Bobby's Burger Palace

Shame on you Bobby Flay. You're supposed to be the All-American expert on grilling (or maybe I've been brainwashed by Food Network). Needless to say, I expect so much more than what you delivered at your 'palace of burgers.' Sigh, no wonder you keep losing on those stupid 'Throwdown' challenges... step it up. Anyway, what you see above is the 'Palace Classic Burger.' At $6.50, it's neither super expensive, nor super cheap (although I'd much rather get a shack stack). It's exactly as described, classic... with American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions as the only toppings. Standard and simple, which is awesome. Too bad that's where the positives end.



Wait nevermind... they have nifty packaging. Clean and minimalistic. That was pretty cool too, also a plus I guess.

Now let me preface anything I say further with this: I think it's pretty obvious that I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to food. That's not to say I don't discern between good and bad food, I just tend to look for the positive in things I eat. This is a notable exception.



The bun is fine. You can't screw up a sesame seed white bun that's prepackaged. At least I don't think you can. I don't think I need to describe it past the fact that it was adequately sized with respect to the patty. The toppings were nondescript in the sense that they were nice and crunchy, and plenty fresh. They didn't distract or overpower anything else in the sandwich, so that was fine too. The cheese? Properly melted, no complaints there either actually. Nope, what I was annoyed about was the actual patty. The meat was awfully dry, which was probably a combination between use of a meat too lean, and overcooking. Note the fact that the patty is cooked well past medium-rare, or even medium, and is a single shade throughout the cross-section. Lacking in flavor and overcooked is the name of the game here. Not much better than Wendy's, but at three times the price. No thanks.



The fries are $2.50... and are okay? Let me clarify that statement. Anything fried usually tastes good to me. These are like the fries from Five Guys, so good, but nothing remarkable. Except the portions suck. Unlike Five Guys, you get a cup, and it ends at that. For $2.50 you could probably do better. Although...



The fry sauce is pretty sensual. In what is precisely the mix between a chipotle sauce and thousand island, you get a spicy, sweet, tangy mayo mixture. Easily the best part of the meal, which if you think about it... is really sad. Plus, you coul probably recreate this yourself... so, there you go.



Giant beer battered onion rings! Actually these were pretty terrific. For $3, I'm pretty sure they took an entire onion and made onion rings out of it. The portion is that generous. The batter was fantastically light, the onions were surprisingly crisp, and there was just enough oil to remind you that, no... these probably aren't good for your heart.

Summary... feel free to steer clear of BBP unless you like paying twice the cost for what is basically a fancier version of McDonald's. Sure... Bobby Flay endorses this place, and yeah the inside of the restaurant is pretty spiffy, but there's just not enough substance to justify a return visit. Sorry Bobby, I gotta tell it like it is. Maybe you're better than this, shit... you probably are, but using your name to endorse a lackluster burger? I thought you were better than that. For shame son.