On walk up, the decor doesn’t exactly scream out burger joint.  In fact it looks a bit like they stole the interior designer from Tender Greens.  Once I got to the counter though I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice selection  ranging from their trademark Lounge Burger made with grass fed American Beef to to feel good free range turkey burgers, a quinoa veggie patty and even a wild salmon burger to please your pescatarian friends.  Even more impressive than the menu boasting fresh ingredients was that nothing was more than $7.95 which is an absolute bargain in the high end burger market.  There were even a couple salads on the menu for those peeps that actually did get confused and thought they were walking into a Tender Greens.  They also had a small, but nice selection of the usual craft beer suspects.

The cute college girls at the counter made for pleasant ordering.  They knew the menu and showed tremendous restraint in not immediately bursting into laughter when I walked in wearing Cheapshot’s latest poorly thought out idea.  As this month’s guest blogger I was forced to wear a giant burger hat that made me look like a 15 year old candy raver at coachella.  I actually think there’s a good chance this is from cheap’s closet and it’s what he wore back in his clubbing days…

Tool around their website or pick up one of the little propaganda pamplets at the restaurant and can read how this ain’t your daddy’s burger joint.  No, this an establishment that would make any hippy proud.  They’re certified “green”, they use recycled materials, they compost, the cows are all grass fed and come from a small family farm in Kansas where little kids pet them every day and say nice things to them like “you’re gonna taste great” and the cows so overcome with joy that they actually willingly head to the slaughterhouse to give you a completely guilt free burger experience.  Alright I might’ve exaggerated slightly on that last line, but you get the point.

Truth be told none of that shit matters if the burger ain’t good, but this burger is good.  In fact it’s damn good.  It came out hot and inviting.  One bite into it and I knew it was cooked to perfection.  Perfection of course being medium rare, just like I ordered.  Nothing fancy here, no stupidly named specialty add ons like “pig candy” which is just a too cute name for bacon.  nope, just a really great tasting burger served with a nice hunk of white cheddar cheese melted to perfection and dripping off the side, cooled with some nice crisp iceberg lettuce and served up on a tasty whole wheat bun with a zesty Burger Lounge special sauce to tie it all together.  I had a side of fries to compliment this beef masterpiece, since a burger without fries is like maccaroni without the cheese.  They were solid.  Fresh cut, twice cooked strings of potato goodness.  I tried to take my time and savor every juicy bite of that burger, but I couldn’t.  It was too good so I just inhaled the thing and sat back sipping my beer and feeling really, really satisfied.  It was a great moment, and then I paused and realized I was still wearing that damn stupid hat.

JG

Out of 20 total BEU members in attendance, here’s how Burger Lounge fared:

Burger appearance: 8.025
Patty Cooked properly: 8.15
Overall taste: 8.15
Creativity: 6.7
Bun: 7.78
Toppings: 7.44
Price: 7.35
Service: 8.8

Screech or Urkel winning in a fight?

Screech 11
Urkel 6

Overall Rating: 7.80148 out of 10

Additional comments from BEU Members:

“Best burger so far this year!  GM was super nice.  Blogger hat is awesome in concept, not in reality.  Needs to be awesomer. Excellent try though!” – Binks

“Onion rings + BBQ sauce were fantastic” – Elise Elbe

“I love the picture on the bathroom doors Men (Plug) Women (Outlet)” – Emily Weber

“Better than anything in the year.” – R. Housman

“Tomato was mushy…” – Lisa Cavallo