Burger Crew Meeting called to order on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 11am (Wayne’s Pick – thankful to my burger friends for keeping it close by)
Members in attendance: Angela d. (that’s me!), Trevor Y., Wayne T., Dennis K., and Innie C.
Slider members in attendance: Marty d.-Y. and Lucy Y.
Guests: Chris Y. and Marissa G.
I. Ordering
I ordered a Deluxe Double burger meal – $19.49 – 1000 Island, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Onions, Two Angus Beef, Cheddar Cheese, Beef Bacon, Avocado Fan – with onion rings and coke. I also asked for no cheese and a baguette (instead of a bun) since a have a little sensitive baby sucking the life force out of me. The baguette does not have soy, whereas the buns did.
Trev got a Black Angus Double meal – $16.99 – 1000 Island, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, Onions, two smashed beef patty, and cheddar cheese – with fries and an unsweetened iced tea.
Innie opted to build her own burger – $8.49 (Go her! I never trust myself to create a good burger 🤨) She went with brioche, single patty, white American, all the veggies (lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, jalapeno), and sriracha mayo. She added fries and a drink + $4.99
Wayne got a deluxe double meal with onion rings and coke $19.49
DK got a single black angus meal with jalapeno and bacon (+$1.50) – $13.49. He had a side of fries and jalapeno poppers ($5.49).
II. The Burgers
The burgers were a little dry probably because the patties were well done. As true experts, we asked if we could specify the doneness and we were told that they were smash patties so we couldn’t. So, they aren’t really smash patties. A true smash patty would have the beautiful lace and nice maillard, but it didn’t. What we had were thin patties that were rubbery. We had an extensive conversation about how the patty was too rough for Trev’s mouth.
The brioche buns were good, pillowy, and stayed together nicely throughout the eating experience. The baguette was surprisingly good with the burger. It let me feel like I was actually eating a burger, which is a nice change of pace from my recent history of burger eating.
In terms of toppings, everything was nice and fresh. The cheese was nice and melty. The menu says it’s cheddar, but looked like American to us. I had bacon on mine, but didn’t really notice it. If I’m paying for bacon, I want to notice the bacon. The sauce was really good! I liked how peppery it was, but Trev thought it was too peppery. To each his own. The Koreans appreciated the amount of jalapenos they had on their burgers. Overall, we thought the burgers were well executed, but Trev thought it was a bit on the dry side. Maybe more sauce would have helped? Either way, the copious amounts of free ranch they gave us helped. Trev drizzled it on every bite of his burger.
III. The Sides
The french fries were great. Well fried, appropriate saltiness. Onion rings were solid with good crunch, good flavor, and they held together. The jalapeno poppers were delicious! As were their chicken nuggets. Clearly, they have a fry master in the back handling the fryers.
IV. Miscellaneous
YoYo is located at a strip mall so they had plentiful parking. There’s seating for about 16 folks in the dining area, which was sparsely decorated. They had a random fancy looking fireplace in the wall that was not on. They also had some club music while we ate. Definitely not coherent theming in terms of the dining experience.
What they lacked in ambiance, they made up for in service. The guy was really nice and service was fast. They accidentally made my burger with cheese and when I caught it, they remade it quickly. The guy also was very generous with the sauces. He brought out like 10 containers of the house sauce and when we asked for ranch, he brought out another 10 containers of that! An important note that the online menu does not match the menu at the restaurant. Aaaand, I should have taken a picture of the menu at the restaurant!
V. Value
I ask the members how much they would pay for their burgers. We would pay anywhere from $8 to $11.50. So we thought they were a bit overpriced.
VI. The Verdict
Decent burger. If you can’t have soy, you can still enjoy your burger with a baguette! They say it’s a smash patty, but it’s not. The ratings: 3.2, 3.2, 3.8, 3.8, and 4.0
Next burger crew meeting: Saturday, March 25th at 11:30am – Bored & Hungry – Long Beach.