Burger Crew meeting called to order on July 7, 2023.
Members in attendance: Angela, DK, Innie, Sumana, Trevor, Wayne, and special guests Chris, Lucy, and Will
I. Ordering
Gretel only has one burger on their menu, the Gretel Griddle Burger (two patties, white and yellow American cheese, red onion, garlic aioli, pickles), which comes with a side of fries or you can substitute a side for $2.
Angela/Trevor: Burger and fries (asked for burger cooked medium rare)
Innie: Burger and fries
Sumana/Will: Burger and fries along with an additional side of mac & cheese (bacon, scallions, bread crumbs) and a Phil’s Last Dog (charred Vienna beef, mustard, onion, relish, tomato, pickle, sport pepper, and celery salt)
DK: Burger and grilled carrots (harissa and sorghum)
Wayne: Burger and blistered shishito peppers (kewpie mayo, togarashi, fried garlic)
Chris: Prime Rib French Dip (baguette, horseradish aioli, au jus) with fries
Lucy: Pork gyoza (garlic, scallion, soy)
II. Burgers
Trevor’s immediate impression of the burger was that it was very “neat,” as in clean to eat; Sumana said that it held together very well. The burger’s two patties stayed distinctly separate while biting into it, as opposed to other multi-patty burgers where texturally they might as well be one larger patty. Innie likened the burger to an upscale Big Mac and everybody agreed on the similarities to a Big Mac, like the double patties, sesame seed bun, the spread, the pickles, and the overall taste. The patties were very meaty and well-seasoned, with a good amount of chew to them.
As far as how the burgers were dressed, DK appreciated the fact that the burger had both white cheddar and American cheese slices. Innie mentioned that her burger had a lot of mayo; when she cut hers in half, a bunch of it oozed out. Our working theory is that because the pickles were so thick, they created extra voids in the burger construction for mayo to fill. Aside from working as mayo importers, the pickles were a hit with everyone, both because of their thickness and their flavor, and the red onions provided another welcome contrast. The buns held up well and the fact that they had sesame seeds was also appreciated.
III. Sides
Mac and cheese: Sumana said the mac and cheese was amazing. It didn’t use traditional elbow macaroni for the pasta and instead used corkscrew/fusilli pasta, which provided a lot of areas for the cheese to go in. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, and the bacon in it was perfect.
Shishito peppers: These were also very good, and as is always the case with shishito peppers, most were sweet while some were randomly spicy, but not in an overwhelming way. They had a good char on the outside from the blistering, and the kewpie mayo dip was a great accompaniment.
Fries: Most of us felt that the fries were largely average, not bad but not great. They were shoestring and single-fried. There wasn’t much else to say about them.
Carrots: DK said that the carrots must have been grilled for a long time because you could just fork right through them. He didn’t care for the sorghum on top of the carrots, which were similar to popcorn. The harissa sauce that came with them was a good mix of being spiced without being overwhelmingly spicy.
IV. Misc
Everybody who ordered alcohol loved their drinks, and if you love your soda, they offer free refills on sodas. The atmosphere/lighting of the restaurant is a little dark but it gives it a cool vibe. As we had previously encountered in Chicago, the restrooms were seemingly unlabeled, as in you would never know which rooms were the restrooms without either being told or just trying to open doors. The burgers didn’t come out as quickly as we had previously experienced at the earlier Chicago restaurants, which isn’t to say that they were slow, but just not as typically fast as we had come to expect in Chicago. Our waitress was very friendly and she even offered to split the check for us because she had been keeping track of who ordered what.
V. Rating/Value/Verdict
Angela: $14, 4.0
DK: $18, 4.4
Innie: $17, 4.0
Sumana: 4.7
Trevor: $13, 4.3
Wayne: $13, 4.1
Next Burger Crew meeting is at Mott St for dinner!