Month: September 2024

Burger Crew Meeting called to order on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at noon (Wayne’s pick).

Members in attendance: Angela d. (that’s me!), Trevor Y., Wayne T., Dennis K., and Innie C.
Slider member in attendance: Lucy Y.
Special Guests: Chris Y. 

I. Ordering

The menu here is pretty simple, which we took to be a good sign. Burgers are their mission!

Trev got a Brunch Burger ($11) – Everything Krunch Burger, Crispy Bacon, Egg Your Way. He opted for the egg made medium (they gave him 3 options of easy, medium, and hard). This burger is only available on the weekends until 2pm. So get ’em while their hot.

I ordered a Double Krunchburger ($8.50) – house seasoned smashburger, signature cheese blend, onion, zesty house pickles, on mayo’d buttery bun. I opted for single cheese.

We also got an order of fries ($3.25) – house seasoned with a choice of house made dipping sauce (we got the pickled garlic aioli).

Wayne got the Brunch Burger, egg medium, double cheese. He also opted to make his burger angry (which means you add jalapenos +$0.75). [Side note: there were 3 levels of spice: angry, extra angry, and pissed off.] Wayne also ordered fries with the pickled garlic aioli.

DK ordered the Double Krunchburger single cheese and was pissed off. Plus fries.

Innie also ordered a Double single cheese, but was just extra angry instead of pissed off like DK. She also had fries.

II. The Burger

So as the name would imply, Krunchburger is known for their crunchy cheese! Trev and I got there early so we got to see the chefs in action. They would smash their patties, then add the cheese blend on top and let it get all melty and crispy on the bottoms.

If you had double cheese, the 2nd layer of cheese would just go on top and not get the crunchy bits on the bottom.

While watching them make these burgers I had a lot of excitement. They generously seasoned their meat. They properly smashed their patties (which were preformed and already pretty thin to begin with). They cooked on a flat top, which I love.

Unfortunately, what I put in my mouth did not match what I was seeing them make. The meat was spongy and rubbery (kind of like eating an eraser). Given the amount of seasoning I saw them put on the patties, I was shocked at how bland the meat tasted. So disappointing.

Let’s talk cheese. Innie described it as “caramelized cheese jerky”. Some people liked it, while others didn’t care for it. Personally, I enjoyed it and really just wanted to eat the outer edge of my burger while leaving the sad middle bits behind.

On to toppings. Trev thought the bacon was the texture of beef jerky, but Wayne liked it. He described it as “nice and chewy”. And so the bacon debate continues. Everyone liked how much coverage of jalapenos there was. The 3 levels of spiciness was also a nice customization. They think there were 3 different types of peppers used for the 3 levels (not just different quantities of peppers). The eggs were cooked perfectly and looked so good that we questioned whether they were real eggs (it harkens back to Las Vegas: the land of perfectly cooked eggs). The pickles were house made, but there wasn’t much acid in the them. The whole burger was missing the acid balance we look for. The bun was non-descript (as a bun should be).

So look, as a crew, we’ve eaten at over 200 burger spots and we’ve gotten a bit spoiled over the years. It’s easy for us to be nit picky about stuff that the more casual burger eater wouldn’t even notice. There is a bit of Instagram hype over this place and most people would really enjoy this burger. But if you’re a burger connoisseur like we are, don’t waste your time.

III. The Sides

The fries were really good. They came out hot. They were crispy. They were well-seasoned. All you could ask for in a fry. No dips were needed for these fries, but the dips (all house made) were really good. We really liked the jalapeno aioli and garlic aioli.

Side note: when asking about the dips, the descriptions weren’t really clear. You could pick from BBQ chipotle, Jimmy fry, pickled garlic aioli, creamy jalapeno, dill ranch, and krunch island. I suppose most of these are self explanatory, but when asked about what the “Jimmy fry” dip was like, it was described as a “fancy” dip 🤔

IV. Miscellaneous

Krunch burger is located in a strip mall with easy parking. The kitchen was open for all to see, which was fun to watch the chefs at work. All the seating was high top or counter seating (a bit difficult if you have littles with you). Though, they also had high chairs available, but I don’t think they’re high enough to match up with the tables. Food was served in little baskets, which is good for sustainability. They had a single bathroom that was clean.

V. Value

I ask the members how much they would pay for their burgers. We would pay anywhere from $7 to $12.75. So these burgers a reasonably priced. They’re actually pretty economical given the current burger climate. It’s hard to get a burger under $10 nowadays and here you can get a double for $8.50. I’ll make a not-so-subtle barbed comment though that you get what you pay for.

VI. The Verdict

Lots of hype. Execution looked good, but ultimately didn’t deliver. The ratings: 2.4, 3.0, 3.0, 3.3, and 4.1.

So we originally wanted to go to Beast and Cleaver for our last burger stop of the trip. We get there and were sadly informed that they do not have the burger on their regular menu every day. They only serve it during special pop up burger days.

For a place that has a reputation for good burgers, how can you not have it on the regular menu?

Anyway, we had a quick planning meeting on the sidewalk, went through the list and map and settled on Big Max Burger Co in Queen Anne since it was not too far and it opened soon.

Burger Crew Meeting called to order on Sunday, June 23rd at 11am

• Members in attendance: Angela d. (that’s me!), Trevor Y., Wayne T., and Innie C.
• Slider members in attendance: Marty d.-Y., Lucy Y., and Ellis d.-Y.
• Special Guests: Chris Y. and Anella d.

I. Ordering

Trev and I ordered The Big Max ($14) – Two patties, lettuce, B&B pickles, caramelized and chopped red onion, aged cheddar, ketchup, max sauce, challah bun.

We made it a combo ($8) with large fry and large drink. We got the little ones chicken nuggets ($10) and the lil sammy slider ($5) – half patty, house ketchup, aged cheddar, challah slider roll.

Chris, Innie, and Lucy got the Big Max, chicken nuggets, regular fries ($5.50 for a large), and vanilla bean milk shake ($8 for a large).

Wayne also ordered the Big Max. Hey, can’t go wrong with the namesake of the restaurant. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Anella decided to break the groupthink and went with the Queen Animal ($14) Smoked bacon, frizzled onions, avocado, house BBQ, lettuce, B&B pickles, caramelized and chopped red onion, aged cheddar, max sauce, challah bun.

II. The Burgers

So it was obvious that this place was trying to clone McDonalds. We’ve seen that a lot. And we’ve seen it fail a lot as well. Burger Max actually accomplished it! It was spot on. the sauce tasted like big mac sauce, the shreddece and toppings all reminded us of a McDonalds Big Mac. They even went so far as to copy the packaging. I love the attention to detail.

Now, what differed from McDonalds was the sear. I would dare say that it had the best sear we had in Seattle. This was a true smash patty with lovely crunchy edges. Someone likened them to beef chips! Despite enjoying the sear, Wayne lamented that the meaty flavor was just not there. He argued that it tasted more burnt than meaty. I think the rest of us disagreed. I would have loved to just eat the outer edge of this burger! In fact, since Trev and I were sharing, he found that the edges disappeared rather quickly.

The rest of the toppings were good. I mean, the shreddece made the meat slide around, but that’s all part of the Big Mac Max experience. I don’t typically like bread and butter pickles, but I actually liked these. I would have liked to see the sesame seed bun, but the challah was quite nice.

III. The Fries

As discussed in previous reviews, Seattle’s fry game has been weak. But Big Max helped us finish strong in the Emerald City. These were shoe string (not sure if Innie busted out the tape measure, but there was little argument about these fries) and had an herb seasoning. We really liked them. It was like eating potato chips. I dare you to just eat one.

The home made ketchup was meh. Just give me the fancy ketchup. the max sauce was like a mustard, mayo sauce that was really good. The larger order was quite large and we had quite a bit of fries left over.

IV. Miscellaneous

The nuggets were also a McDonald’s clone, but they didn’t have the boot shape vs. the round shapes that we grew up with. I think it was because there was no need. The chicken must have been brined because they were all juicy and flavorful, thus no need to distinguish between the boot shape and the round shapes. The nuggets came in orders of 6 with sweet and sour sauce.

The milkshakes were good. They tasted like melted ice cream and I believe were made with Tillamook ice cream.

The place was really kid friendly. They had coloring pages, rocking horses, a mesh changing station in the single bathroom, and even offered to split the milkshake for the kids.

They had both indoor and outdoor seating. They also had fountain drinks.

Parking is a bit difficult as it’s street parking in the Queen Anne neighborhood.

Overall, it seemed like a pretty great place to hang out. If I lived in Seattle, I think I’d frequent this place.

V. Value

I ask the members how much they would pay for their burgers. We would pay anywhere from $9 to $15 so at $14 these burgers were decently priced. Don’t come here if you’re looking for a bargain basement burger.

VI. The Verdict

While it didn’t make the initial cut for our burger crew list, I’m incredibly grateful that Beast and Cleaver didn’t have their burger available. This was a wonderful way to say good bye to Seattle. The ratings: 3.3, 4.3, 4.4, and 4.7.

Waiting on Wayne’s post