More campus food

Husky Burger By George
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

Alright, so I haven't had a burger in a while, decided that since my bus wasn't coming around for a while, I'd get around to this place. By George is probably the only other place on UW campus outside of Pickles and Fries at the HUB that sells burgers, and is probably one of the few dining commons that hasn't undergone major renovation. While By George is probably technically comprised of various establishments, it's essentially one single cafeteria with multiple dining options, much more what you'd consider to be typical collegiate cafeteria dining experience. The burgers are stored at "The Grill" (very unoriginally named), and everything is pretty much pre-made, you just go and grab what you want and pay on your way out.

The Husky Burger is a poor shadow of its counterpart sold at The Ram. Essentially, what it strives to be is something along the lines of half of a Big Mac. The meat quality though is significantly better than that of McDonald's. I also like the tang to the Thousand Island sauce. However,, aside from that, it's a fairly uninspired burger. The fixings aren't exactly fresh and the bun is a generic (slightly over toasted) sesame bun. Overall, it could've been better, but it could've been worse.

The fresh cut style fries are quite nice, but overall, it's more a dining experience of convenience than anything I'd go out of my way for.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B-
Bun: B-
Fixings: C-
Condiments: B-
Sides: B
Price: $3-$6
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: Husky Burger

An aptly named establishment

A Burger Place Double Cheeseburger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

I remember when this place used to be a teriyaki shop. I don't think it was a very good one because it subsequently closed and became this place, A Burger Place. It's well known enough that when I tell people, "I went to A Burger Place to grab food" they'll ask if I mean just "a burger place" or "the A Burger Place". I've generally always been fairly fond of this place, in terms of quality of the burger, on the Ave, I'd have to say it's probably one of the best. I don't know if that's really so much of a kudos to the establishment as it is a testament to the lack of selection and quality of what is available there already.

This place is the very first kind of "customize-your-own-burger" type of establishments that I've ever been to. When you walk in, you see a counter with the grill behind it, and on the counter is a simple checklist. Fill out the checklist, hand it to the cashier, and your order is in. Unlike the other checklist establishment I reviewed, here prices are determined by what is checked, while certain things are free, things can add up so you might want to be a little careful of what you get.

In regards to the burger itself, it's fairly well done, and the meat is of good quality. It's got that nice hearty, beefy flavor without being excessively greasy. The bun is a well toasted sesame bun, which you can't go wrong with. I like how the fixings are very fresh, though they are a little skimpier on the lettuce than I personally prefer. Their condiment selection includes the typical ketchup, mustard, and mayo with additional options of teriyaki sauce, a house sauce (I think ranch-based), and hot sauce. There may be one more, but I don't really remember. I got the hot sauce and mayo, I like the hot sauce flavor, but I didn't really feel like there was enough of it there. Application is just as important as quality, even if it's really good you can't tell if there isn't enough of it and you defeat the purpose of condiments if there's too much of it.

The sides are good, they have a selection of regular, curly, steak fries, and onion rings. It's good, a little pricey, but generally good. I like steak fries so I get steak fries, they are more expensive than regular fries. In general, it's a good experience, a bit pricey for what it is, but it's good.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: A-
Fixings: A
Condiments: B-
Sides: B
Price: $4-$12
Recommended Burger: Make-your-own

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

All that hype...

Double-Double Animal Style w/ Chopped Chilis
Originally uploaded by jaceman4

So I took a visit down to California yesterday, and of course, as everyone should do in California, or so everyone says, is to visit probably the most hyped burger joint in the nation: In-N-Out. It's not that I've never had it before, but I've never had it during the short life of this blog, so it's a good excuse to go out and get my burger fix. I had a friend whose co-worker was saying that if it's my first real visit down to California in a while, then it's only appropriate that I get my fair share of In-N-Out before I leave, which I did. Now, from my perspective, the very first thing that I noticed when I went to In-N-Out (the actual first time I went) was that it lived up to the hype, it's one of those things that becomes legendary in the East Coast. You have conversations along the lines of:

"Oh, you went to California? Did you go to In-N-Out?"

"Oh yeah."

"How was it?"

"It was awesome."

I have to say, in my experience with In-N-Out, it is quite good. Even now, after dubbing myself "The Burger Snob" I must say, it is probably the best fast-food burger deal you'll find anywhere. The quality you get for your money is so worth it. Of course, there's also always the fun of ordering all the off-menu stuff.

Anyways, you're here to read about what I think about the burger, right? Well, at least I hope so. This one particular In-N-Out was one I used to frequent often, as it was the one closest to my apartment, it was rather crowded, and I'm not sure I got the best quality service that I've experienced at In-N-Out, either the demand has forced quality control to go down,or it was just an off day, I hope it's the latter. Overall, it's what you expect, the meat was generally a good quality, it's not quite as greasy as most other burger joints, but the quality is good enough that you do get away with it. The patties are on the smaller side, which is why I generally recommend a double-double. The bun is well toasted, nothing fancy, but it serves the job, well. The fixings are fresh and they really add a lot to the burger as a whole, generally speaking while you do need the lettuce, tomato, and cheese, what really adds to the burger are the optional fixings, i.e. grilled and/or raw onions and chopped chilis. Keep in mind though, if you try to be "healthier" and get extra lettuce and extra tomatoes on your burger, you may run the risk of overwhelming the burger with veggies. Of course, what's most renown I think about In-N-Out is the animal style sauce, which essentially is a fancy Thousand Island dressing with onions grilled inside. All-in-all, a very good burger, and honestly, it's cheaper than most burger places you can find, yes, that does include McDonald's. Now when I say cheaper, I don't mean that it's less expensive than if you shotgun order off the dollar menu, but if you're getting a value meal, In-N-Out has them all beat.

A quick blurb about the fries, they're good since they're literally just deep fried strips of potatoes (some fancy one from Idaho I hear). Apparently, you can get them "well-done" which means fried again, as the batch you normally get are still a little raw. I like them, but they're not my favorites.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A-
Bun: B
Fixings: A
Condiments: A+
Sides: B
Price: $3-$7
Overall Grade: A
Recommended Burger: Double-Double Animal Style with Chopped Chilis