Find affordable and delicious fast food at Hamilton’s newest burger joint – Goldies Fast Food

Goldies Fast Food is the latest burger restaurant to enter the Hamilton market.

It is owned by Chef Joel Soares who is one of the original founders of Cowabunga Pizzeria, one of the most popular pizza restaurants in Hamilton.

Joel told us he was tired of not having a good fast-food place in the city. Especially with the increasing prices due to inflation, I felt that there wasn't anywhere that was worth going to for the price.

Unless you were going to a sit-down restaurant, but even then, the pricing was too high for me, and the quality wasn't there. My goal was to create that mid-ground, quick-served quality food."

Joel said: The inspiration came from the era when food was made to order, and everything was fresh and good quality food. Which is why I designed the space to look like a modern 1950s diner."

With many years of experience in various high-end restaurants in Hamilton such as Quatrefoil and Aberdeen Tavern, Joel was able to use his knowledge of the industry and skills as a chef to open this fast-food concept flawlessly.

When you walk into Goldies Fast Food, the restaurant is bright and clean with a simple, to-the-point menu. There are a few seats available but Goldies is more of a takeout restaurant.

The menu is broken down into a few sections: burgers, fried chicken, kids combos, chicken tender combos, drinks, fries, and soft-serve sundaes. I tried a little bit from each section of the menu and was really impressed with how their simple menu still delivered lots of flavours.

I tried the Gold Standard burger; you can get a single patty or opt for a bigger double patty. The Gold Standard burger is loaded with American cheese, bacon, house pickles, caramelized onions, and their special gold sauce.

This is also Joel's favourite menu item and is the signature burger on the menu. The toppings are all the items he loves on his burger, and I must agree, it is simple and delicious.

Many restaurants tend to just pile random ingredients onto a burger, but it hides the flavour of the most important part - the beef. The Gold Standard burger doesn't need to hide anything, simple ingredients on top of a delicious juicy beef patty that is loaded with flavours.

When there is fried chicken on the menu, it is a no-brainer, and I know that I must give it a try. I ordered both the original fried chicken sandwich and the chicken tender combo. The chicken in each of these dishes was fried to perfection.

Even though I took the items home to eat, they did not get soggy which is always a win for me. Both the fried chicken and chicken tenders were cooked very well ensuring the chicken stayed nice and juicy.

Soft-serve ice creams bring back so many childhood memories and I love strawberry shortcakes so when I saw a strawberry shortcake soft-serve sundae on their menu, I knew I couldn't miss it. And let me tell you, it was truly divine.

The sweet ice cream combined with the cake was perfection. No better way to end a great meal. (Side note, have you ever tried dipping your fries into soft-serve ice cream? Trust me on this one! The combination of salty and sweet is magical and I highly recommend you give it a try. Report back and let me know what you think!)

There are also vegetarian options on the menu such as their Impossible burgers, nuggets and their plant-based fried chik'n.

I think Joel was able to achieve his goal to create an affordable fast-food restaurant that doesn't sacrifice taste and quality. It is not an easy feat considering how much food costs have risen for everyone.

So big kudos to Joel for being able to achieve this with Goldies Fast Food. When you crave a juicy burger or fried chicken, make sure you visit this new restaurant a try, it will truly satisfy your cravings!

Goldies Fast Food is located at 152 James St. S. Their menu price ranges from $4 to $12. You can find their menu on their Instagram page.

Joyce Leung is a food writer and blogger who lives in Hamilton. Find her teaching Asian cooking classes around the city when she is not dining out and trying all the delicious restaurants of Hamilton. Joyce will not write about any organizations she has a separate business relationship with. You can reach her at joyce@joyceofcooking.com