On this day of days, Kurt, my partner in culinary critique, and I decided to go to Big Rock Cafe and Grocery. If you have ever been to Big Rock, you know. Their food? Pretty good. Their service? Pretty slow. This is not to say that the wait staff is slow. It is to say that the kitchen is a lot like sludge that moves down a mountain in dead summer. We were both very hungry when we went in, so we prepared ourselves for what is usually a pretty long wait. 

Kurt ordered the steak and eggs, and I ordered the Plain Ol Burger with cheese. American cheese that is. This burger also came with Rock sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and fresh cut fries. It must also be noted that they hand grind their chuck every morning. Which is pretty impressive given the pub landscape these days.

Big Rock is a cool place. Tap handles line the ceiling of the place, and beer and liquor signs are scattered throughout. There is outdoor seating, very often there are bands there on weekends, and the decor throws a hunter/logger vibe atcha from all sides, from the tin pails on the lampshades to the antique tools on the wood panelled walls, this place feels authentically rustic. 

This was a very good day to go to Big Rock because our food didn't take that long to come out of the kitchen at all, and when it came out, it was as hot as you would hope freshly cooked food would be. The burger was cooked well, but was still fairly juicy, which speaks to the freshness of the meat and the flame it was cooked over. The fries were seasoned quite well, and fried almost perfectly.

When I asked where they got their beef, no one seemed to know, but our server, Sarah, inquired as to whether or not everything was okay. It was a refreshing change from the usual indifference you get at most PNW food establishments.  Overall, this was a surprisingly good experience. The veggies on the burger were fresh, and the meat itself tasted good. There was even two slices of American cheese on the burger. The scores are as follows:

KURT:

• Flavor:  6
• Juiciness:  7.5
• Vegetables:  8
• Bun:  7
• Source:  3
• Synergy:  7.5
• Value:  7.5

SCORE: 6.5

SARA:

• Flavor:  7
• Juiciness:  7
• Vegetables:  7
• Bun:  7
• Source:  2
• Synergy:  8
• Value:  8

SCORE:  6.5 

It must be noted, and I am sure you will notice that the scores for SOURCE brought the overall burger scores down quite a bit. That is why we post these, so if a certain element of a food item is not important to you, you can discount it and make your decision based on the numbers that more accurately represent your value system.

For my piece, I care a great deal where my food comes from. That is part of why I am doing this project. It is not so much that all food must be local and organic, BUT, it is important that you know where your food comes from, and what type of food delivery system you are contributing to with your dollars. Personally, I would prefer my money to go into local pockets, all the way down to the farmer. I realize that is not the world we live in, but I am an idealist when it comes to food, because after all, I am putting it in my body.

In the end, it is, in my opinion, almost impossible to come up with a good final product if all of the ingredients you put in to that final product are crap, but there are always exceptions. One I will present for your consideration is American cheese. No, it is not actual food, but, it does wondrous things to hamburgers which not even I can deny.  It definitely improved the synergy of this burger, and only cost $1 more to add it. 

This was a very good food experience. The food was tasty, and the service was solid. I would go back again, and most likely, I probably will. I am hoping that this experience is a sign of overall improvement on their kitchen times. Everything else about this place is quite good.

This little foray into the bleak world of fast food occured immediately after the Superbowl, so you know how long I have been putting off writing about it. 

We walked into a deserted but bright and cheery dining room, and there to greet us was a life-sized cardboard cut out of Jack himself, holding a document in his hand labeled, "The Declaration of Delicious."  Evidently this was to announce the company's plan to give away one million burgers, most likely beccause no one will pay money for them.

So there we are, staring down the wrong end of a Jack in the Box menu, and between the strange smell, the empty dining room, and the disappointed looks on the faces of the employees, I just knew this was going to fall short of the declaration. In fact, though I was hungry, I was actually trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation. Sadly, no ideas came.

I ordered the cheese burger combo meal. Kurt ordered a burger too. What occured next can only be described as predictable yet still horrifying. I opened the box to my burger, lifted the bun, and noticed that the meat had a strange greyish-brown color that usually describes food that has either been badly handled or has been in the freezer too long. As I took several bites and chewed and swallowed as quickly as possibe, I hoped with all my heart that I would not have to finish the burger. Kurt tried weakly to defend the thing, but I could not be swayed. Though the tomato was fresh, the lettuce, cheese, even the burger itself were at best, disappointing. The scores were as follows:

KURT

• Flavor: 6
• Juiciness: 7
• Vegetables: 5
• Bun: 7
• Source: 1
• Synergy: 6.5
• Value: 6.5

​SCORE: 5.5

SARA:

• Flavor: 3
• Juiciness: 1
• Vegetables: 2
• Bun: 4
• Source: 1
• Synergy: 4
• Value: 5

​SCORE: 4

As you can see, I was a bit harsh, but frankly, there are plenty of good fast food burgers in the world, this just isn't one of them. I have spent far too much energy and time already writing about it. Kurt wanted me to mention that the fries were good. I have to agree, they were, and perfectly seasoned to boot. The good news is that there is really nowhere to go from here but up.

​I usually include a map, but I can't do that for this post. I really wouldn't wish this on anyone, much less give them directions to get there.