Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, August 17, 2019 at 12pm.
Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Dennis K., Innie C., and myself (Wayne T.)
1. Ordering
Wayne: Monk Burger with Skinny’s Garlic Fries
Trangela: Monk Burger with Portobello Fries (and Pulled Pork Sliders for Marty)
DK: Double Burger with pickled jalapenos and bacon, and Skinny’s Garlic Fries
Innie: Double Burger with bacon, and Skinny’s Garlic Fries
2. The burgers
Monk Burger: The bleu cheese in the burger was the star of the show for Angela. The patty was neither beefy enough nor seasoned enough, although it was surprisingly juicy despite being overcooked (I asked for medium rare and it came out medium). The flavor of everything else in the burger besides the patty was very good but the burger was just lacking in beefiness. There was also no acid the complement everything else in the burger, especially since the burger was a bit sweet. The buns did hold up surprisingly well considering all of the wet ingredients.
Double Burger: DK didn’t get a sense that there was double cheese in his burger, but he did feel like the burger was made better by the addition of jalapenos, and he enjoyed the texture of his burger, with a nice crunch from the lettuce and pickles. Innie felt that the presence of cheese helped with the patty’s lack of seasoning, but she did find the buns to be odd since the top bun was cut much larger than the bottom bun.
3. The sides
Skinny’s Garlic Fries: These fries were pretty amazing. They were thinner than most shoestrings, and they stayed crispy for the entire meal. Definitely order the fries if you come here.
Portobello fries: These were also a hit with everyone. Lots of mushroom flavor, and the batter provided great texture. The included sauce was a good complement as well.
Pulled pork sliders: Angela really liked them, although she said that they had some kind of spongy balls inside of them that tasted good but had an off-putting texture. Marty didn’t seem to have any complaints about them.
4. Miscellaneous
There’s a parking lot next to the restaurant but it was very full, so you might need to find metered street parking. The restaurant had self-serve beef on tap with beer cards, so you could try as much or as little of each beer as you wanted as long as you paid for it. According to the beer snobs, the selection was just ok. Seating was very plentiful on a Saturday afternoon.
5. Value
The burgers were ok as far as value goes, with the range between $10.50 and $12 for the group.
6. Ratings
Most of our ratings for this places were pretty average, ranging between 2.6 and 3.5. The sides were the real star of the show here, although if they could improve their patties, it would go a long way towards turning them into very solid burgers.
Our next stop: Nexx Burger in Downey on Sept 14.