There’s a cracked egg, three patties, pulled pork, six bacon strips, cheese and every topping a hamburger can hold stuffed between a bun in OKF Grill’s behemoth Hungry Mitch Burger.
Co-owner Travis Hackl doesn’t care about vegans or vegetarian diets with his hamburgers, which are made from scratch at the grill’s location in Oyama.
“I think it’s hilarious that vegetarians want to make their food taste like chicken or beef,” he said. However, they do have a vegetarian burger, he said.
The Hungry Mitch Burger was created at the request of a hungry fruit-picker, whose name made it to the menu after he ate the entire thing, and came back a few hours later for another one, said chef Aaron Pearce.
Hackl started the restaurant seven years ago after moving to Lake Country. Prior to that, he’s been catering in Kelowna since 2002.
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He thought owning a grill in Oyama would be “a nice switch from the city life.”
Hackl recommends trying either the special, fish and chips, black and blue burger and the Captain Crunch Sandwich.
A long-time resident of Kelowna, he said he’s been cooking his entire life, has a good team of 10 employees and recently brought on chef Pearce in 2018, who creates daily features that change on the fly.
“We’re very approachable, and I think that coupled with the beach and the vibe we have here make for a great recipe to come out hang out and eat,” Hackl said.
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Pearce said it offers the changing feature items offer locals something different.
“The fish and chips is huge too, people come here for that,” he said.
Some ingredients come from the grill’s neighbours in Oyama.
The restaurant’s operating hours are from March 1 to Oct. 31.
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With the opening of the Okanagan Rail Trail, Hackl thinks he’ll see more business and seems to see more people every year.
“In the beginning, it was a lot of people I knew from Kelowna and then the locals and then from people telling people,” he said.
With the Oyama neighbourhood, he said part of his success is owed to his neighbours, including Alan Gatzke, owner of Gatzke Orchard in Oyama.
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