All I really have to say about it is: "I tried it"

Husky Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

It's kind of one of those things that I really don't have much else to say about it. I tried it because I heard so much about it. The only reason I remember coming to here was so that a large group could share dessert for somebody's birthday. They'd give you the mud pie with a candle in it, for free, if it was somebody's birthday. Generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of The Ram. Apparently, they're a chain, spanning Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Oregon, and Washington, so I guess I can't really tag this as a local joint. Anyways, I figured when I went that I'd go for the Husky Burger, and that was affirmed by my friend who said, "Being a Husky alum, you should have the Husky Burger at least once." So I did. Can I say I'm really better off for it? No, not really. I've had burgers here before, but this was before the advent of The Burger Snob so I guess they don't count quite as much.

Anyways, onwards. It's kind of ironic that I had this after Denny's Classic Cheeseburger, because if I think about it honestly, that's all this pretty much is, a giant one pound version of Denny's Classic Cheeseburger. Maybe next time I try the Angus Prime burgers, but I really can't say I care a whole lot for the quality of the product that comes out of the kitchen. It's okay, but not something I'd really go out of my way for. The meat was okay, had the full, hearty, meaty flavor you look for in a burger, the fixings were fairly fresh, and the bun was decent. Again they didn't put any condiments on to begin with, so overall, so you add your own. I probably should've asked for some A1, that would've made it better. Oh well.

I actually kind of like the fries, if they came out a little fresher I think I'd like them more, but in general, I liked their texture and flavor.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B-
Fixings: B
Condiments: C
Sides: B+
Price: $8-$14
Overall Grade: B-
Recommended Burger: Tumbleweed Burger

Not quite a "grand slam"...

The Classic Cheeseburger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

But hey, let's say maybe a ground roll double? Okay, enough with the bad baseball analogies. I usually don't come to Denny's much, and to that extent I really didn't have much in terms of expectations. My general experience with Denny's has mostly been with brunch/breakfast type deals, and overall I wasn't very impressed, well as much so as a chain of American style diner type deals that are open super almost 24 hours a day can be. My experience, not with Denny's specifically but with establishments much like it was that the burgers weren't great, passable, but nothing to really write about, well here I am now, writing about a Denny's burger. I have to say, it's pretty good. I'm not going to tell you that it's the "best burger ever" and I'm not going to guarantee that every Denny's is going to be the same, this could as well easily be an outlier as not.

Anyways, this thing was on their 2,4,6,8 value menu thing at $6 and they add a drink for 99 cents, so I figure, "Hey, why not?" When you think about it reasonably, for a comparable burger type meal at a fast food joint, the price is pretty comparable, really it kind of is, especially for some of those fast food places you see out there. Okay, so it's a very simple burger, literally just meat, lettuce, tomatoes, I think some onions, and cheese. When I first saw the burger I was a little disappointed... At this point in time when I see the patty it's almost like falling apart, I'm pretty sure it probably did during the cooking of the burger and they tried to keep it together, and it... kind of worked? At the very least I knew that it was kinda hand pressed, but it didn't look very good. When I bit into the burger though, it was really quite a pleasant surprise.

The quality of the meat was actually quite good, it was beefy, not overly greasy, though I kind of like it a little juicier, but overall it was good. The patty itself, though disheveled for lack of a better word, was actually fairly substantial. The bun was a normal sesame seed bun, well done, and the cheese well melted. Now I know people that prefer it this way, but shredded lettuce to me just never seems as fresh, the tomato was pretty good though. The down side that I realized after the first bite was that they don't put condiments on the burger. Of course they give you ketchup, mustard, Cholula hot sauce, and Tobasco, but you have to apply yourself, a word of warning. I mean, I like this stuff, but the application of it yourself kind of makes it feel like it doesn't count.

As a final side note, the fries were okay, I don't know what's special about the kringle-cut fries deal was, except maybe the functional purpose of greater surface area for frying, making it extra crispy. They're nothing to rave about, but its a good compliment to the burger.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B+
Fixings: B-
Condiments: C
Sides: B
Price: $6-$12
Overall Grade: B
Recommended Burger: Mushroom and Swiss Burger

Ah, good old school lunches

The Big Cheeseburger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

I'm really not being very discriminate about the burger places I venture too, I don't want to be. I used to foray this place a lot in my undergrad years, in fact, I knew people that worked here and could give me some really nice hookups. Though, I hear they practically give away the stuff around closing. Anyways, the place is called Pickles & Fries in the Husky Union Building (HUB for short) on UW campus. Yes, I am reviewing essentially cafeteria food.

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting a whole lot coming into this review, but I was fairly pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out. I can't say that it's somewhere I highly recommend going out of your way for, and to be honest, it's frankly ridiculously overpriced. However, I was fairly impressed with the quality of the meat, it was almost as good as Jack-in-the-Box. It wasn't super greasy, but it still was kind of beefy. In terms of the fixings, those were, well, rather hurting. The lettuce and tomatoes weren't fresh at all. I actually didn't taste any pickles, though that was what I recalled always tasting in the older burgers. The condiment was a kind of sweetish Thousand Island mayo/aioli type of deal, which was pretty neat, though a little over flavored, a mite sweet for my liking. The bun isn't anything fancy, but it's not horrible either.

The sides aren't horrible, but they're not stellar. Frankly, the cost of everything is just so high it makes it seem not worth it, making the whole experience worse than it probably really was.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B-
Fixings: C-
Condiments: B-
Sides: C
Price: $4-$10
Overall Grade: C
Recommended Burger: The Big Cheeseburger

I guess I didn't know Jack

Sirloin with Swiss and Grilled Onions
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

When I first saw this, I wasn't really sure what to think of it. Needless to say, my expectations weren't really high, what after my previous experience with nationwide fast food "fancy" burgers. I have to say, my experience with Jack-in-the-Box has been limited, generally I only ventured for the Jumbo Jack or the dollar menu stuff, or breakfast. Anyways, I was actually really pleasantly surprised at how good this burger was. Okay, it's not like a phenomenal, blow-your-mind kind of thing, but for something that you'd consider to be franchised fast-food that you expect to be on par with other franchised fast-food, this is a good burger, the side of jo-jo's is a nice touch, as opposed to the fries, well... I suppose the curly fries would've been nicer, had they not charged extra.

So the meat was actually surprisingly well seasoned and full-flavored. It wasn't quite as beefy as I would've liked it, but it's actually pretty good quality, it might be something people like. If I were to draw a comparison it'd probably be a little closer to In-N-Out than Five Guys per say. It's got good texture and fullness to it. The fixings were a little, not fresh, let's say, and the condiments were okay, nothing special. Now, I'm not a huge fan of potato bread, but the potato bread bun was a nice touch, and well done too at that. I really don't have much more to add, so... sorry for those of you who are inexplicably riveted by my writing. All in all, a good call, I was surprised, especially since the Jack-in-the-Box I went to I wasn't really expecting much from anyways. Nice.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A-
Bun: A-
Fixings: C+
Condiments: C+
Sides: B
Price: $1-$10
Overall Rating: B
Recommended Burger: Sirloin Cheeseburger