Daniel L.
Yelp
A comment people will make about me is that I call an excessive amount of attention to myself at times. Johnnie Cochran is one of the few lawyers I will admit to not only liking but respecting. When you are an advocate for other people, especially historically underrepresented and disenfranchised communities, you have to speak loud even if your voice shakes. If you're not comfortable in your own skin you will never convince a jury or a judge to see anything your way. I got comfortable in my own skin early on so my flair for the dramatic had plenty of time to *jazz hands* proliferate.
Relevancy: this business is located in the Fifth Ward, also known as the "Bloody Nickel" for Houstonians who are not Newstonians. This has always been known as a rough neighborhood with "tough customers" as they are known in the Ivory Tower parlance. As always the music sets the stage for the experience, as most of my reviews demonstrate whether it is my ROTD for Cuisine India (Dan the Automator) or the long-since-closed Chief Cajun's Snack Shack (Owl City). So imagine if you will me, in a suit, leaving the courthouse, driving through the East End and the Bloody Nickel with the gentlesir's victory mixtape from DJ Grind booming. Out of time (October 2012) and out of place. From my law enforcement experience I probably look like the kind of person that was so out of place in this area that I must be there buying [reads smudged writing on palm] Many Jawas.
Several trusted yelpers had previously reviewed this joint. Belly G. had given her four stars just a few weeks ago; Jeremy T. gave four stars nearly a year ago; Maria W. had obtained the ROTD nearly a year ago; and Mike M. was the ringleader having given four stars on a review nearly two years ago. Shawn S. had skipped the burger and gone for the salad, so slightly different in terms of relatability but he gave this joint a perfect five stars. To get high marks from that many different yelpers that think for themselves means that there was something special about this place and I aimed to find out exactly what was what.
The parking lot is quite small with street parking close. The order window outside is sandwiched among the three chalkboards. There was one man waiting for his order and another at the window ordering as I parked and stepped up. It took about five minutes for the window to slide open and let me place my order. The woman taking the order was a kind old woman - definitely a different customer service approach than we received from the legendary Thelma's in Third Ward (before it closed) where they were rude for kitsch. Following Belly G.'s review I asked the nice old woman if I could get my burger medium. She let me know that it's already done as it is and there's no way to customize it for beautiful ol' me - so they smoke them in batches and keep them warm with a heat lamp it sounds like, since other competitors will do whatever I want as they make an exaggerated point about cooking things fresh for me rather than just giving whatever they got in the back.
Juxtapose this with how my order took extra time - it took about ten minutes for the order to come out - since the kind old lady let me know that they were making a fresh batch of fries just for me. I must look like I am a bossy bitch about my [Samwise Gamgee voice] potatoes, whether they are in vodka or freedom fry format, and she was right about that. These fries were fantastic in one word or less. They are very similar to the Petrol Station style fries with the thick potato cut, very light salting, and beautifully deep flavor. These fries make you wanna call your bail bondsman, his mama, and her neighbor to let them know how delicious these fries are.
Finally we pull up on the Nickel Burger. The flavor is YUGE, like Chief Cajun Snack Shack and then Old Fashion used to do. These patties got some work put in on them to make them taste like this. This is a no-frills, no aioli, no gourmet whatever. So since it stands by itself without all of that other dressing the meat either comes right or it does not - lettuce, tomato, a Shania Twain-sized helping of mayo, and sad shavings of red onion cannot mask much. So it is fortunate the patty is gorgeous, smoky, and highly flavorful. It is a bit rigid owing to its very well-doneness (and likely sat under a heat lamp for a bit since they were made in batches) but this is offset with the squishy of the huge mayo portion, the tomato, and the lettuce. The bun itself soaks it all up and gets soggy fast which is fine, but structural integrity on the old gal does not hold, captain.
$7.62 very (!) well spent for a take-out lunch to help support a locally owned biz in a neighborhood like this. For an inexpensive lunch come git you some. This burger + fries combo is affordable and the flavors were off of the gentlesir's charts in terms of expectations after obtaining ROTDs for fellow burger purveyors Sparkle, Champ, Elevation, Bubba's, Old Fashion, and Lankford.
