Denise G.
Yelp
I was really excited to try this place. I saw some folks talking about it online and when I Googled it, someone had even created a Reddit post about it.
According to the article I read, this place serves smash-style burgers. According to their website / menu, they serve crinkle fries (my favorite - yay!)
Exterior / Interior
This spot was formerly occupied by Ebony & Ivory barbecue. There was another business after E&I moved, but I never visited. Not sure if they're responsible for the revamp - or previous occupant, but it looks completely different in there. It's not dark or greasy and the air is circulating. They also have privacy tint / mirror tint on the glass storefront. I'm guessing to help with heating & cooling the wait area & overall space.
They are on the same side of the road / next door to Vickery Hardware. Fair amount of parking. Interior is super small. Enough for 4 - 6 people to stand shoulder-shoulder at the counter to order, but that's it. There is no seating, whatsoever, even while you wait - but there is a drive-thru.
On the plus side, the tiny interior means you can see right into the 'kitchen.' It's open and bright / well-lit. Everything looked clean and the ventilation system seems pretty phenomenal. On the bad side, there was one customer there ahead of me, waiting on a milkshake - and he was a) determined not to move aside so I could place my order and b) he had this loud, booming voice and he seemed incapable of speaking using his 'inside voice.'
Customer Service
The staff was very and polite. Everyone seemed pleasant and willing to help. Not quite sure how to explain it, but they seemed like they genuinely enjoyed helping one another and no one seemed surly or lazy. It may sound corny, but it was cool to see a group of 5 young people working together as a team and not being snide, rough-housing or cursing at one another.
Food
They didn't have cheddar cheese - only options are American and Swiss. I went with Swiss.
BTW, burgers come with American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and Crush sauce. The burger is described as 'angus brisket blend.' I asked the cashier to add mayo, but then I asked what the Crush sauce was like. He said it's kinda like In & Out spread aka Animal sauce aka Thousand Island dressing. I told him I'd take the Crush sauce instead of mayo.
1) Speaking of, because of the ventilation system, I think the cashier couldn't hear me. He had to ask me to repeat myself multiple times. I wound up with both mayo AND Crush sauce. The customer with the booming voice may have been on to something. Lol.
2) the fries are not crinkle - they are pixie crinkles. Still tasty, but pixie crinkles are a lot crunchier / crispier than a regular crinkle cut french fry.
3) These are NOT smash burgers. These are frozen, pre-formed patties. I could be wrong, but that's how it looked / tasted. See photos.
As I mentioned earlier, they also have milk shakes.
Because my burger had mayo and crush sauce, it was extremely messy. They do that thing were they put the burger 'toppings' below the patty. (I joke that they should be called burger 'bottomings' when they do it this way.) The heat from a patty cooks the lettuce this way, so I parked & attempted to 're-assemble' my burger before I started driving to my next destination. My hands were covered with sauce and my bun started to disintegrate. They forgot to give me napkins, but I had my handy-dandy wet wipes canister.
I have to be honest: I did not enjoy my burger. It did not taste like a 'high end' burger. It was super salty & tasted like an inexpensive, frozen burger patty. And I don't mean that in snobby way. I've had some frozen burger patties that I actually enjoyed. Did not taste like ground angus or brisket. But let's be honest, they don't taste quite the same as a hand-formed or pressed from fresh ground beef patty, but some of them are fairly tasty. This patty was NOT tasty.
I'm giving them 3 stars because I try not to give small businesses, non-chain restaurants less than 3 stars. One bad rating tends to have too much of an impact on their overall score. I also factored in 5 stars for customer service & 5 stars for cleanliness. I also like the fact that they actual toast their buns on the flat top.
Price / Value
I thought the prices were 'ok' for the burgers. I think $3.25 for a small order of fries is a little steep, but food prices have skyrocketed. Comparing it to an order of Zaxby's crinkle fries or even a BBQ restaurant portion of crinkle fries at the same price point, it's a little on the small side. I think, at some point, they will probably increase the serving size. I also think they will probably start offering a lunch combo with burger, fries & drink. Or a flat fee to 'make it a combo.'
Overall
I wish them the success, but since I'm didn't enjoy the taste of burger, I won't be back. I think the customer service, cleanliness and fair pricing will draw a crowd though.