June 26, 2019

MISTER O’S REVIEW BY STONE IRR

I intentionally decided not to look up Mister O’s before attending this most recent BEU. Chalk it up to procrastination but I found this choice would allow for the most unbiased review.

I’m not gonna lie—I love reviews. I try as often as I can to leave small, concise reviews on Google. Recently, I went to a Korean Fried Chicken spot in Ktown where when I opened the door to the bathroom, I ended up walking into the male locker room of a Korean Spa—bathroom was directly to the left of the locker room. “5 Stars — what a distinctive, great fried chicken experience”.

Weird, memorable Korean fired chicken stories aside, the art-deco interior of Mister O’s really does bring a lot of charm to this happy hour-focused restaurant. However, like a vintage store featuring many mid-century modern pieces at a steep price tag – the food at Mister O’s is pretty damn expensive.

Their flagship “Mr. O’s Burger”—which is about the same size as your standard In-N-Out Double Double—is a whopping 18 dollars. With an already steep price tag, what’s an additional 7 dollars get their other burger offering, the Defibrillator?? Four burger patties meet four slices of American cheese in this hefty softball sized sandwich.

The Defibrillator shines with with the addition of shishito peppers and fresno chile which gives the sandwich a nice balance to the influx of beef and cheese. But damn—it’s 25 dollars (which could buy you 6 beautiful and delicious experiences with a Double Double). Overall, the burger offers nothing super innovative nor strikingly impressive to compensate for the price.

You may be thinking “HOLD ON – what about the fries?? You can’t forget about the other, crucial half of the burger experience!” Sorry to say but the fries didn’t exactly make the cut in cushioning the blow of this high-end burger. Some fries had a wonderful crispness to them… while others had the confusingly stiff yet mushy consistency of an Ore Ida microwaved french fry. In a quick attempt to make the fries more distinct, they were all tossed with some sort of oregano-based seasoning which tasted fine on its own but turned south when eaten in tandem with a burger covered in peppery toppings.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time at Mister O’s—the staff was super friendly, the cocktails were tasty, the decor was fun—but high-roller prices on burgers set high expectations and it’s a bit of a letdown that those expectations weren’t met.

Out of 39 people in attendance, here’s how Mister O’s fared:

Appearance: 6.238

Patty: 7.0952

Taste: 7.2857

Fries/Sides: 6.619

Bun: 6.5714

Toppings: 6.619

Value/Price: 4.238

Service: 6.9523

TOTAL: 6.4523

And Mr. President beat out Mr. Worldwide in the “Who would win in a fight?” category.

Additional Comments:

Ryan M. Carroll: The fries were pretty tasty but very undercooked. The burger was pretty tasty but greasy/decadent/heart attack-inducing. I wouldn’t eat it again.

Chris Hires: Needs more acid, but I always say that. Appreciate the toppings tho!

Sarah Scarlata: If I went to Ralph’s and bought ground beef, slapped it on a grill, and called it a day, it would have been a world above this $18 burger. No wonder I got the bill before the burger, I think it was a preemptive strike. They must know the burger ain’t worth 18 bones!

Michael Sherwood: A lot of great ideas, but just fell a little short on the execution.

Brayden: Really appreciated the spicy kick from the peppers, and the patty was delicious! Also appreciated the amount of cheese on my burger – STACKED.

Dan Macken: Going to the bathroom here is truly something special. The cool touch of the weighted bead curtain, and the delightfully rain stick-esque sound really brought me joy. That is NOT an $18 burger.

Stone Irr: Inconsistent fries, had great service, very cheesy burger, fun to eat but so much went to where it was slightly gristle-y.

Noah Shimbaum: Decent burger, not worth the price.

Jamin M.: I ordered my burger medium rare. My burger came out cold, but that’s not rare.

Rinat: I was also given this ballot – thank you for having me! – Maggie from Hopeless Records

Koichi: I ate on a footstool.

Jon Hafter: I had a lamb burger at lunch just so I had a burger base to start from. The lamb burger was boring, so the bar wasn’t high. My Mister O burger came on a burned mushy bun that just tasted sad and burned. Luckily the toppings were tasty and raised the otherwise meh meat to a higher level. Good onions, peppers, and cheese whiz. Not so good cooked thru burger and burned bun. Good ambiance (see fries).

Rye: Quite an…experience!

Robin Hansel: French fries undercooked, server forgot to place burger.

Jon Rosner: Nice looking place!

Martina Comuzzi: God bless this place and their offering of the Impossible burger!! Legends!

Ieva B.: I had my burger in lettuce. Is it a salad or a burger?

Keith Armstrong: Incredible service for how busy it was. I love a good simple burger and this was that!

Sean Johnson: Rather confident the rat pack would approve of this modest contemporary spin on an old school burger.