Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, August 21st, 2021.
Members in attendance: Angela, DK, Innie, Trevor, and Wayne, with special guest Chris.
This was Burger Crew’s first foray into the city of Paramount, a city so well-hidden that some of the members had never even heard of it before. Will it become the hidden city burger-equivalent of Shangri-La? Read on and find out.
I. Ordering
The ordering started off in a confusing manner because the restaurant’s full menu is split between two opposing walls, one above and behind the cashier and one on the wall on the other side of the room. If you weren’t aware of it, you could easily miss half the menu because it’s behind you when you face the cashier.
DK: Stockberger ($19.99) (Created by Tommy Stockberger himself. A Texas toast burger build that starts with our smash burger and all its fixins’, adds brisket and is of course topped off with mac n cheese) and street corn ($4.99).
Innie: Smash burger ($8.99), mac & cheese ($4.99), street corn, and waffle fries ($4.99)
Chris: Nashville hot chicken sandwich ($12.99)
Trangela: Smash burger and Texas style brisket fries ($13.99) (Battered waffle fries, covered in creamy cheese sauce and topped with our smoked Texas style beef brisket, and handcrafted BBQ sauce. Add some bread and butter pickles and fresh cut cilantro)
Wayne: The Mac Rib ($30) (A full smash burger with all the fixings, smoked brisket sautéed in our house bbq sauce, and topped with a full dino short rib. Put together with 3 pieces of Texas toast to hold things down) and no sides because The Mac Rib was ridiculous enough on its own
II. The Burgers
Almost everyone had great things to say about the burgers. The beef had good texture and there was excellent meat to bun coverage. Since it was smashed, it had a lot of the crispy caramelized bits that are associated with smashed patties. Angela thought that the beef could taste meatier, but everyone else was generally satisfied. The cheese was nice and melty, coating everything else in the burger, contributing to an overall feeling of a nice and gooey burger. For the burgers that included Texas toast, there was ample butter applied to the toast, giving it a very rich mouthfeel. The short rib in The Mac Rib was really tender and tasted good as far as short rib goes, but as far as smoked short rib goes, it definitely could’ve used more smoke. Angela hated the bread and butter pickles that were in the smash burger, but she hates bread and butter pickles so this was very much a personal choice because Trevor loved them.
III. The Sides
The mac & cheese was super gooey. The Stockberger included it inside the burger, and DK likened it to a velvety cheese sauce, although he felt that the macaroni shells themselves weren’t al dente enough. The street corn was overly roasted to the point of being burnt, and the overall consensus was that it lacked flavor, and it notably didn’t include cotija cheese, which is standard in Mexican street corn. The waffle fries were pretty standard in a good way. The Texas style brisket fries were very good, so good that Trangela ordered a second portion to take home. The only notable complaint about them (aside from Angela’s hatred of the bread and butter pickles) was that the cheese was underneath the fries instead off drizzled on top.
Chris’s Nashville hot chicken sandwich was great as a chicken sandwich, but as far as being a Nashville hot chicken sandwich went, it was lacking in heat. However, the chicken was juicy and the portion was large.
IV. Miscellaneous
Towards the end of our meal, the cashier asked us if we wanted dessert, and since only monsters turn down dessert, we said yes. A few minutes later, she brought out an awesome platter with two slices of their mud pie ($6.99 each) and a cup of smokey cookies and cream ice cream ($4). The desserts were very good (especially if you like chocolate), if a bit hard to finish due to everyone being so full already.
The restaurant has multiple seating areas that encompass every level of comfort that people might consider during a pandemic: fully indoors, fully outdoors, and semi-indoors (with one wall open to the outside). Service was excellent, there are lots of beers on tap, and parking was easy.
V. Value
Ignoring The Mac Rib as an outlier since it’s significantly more expensive than the other burgers, the value proposition of the burgers was pretty average, with the total prices that we’d be willing to pay trending pretty closely to the actual total prices of the burgers. The actual range was between $7.50 to $16.
As far as The Mac Rib goes, I thought that it was a good value for what it offered. The short rib on its own on the menu is $25, so for $5 more, you also get a pretty great burger.
VI. The Verdict
The ratings came out to 3.8, 4.2, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, and it’s somewhat rare for a location to get this many ratings for 4+ from the Crew, so overall, Smoke & Fire gets pretty high marks. Big thanks to the hostess for the delicious dessert platter.
Since I’m a huge procrastinator and waited until the last minute to get this review out, the next Burger Crew meeting is later today for our annual trip!