A Dinner at Blackhorn Burgers

This article has been kindly sponsored by Blackhorn Burgers

“We are local — we’re not everywhere,’ says Justin Hughes, owner of Blackhorn. Blackhorn Burgers is a local business, a fundamental and beloved part of St Andrews’ culinary scene. The restaurant stands in the centre of Church Street, with its characteristic blue and gold facade and windows looking into warm, cosy interiors. Their newest renovation gives way to a space filled with booth-style seating in the back of the establishment, tucked away from the more bustling, lively entrance. 

Walking into the restaurant, you can be momentarily taken out of St Andrews and instead transported to a timeless, charming environs, fragrant with the scents of freshly made, quality food. A particularly appealing feature of Blackhorn is their £9 Sunday Deal for students. Aware of the fact that halls don’t serve food to students on Sundays, Blackhorn has introduced a deal where any student, for £9, can purchase a burger or wrap, along with a drink, and fries. And this deal’s value is even more prominent when considering the rarity of genuinely well-made, affordable food. Given that burgers are often either inexpensive and underwhelming, or ‘artisan’, millennial-made and outrageously priced burgers, the value of Blackhorn’s deal — where you can get warm, delicious freshly made food, for all kinds of diets — is undoubtable. 

Blackhorn’s menu is easy to understand and equally full of variety, with a mouth-watering selection of burgers to choose from, as well as sides, hot dogs, salads, and wraps. “You can get wraps and get a few salads and so on [...] We try and look after vegetarians.” Says Hughes. And indeed, the menu is full of options for vegetarians, across wraps, salads, and burgers, also offering the possibility to ‘make your own’ wrap, choosing from a variety of different sauces, cheeses, vegetarian and meat options to create a wrap most suited to you. The menu also offers a number of beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, including a mouth-watering array of milkshakes, a selection of wines and beers, as well as soft drinks. 

Justin Hughes established Blackhorn Burgers in 2012, after being inspired by a New York restaurateur who founded the ShakeShack restaurant chain; Hughes described the burgers as being “halfway between McDonalds and pub food’, where previously ‘there was no in between.” Hughes described how, prior to the rise of these more specialised burger chains, “burgers didn’t really taste of anything.” That was what Hughes sought out to change when founding Blackhorn. 

“We spent quite a bit of time working out what we thought was the right mix and what was the right grind and so on,” he said. “The rule — we still have a lot of local friends and farmers — was to say, right, ‘I want all this to come from within 30 miles.’ And that’s the rule for the butcher [...] He makes it to our recipe, he does it to our grind, and it must come from within 30 miles.” Blackhorn does indeed source its ingredients locally; rolls coming from Fisher & Donaldson across the road, and ice cream from Luvians’ on Market Street.

Inspired by Danny Meyer’s founding of Shake Shack and the rise of burgers that were both affordable and of high quality, Hughes sought out to “understand the philosophy” of successful burger restaurants, which is simply to focus on “really good quality” food. Hughes discussed how his biggest priority is that “the meat has to be good.” 

The atmosphere was convivial, with outstandingly friendly service. It highlights what Hughes proclaimed to be one of the most enriching aspects of establishing Blackhorn in St Andrews — connecting with the local community, which encapsulates both the town and university students. “We employ a lot of students, we’ve got an affinity with the rugby teams, and we’re part of that community. We’re a local business, we employ locals, we employ students, and that’s our bit.” says Hughes. “And we’ve done quite a lot — things like the DRA Ball, we’ve done some of the bigger events with the students, we sponsored a girl for fight night.” Hughes spoke of the initial doubts and hesitations surrounding opening up a restaurant in St Andrews: “A lot of people were looking at me like, really? You’re really going to open up in St Andrews? It’s generally considered to be a bit of a gamble.” 

“But I love the fact that it’s worked. I love the fact that it’s carried on. It’s quite a cool thing, with all the different staff that we get, we’ve got year after year of different students. It’s a kind of family-type thing, and I enjoy that.”

The charm of Blackhorn lies in its accessibility; I came to Blackhorn for a casual dinner on a Thursday night date. We sat beside each other in the cosy booths tucked away from the large windows of the entrance, while it was pouring rain outside, and indulged in the sense of warmth and community which the restaurant was full of. Each table beside ours was full of groups of friends, shy first-dates, impromptu, relaxed dinners where students were indulging in feel-good food. We got a burger each and shared between us ‘chunky fries’ off the menu along with a delightfully cold milkshake. The ingredients were all of an exceptionally high quality, while the food was entirely fresh and aromatic, served by an outstandingly friendly staff. 

When I asked Hughes what he found most rewarding about Blackhorn, he said, “We’ve created close ties. It’s a slightly more intimate business [...] I am quite proud of it. We’ve made it work, and we’ve achieved the standards we were wanting. We’re not cutting any corners.”

The experience Blackhorn offered on the whole — of abundant, flavourful food, an intimate, cosy atmosphere with friendly faces all around — made it the perfect spot for lunch and dinner on any day of the week in St Andrews.