and salsa, or un-muzzle your inner Red Kangaroo by grazing on the sprout salad ($8), a mix of fresh, organic sprouts. Rawlicious' "rawitch" ($8) skyscrapes with fresh veggies, sprouts, and guacamole stacked high on onion bread, while the special pasta Bolognese ($12) melds marinara, pesto, and crumbled faux-meatballs. Between wellness-boosting bites, guests can seductively sip on a 16-oz. smoothie ($6), available in such flavors as Raspberry Bliss and ChocoMinty, or toast to Pierre-Simon Laplace's theory of tides with a pot of green tea ($5).

Pero Restaurant & Lounge's chef Wondiy Beshir gathers traditional East African dishes from Ethiopia and Eritrea, peppering in a few of his own signature recipes to design a menu that reflects modern Africa's ever-evolving epicurean trends. He sprinkles colourful powders and pungent herbs in exact pinches, imbuing dishes with layers of aromatic spices without overwhelming the senses or accidentally creating a low-pressure system.

Chef Beshir's menu—which includes beef, vegetarian dishes, and combination platters, as well as a small glossary explaining their spices and injera—brings the flavours of Africa to life in a dining room covered in photos depicting the origins of African food. A cabana anchors the African theme with carved wooden benches, baskets, and gauzy white curtains. Live jazz ensembles serenade patrons with melodies during select dinner services and special events held in the Sotto Pero lounge.

The chefs at Absolute Restaurant pride themselves on perfectly creating and plating modern French bistro cuisine. Their culinary handiwork is present in dishes such as braised lamb shank with saffron risotto and roasted chicken with smashed fingerling potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and thyme jus. Chefs carefully craft sauces—without the use of thickeners or additives—to drizzle over seared wild scallops and well-marbled striploin steaks. Guests can dine inside at wooden tables or outside on black wrought-iron patio furniture to enjoy the weather or catch a glimpse of the sun’s shadow.