Two Of Sydney’s Favourite Burger Joints Are Embroiled In A Huge Beef RN

One is Bar Luca, established CBD joint famed for its maple glazed bacon ‘Blame Canada‘ burger. The other is Burgers By Josh (BBJ), cult burger fave transitioning to mainstream stalwart.

Their creations came in at #1 and #3 respectively, in the 2016 ranking of Sydney’s best burgers by the 75,000 person-strong Facebook group for burger nerds, ‘Fatties Burger Appreciation Society‘ (FBAS).

Both burger joints frequently mix it up, creating mouthwatering one-off specials to appeal to the quickly distracted millennial market.

Yet according to long-term members of the FABS, Bar Luca and Burgers By Josh have a long-history of beef, and today, it came to a head.

Burgers By Josh posted a new creation – the ‘Blame Josh‘ – consisting of double wagyu, poutine, “crispy AF bacon”, maple aioli, and a signature potato bun. 

Sound familiar? Bar Luca’s most famous creation, the ‘Blame Canada’, consists of BL beef patty, maple glazed streaky bacon, American cheese & poutine.

There was a fair bit of blowback on Burgers By Josh’s Facebook post. The eponymous Josh told PEDESTRIAN.TV that it was done “as a tribute burger, but it was taken the wrong way”; the post has since been removed.

Bar Luca, however, was having none of it.

“Don’t be fooled by weak ass imitations,” it posted on Facebook, alongside a high-def video of the Blame Canada’s beautiful creation and a number of salty hashtags. “Sydney’s only burger with poutine that contains actual cheese curds imported from Canada.”

The punters were divided.

“So you’re saying you have never had a special that was inspired or a replica of another burger?” wrote one Facebook user. “And he called it the Blame Josh.. Not exactly stealing if he is recognising where it came from. Plus wouldn’t this just boost the popularity of BL and the Blame Canada?”

“There’s much more to this story than just a rip off of our burger,” replied Sarah Robbins, who co-owns Bar Luca with her husband James. “We have no issue with “tributes” but when no credit was given and personal direct messages sent with digs at us and my family then yeah, I’m going to fire up.”

She had plenty of support in the comments section, with one FB user even calling Josh “the Trump of Sydney burgers”.

And loads were just happy to see a full-blown burger war erupt before their very eyes. (Except for a few who thought this was nothing more than a run-of-the-mill Facebook self-promotion. Lol, peasants.) 

Bar Luca declined to comment further on the situation, but one FBAS member told PEDESTRIAN.TV that the great burger beef started in January this year, when Bar Luca unveiled its weekly special, the Buffalo Dill, and a couple hours later, Burgers By Josh posted the very similar Buffalo Bill.

“Who wants the Buffalo Bill back?” Josh wrote.

When people began pointing out the similarities, the FBAS member told P.TV that they were simply blocked from the Facebook page.

“I did the Buffalo Bill for the first time ever back at Danno’s [Café in Dee Why] over 2.5 years ago and they claimed to do it first to me, though it’s more [out] of respect in [the] industry when people are inspired by other chef’s dishes, that’s why I never mind when mine are copied,” Josh told P.TV.

“In regards to Facebook exchanges, I never said bad words to her, but I will not disclose what she said to me.”

TBQH, right now we could mothafukken‘ smash a burg of any origin.

Photo: Wordtography.