Modern Nature: Food: Bobby Flay's Burger Palace

We probably watch too much Food Network or HGTV at our house for our own good. While I do like Alton Brown, I'm probably a bigger fan of America's Test Kitchen than anything else on Food Network. I particularly dislike Bobby Flay, who symbolizes the worst of Food Network---a flashy, rich, full-of-himself television chef loudmouth with little substance and a chili gimmick.

So when a friend of mine recommended Bobby Flay's Burger Palace (BBP), I was a little skeptical. Still, there are a couple of locations relatively close by and we were craving burgers one night, so we gave it a shot last week after work. It took us almost an hour in traffic to get there, so we were pretty hungry when we got there. The decor looked like an upscale fast food restaurant and the place was pretty crowded.

Bobby's Burger Palace

There aren't that many different burgers on the menu, although the options do cover a wide range of flavors. One of the gimmicks is getting your burger "crunchified", where they use potato chips as a burger topping. It's mostly a marketing gimmick, but I wonder if it's also small tribute to those campus grease trucks that pile on french fries, onion rings, or other deep fried stuff into your sandwiches. We ended up getting a Crunchburger (a classic cheeseburger crunchified), a Philadelphia Burger (provolone, grilled onions, and hot peppers), sweet potato fries, and a mango milkshake. When we sat down, there was an assortment of special sauces beyond just ketchup and mustard. Predictably, there was a Chipotle Ketchup option, but there was also a Jalapeno hot sauce and a mysterious, gritty Burger Sauce.

I have to admit, the food was pretty good---as much as I dislike him, he does serve a pretty good burger. The burgers were more of a "restaurant" hamburger rather than a "fast food" burger---a nice thick hamburger. The meat was nice and juicy and by default they cook the patties to a nice medium pink color in the middle. The potato chips really didn't add anything but make the burger a little more dry, so I'll probably pass on them next time. I'm a big fan of sweet potato fries and they came with a nice honey mustard sauce. The mango milkshake was also good---not too thick and not too light and a pretty unique flavor.

Overall, it's worth trying, but probably not worth driving an hour out of your way. Still, it's relatively cheap for a good burger, although I'm a little disappointed in the lack of hamburger options. For example, much closer to us is a 25 Burgers that has 25 different burger styles, including some of our favorites---there's one with a pineapple slice and teriyaki sauce and there's another with a fried egg (mmm....fried egg on burger...) On the other hand, 25 Burgers is definitely on the fast food burger side, so BBP's burgers are definitely a step up in terms of quality.