The secret burger: Do you know where to find it?

Burger Theory owner Rob Dean with his food van in Divett Place, Adelaide. Picture: Sam Wundke Source: The Advertiser

Burger-lovers hunt down fast food truck online
Customers drive up to an hour for best burger
Social media key to burger sales success

THE burgers are better in Adelaide. At least according to a roaming food truck's thousands of followers who use social media to check where it is grilling each day.

Despite limited menu options (burger one or burger two) Burger Theory is so popular that followers are prepared to drive for an hour to find it and travellers are building burger-stops into their trips.

Local Adelaide boy Rob Dean and his Canadian co-founder Dan Mendelson started the gourmet fast food business two years ago.

The graffiti-covered truck has since attracted a cult-like following among those 'in the loop' and sells out almost daily.

Dean, 31, said the key to creating the perfect burger was to keep it simple.

"We've got a number one and a number two so we weren't too original there but the names seem to have stuck," he said.

"Really our focus is on the patty itself so that's where all of our labour goes. We have the truck's meat brought in and we grind it ourselves, shape it and aim to season it properly.

"The toppings are pretty classic burger toppings - lettuce, tomato and American cheese - with Truck Sauce which is basically a tangy mayo that we make."

Burger one costs $9 while burger two - which has crispy pancetta, onion confit and Adelaide blue cheese sauce - costs $11.

Both are made with 100 per cent Coorong Angus Beef but skip on traditional trimmings like beetroot and pineapple.

Customers line up to buy a burger from Burger Theory, a US style food truck selling hamburgers to the public on the streets of Adelaide in South Australia. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: News Limited

Director at experiential marketing agency URBAN Gavin McDonough said BT's success had a lot to do with its social media strategy.

"Things like Burger Theory are ultimately successful because they have a social flavour to them, so people are talking about it online which creates curiosity and the will to make it happen in the real world," he said.

"The thing that obviously goes with hunting it down and having a burger from there is that it allows (social network users) to acquire some status."

But the burgers still had to be good, says Mr McDonough.

"An essential component of good experiential marketing is the sensory experience so if you can find (the burger truck), damn it'd want to taste good," he said.

"Even young people these days appreciate authenticity and if it's an American hamburger without all the trimmings, then that's probably cool.

"It doesn't have to have beetroot to be a good burger - probably better if it doesn't."

The Burger Theory team uses Facebook, Twitter an iPhone App and an online calendar to advertise the truck's upcoming service times and locations.

"We put up where we're likely to be but if parks are taken or other things we might have to do a last minute scramble but that doesn't happen too often," Dean said.

"We've trialled 15 spots in the last year and settled on five or six which we regularly go to."

And when customers - from students to 'suits' to cops - track them down, they line up around the block.

"We had someone who said they came from Dubai (for a burger) once," Dean said.

"I think quite a few people have worked it into a trip to Adelaide which is cool because they've heard about it and it's something they want to check out.

"Purely for the burgers, there are people who drive up to an hour to at least try it which is cool."

A Plus: Burger Theory a US style food truck. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: News Limited

If its reviews are anything to go by, the burgers are worth the drive.

"It is unequivocally the greatest burger I have tasted on the planet EVER!" wrote one food blogger.

The comments on their Facebook page are also overwhelmingly positive.

"That burger just blew my freaking mind", posted Luke Keating Hughes.

Adelaide's first roaming food truck sells about 200 burgers a day and the boys use social media to update their followers when Pearl (the name of the truck) runs out.

"We've got limited capacity of how much we can carry on the truck," Dean said.

"The intention is to sell out because we want to keep waste down."

Dean, who eats burgers daily, said they attempted to respond to every comment on social media.

"We made ourselves accessible on social media (early on) and it grew from there," he said.