BURGER BOMB
The Dish
A few weeks ago, Barbara Yost from the AZ Republic gave Burger Studio, a burger joint in Sunnyslope five freakin’ stars. We happened into this place by accident last night and later wondered, after Googling around to read some reviews, if we ate at the same place she exalted … right down to their “stainless-steel box with words cut out and illuminated: ‘delicious,’ ‘moist,’ ‘tempting,’ ‘enticing,’ ‘sizzling.’ All of these apply to this compact restaurant that’s been open about eight months,” she said. Oh, and about that sign, the owner said he came up with it … must have been after he ripped off the idea from Pop Burger in NYC (see above pictures.)
We only wish he would have ripped of their food, too, because it took a wrong turn at every corner.
Once again, the Yelpers have it on the paper, giving it a rating of two out of the precious-yet-easily-doled out five on the Republic scale. They sited a “surly” hostess, which was the thing that actually set off one of our diners the most (“Just because the food sucked, doesn’t mean the hostess has to be a bitch,” one Yelper laments.) Others complained about “floppy pickles, flavorless & bland burgers, and cold, lifeless & disgusting sweet potato fries” The Yelpers were spot on with their callouts. It was like they were writing as we were eating.
Listen people, burgers are a like supermodels, if you treat them right, you don’t have to smother them with makeup. Give them the right amount of simple attention and they will provide a love that’s a thing of beauty.
Take a lesson from Mark Tarbell who just grinds down a NY Strip, some salt and pepper and kabam!, awesome burger. Other faves of ours: J&G Steakhouse, Modern Steak’s Kobe Burger, Delux Burger, and Welcome Diner back in the era of master patty maker Peter Hearn. They are all basically simple preparations with delicious results. Delicious, unplagiarized results.
4 Responses to “BURGER BOMB”
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I totally agree! I went there as well, and not only did the burger taste like a low quality meat Denny’s, overcooked burger, but the tater tot’s that I normally get excited about, truly tasted like frozen bags of food. Not to mention our bill was over $50 for 3 people. Nothing unique or creative about the food. Too bad because the place is really cute and the location really needed a neighborhood hangout with good food. I could have gone to Sonic Burger and had a better experience.
ha!!! “burgers are like supermodels”
awesome. made my morning.
Face it David, everything in this world is derivative- including restaurants & for that matter, foodblogs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for originality, but not sure how you can slam Burger Studio for knocking off Pop Burger and then turn around and advocate of DeLux, when they completely ripped off Fathers Office in Santa Monica/LA. (right down to the shopping cart french fry holders).
Whereas many restaurants as well as musicians, artists and businesses are “inspired” by others and yes, in some cases, blatantly steal ideas, they don’t always take credit for it being their own, as was in this case with Burger Studio, and Lenny Rosenberg (Delux) would be the first person to tell you that he didn’t invent the shopping basket for the fries.