Burnside Village

This is where I do most of my shopping for work clothes because it has all the reliable, good quality female clothing stores that I am familiar with in Oz (e.g. Cue, Seed, Veronika Maine) to dress shopping for weddings (e.g.Carla Zampatti, Karen Millen). This is also where the Zara mothership is in SA lives :-)
Lots of coffee stop options, large chemist, a good deli and fresh fruit/​veg. It’s even got Coles if you need groceries. The spaciousness of the layout of this mall appeals to me, great pram access and there are plenty of free undercover parking. It’s clean, modern and not overcrowded. I prefer to shop here with kids in tow vs the city/Westfield’s type malls.

Sometimes I go to the shops with one, very specific purpose and I need to stay focussed — like suit shopping! Finding a nice suit that fits with one day to do it is a challenge so you need a mall with a large selection.
Being my local, I went first to Westfield at west lakes, tried all the obvious stores with no luck. I thought that west lakes seemed to be light on suit stock so my next option was either the city (hectic weekend traffic) or burnside to see what they had. Had they did! I ended up trying on suits in the same stores as west lakes but the range was so much better, wishing I just went there first.
Not to mention the food court/​awesome indoor market-​like specialty shops like butchers and bakeries are TD4. Kind of makes you want to live in Burnside, who would’ve thought ;)

Once I was really hung over and stayed at a friends house overnight. My feet were blistered from heels so I went shopping barefoot for a pair of thongs. Id only ever braved going au naturel to the servo so walking around here with no shoes was horrible. No I couldn’t afford any from all the ridiculously overpriced old lady shops but you know what, yes I got some judgemental looks but nobody kicked me out. Thankyou Burnside, also the tree was really nice before it died.

Burnside Village is a well known shopping centre in Adelaide, it has a reputation for high-​class people acting snob-​like, this isn’t completely true but it is partly accurate.
You won’t find a food court here like you might at Tea Tree Plaza or Marion, here you will find small restaurants and cafes that are popular elsewhere around Adelaide, there are also high-​end fashion stores that you can find in town but there are some that are exclusive to Burnside.
Along with these types of business there is also Bakers Delight, bakeries, banks, a Coles supermarket, a Pasta Deli outlet, Charlesworth Nuts, Wendy’s and many more places.
Parking is ample and all undercover car parks have indicator lights as to empty and taken parks, green for vacant, red for taken, purple for vacant handicapped parks.
Burnside is always clean and the floors are never sticky or tacky like other places, it’s a good place to catch up with friends for food and coffee, do your grocery shopping or if you need anything that you would find at other shopping centres this place has most of what you will need.

I don’t get to Burnside Village often as I live on the other side of town; a fact that is plainly communicated to me by the disapproving stares of the white-​jeaned, gold-​sandalled trophy wives toting their Seed-​clad children, Quinoa and Kale, through the place for soy acai berry smoothies.
Plainly, this «village» caters to the majority in the area although I’m sure there is plenty of eastern suburbs residents who keep it real and wouldn’t mind a Big W or a Target amongst the Oroton, Carla Zampatti and Sass & Bide. And what’s with the no food-​court thing? Do posh people not like having a choice of food to eat?
The water feature sculptures are a highlight and my toddler certainly enjoyed playing with the plastic balls in the main one while we had a cup of tea. Also popular with older kids, as demonstrated when «lively» little Kale kept kicking the balls into the air after it was passively suggested he not. When one landed on my teapot, I made sure he was actually told while Mummy pursed her filler-​filled trout pout and went back to her iPhone.
Why Zara can’t be in the Mall in town, I don’t know. It’s annoying to have to come all the way out to this frankly unpleasant shopping centre just to visit. Coming away empty-​handed is even more annoying.

It’s my closest shopping centre… I hate it with a passion and avoid it like the plague. Apart from snooty shop assistants, it’s a centre which celebrates wasting space! The best thing I love doing is donning my tracky dacks, putting on my ugg boots and swanning around the centre… the looks are superb, the noses long and the eyes downcast and the sneers reverberating off the sheer white walls… until one hands over the Gold Amex… and then it’s… Yes Sir! No Sir! Three Bags Full Sir… and being forgiven for eccentricity!

Burnside Village is, without a doubt the most beautiful shopping center in Adelaide.
Always clean, full of clean people (and many aren’t, believe me!) and full of beautiful shops which make me want to waste all of my money on expensive clothes and home wares!
Everything has been thought of here, right down to the car parks which light up once you’ve driven in — a feature which truly left my boyfriend impressed! The flow of the center is great, with many lovely cafes at which to stop and eat, many with food that is unique to Burnside — by which I mean that there’s no McDonalds here!
I was a little miffed about the whole tree thing — it was pretty wrong and inevitably the poor thing has died now however this does mean you can now enjoy the beautiful glass ceiling without gum nuts dropping in your coffee!
Many may say that there is a lot of snobbery going on here and sure many of the shops are on the more expensive end of things however that said, I have frequented here many times in gym clothes, uggies or trackies and never felt judged or looked down upon — mind you that could be that Mum used to bring me here after school when I was younger while she was covered in mud from a day working in the vineyard — perhaps my lack of standards is thanks to my upbringing!
Either way, Burnside Village isn’t Adelaide’s center of snobbery as some may have you believe — it is the mecca of beautiful things in beautiful packaging… yes, you now know I like sparkly things wrapped in expensive price tags!

This place has all you need for the home, from groceries to design.
Great place to shop!

I once put a status update on my Facebook saying ‘I need to buy a new outfit so I can go shopping at the new Burnside Village’ It got heaps of likes (I just wanted you to know).
What that says is this:
Do you like feeling superior to other people around you?
Do you like seeing only of-​age people with prams AND shoes on?
Do you drive a 4wd that you can totally justify because you have kids or an oversized Country Road shopping bag?
Then Burnside Village is for you.
The recently renovated centre is the place for the pompous to feel like they can go and judge each other and see who can buy the most expensive outrageous clothes. They kept an incredibly old tree ON THE INSIDE (I know, crazy!!) which is a nice touch, but the rest of the new renovation is white, sleek and sterile. I challenged my partner to find some ‘soul’ in this shopping centre, and all he could find was a store that sold cheese. Its only because he really likes cheese.
However, the place is clean and does have a few touches of cool sculptural art and a ZARA — the much anticipated clothing store that left Australia behind for a while.
There is plenty of parking now, on ground level, above ground level and under cover, but the expense of the cars in there pretty much restricts you going in unless you have at least good 3^rd party insurance.
I prefer to shop at other places, just because this is so sterile and I just don’t like the pomp.

Shopping for the pretentious.
I was actually a little excited for the recent Burnside Village upgrade.
Before it was a boring place with a bunch of same same shops selling things at ridiculous prices. Burnside also lacked places to eat.
Now there’s been the upgrade, it’s no god damn different.
They’ve added this massive add-​on (keeping a giant gumtree inside) with enough space for many many new stores. But no. Theres about 10 – 15 new shops and they’re more of that same same, high-​end fashion retail for trophy wives. Worst.

Pretty much everything I had to say about Burnside Village has been pointed out in previous reviews. However, I would like to point out 3 very good shops in the food and deli corner.
Pasta Deli has some really nice, freshly made lasagne. They come in beef or vegetarian and in 3 sizes, starting at $ 7 each. Very yummy!
Village baker has amazing patisseries. The pastries are perfect, nice and fluffy and not overly sweet.
To the left of Pasta Deli is a place that makes the best bread I’ve had so far in Adelaide. Being a bit of a snob when it comes to bread, I love their wood oven sourdoughs. And they usually sell the ones from the day before for heaps cheaper.

Ever felt like everybody is watching you? Staring you down with their judging eyes?
Maybe you’re just being paranoid or just maybe… you’ve landed yourself in Burnside Village…
The kingdom of credit cards and pretension, high end fashion as far as the eye can see housing shop assistants who have this ability to look right through you. Everything glitters in an expensive way and the cocktail dresses are chained to their racks, even the vegetables have a certain shine to them.
Yes I’m slightly bitter, But that’s because I left a piece of my soul in Karen Millen and I know I’m not getting it back until I can afford one of her designs. One tip I will give if you’re going to brave Burnside (and yes this is vain) dress for the occasion, otherwise you may feel more than a little out of place. I’ve seen ladies go grocery shopping in high heels! It was like being on the set of Stepford Wives, only these women are all too trendy and chic dressed in Carla Zampatti with a Chauffeured Bentley parked outside.

Living five minutes away, this place is my local. First let’s establish something: I am not a snob. However, they do very well exist and flutter around here — I’m not even going to try and defend Burnside Village in that respect.
Home of Zara, Coles, Peter Alexander, and the new Cibo Espresso with that infamous tree, the shops here range from groceries to high-​end fashion. Personally, I can probably find all I need here: fresh produce, good coffee, good shopping (plus there are T-​Bar and Sushi opposite the Coles entrance).
Walking into the new Burnside Village, it is sparkly, clean, and feels like a maze of different shops filled with beckoning things just begging to be bought. Having come to the old Village for ten years, it’s definitely a good move to have an extension with more young adult clothing stores, compared to the old Village where Witchery and Sportsgirl were my only go-​to.
Burnside Village really is a very nice shopping venue, and once you get past the clientele, it’s actually an enjoyable shopping experience.

The moment I stepped into Burnside Village I knew I was way out of my league. I haven’t felt more out of place — except for that one time I went into Selfridges & Co. in Oxford St, London.
Burnside is filled with fashion stores from Forever New to Calvin Klein Jeans to the newly anticipated Zara’s. All stores are generally only the higher priced side of things, where a nice item of clothing would cost about what I make in a week as a student — not much. But for what it is, the fashion is beautiful and the shopping centre itself is beautiful. It’s a lovely place to be, and when I start earning money I can definitely believe that I will find myself indulging in the gorgeous fashions found there.