With Stax, the creative forces behind Brew Beer & Ciders bar and Daniel Thaiger food truck team up to give The Commons mall the burger specialist it was previously missing. Taking over the glass-fronted shop that was once Jona Waffle, the restaurant gets a fun, slightly fratty feel thanks to an eye-popping mural of what looks like a burger-ified Where’s Wally? scene and a rigged-up Famicom console that lets you play games like Super Mario or Contra while you eat and drink.

The onus here is on the kind of straight-up, flat-patty burgers you’d find at old-school American fast-food diners. The beef options let you choose from two to four patties, which come bursting with juicy Australian wagyu goodness on a bun that tastes sweet, and is not too dense but not too light in texture.

It makes for a winning combo in the no-frills Classic Stax burger (from B260), packed with oozing cheese and zesty pickles, and the chilli cheese burger (B295/2 patties), in which chili con carne adds a pungent kick. This is evidently a formula you can rely on, even if the Hot Stax burger’s (B295) nduja (spicy salami spread) and jalapenos don’t offer quite the fieriness the name suggests. We must give a special mention to the fries, too, which are extra-crisp and golden but perfectly soft in the center.  

Away from the burgers, there is room for improvement. While we love the buffalo wings’ (B180) heavy coating of cayenne sauce, we could do without the pond of oil they sit in. The vanilla shake (B160), which we thought would really elevate the meal, turns out to be one-dimensional sweetness without any of the creaminess. Worse are the waffles. Forget Jona’s yeast-raised, crisp yet fluffy creations; the new plain waffle (B200) in comparison comes out thin and sad (they use the same batter, but a different, faster machine), and just tastes altogether cheaper.

None of this detracts from the burgers, which are excellent and the real reason to visit here, or the attentive staff, including a manager who knows his stuff when it comes to the sourcing of ingredients. 

This review took place in August 2017 and is based on a visit to the restaurant without the restaurant's knowledge. For more on BK's review policy, click here.