I was not expecting much from the burger if I am being honest. My partner in culinary critique and I had gone into C Square/Third Street Cafe a few times before and had mediocre experiences. I love co-ops, and all their endeavors, however, so I keep going back, hoping for improvement.
That is why I was dreading this meal. I did not want to be in the position of having to slam a co-op. Thank goodness this burger turned out to be so tasty.
As is usually the case at the co-op, Kurt and I sat at the bar waiting for the server to finish her conversation with her friend who was also eating at the bar. I believe we waited too long, but Kurt felt like we barely waited at all, which I believe is the result of living in the PNW for so long and having to tolerate bad service. But, tomato tomahto.
We ordered, he the shrimp pasta dish and me the Third Street Burger. As we waited, we watched the kitchen staff work and spoke with a staff member who I had worked with at the Community Food Co op in Bellingham. It was quite pleasant, though again, seemed to me to be a long time to wait, and Kurt felt like it was not. Six of one, I guess.
When our food came, I was optimistic. One reason is that our server took our food out of the window as soon as it appeared, the other is that the burger was beautifully prepared, and smelled LIKE A BURGER. Which is always nice. The Co op gets their meat from Double R ranch, so it is clean and local, and when I bit into it, I could also tell that it was cooked perfectly to temp, the Medium we requested. The burger was juicy, had a great texture, and was flavorful. In fact, Kurt proclaimed it to be the best patty he had eaten in both thickness and flavor. So that really is something. It was served with fried leeks, very fresh lettuce, a tangy sauce and white cheddar. I could not find the cheddar flavor in the mix, but the sauce added a nice flavor; in fact I would say it even helped bring the flavor of the meat out.
The leeks became a bone of contention between Kurt and myself, as he kept referring to them as onions, "the onions are too overpowering," and I kept reminding him that, "those are leeks, actually." It got to the point where he finally let me know that, "It doesn't fuckin' matter, leeks are onions, babe." So....after we cleared that up, we got to scoring:
KURT:
SARA:
So, Leek Argument not withstanding, (Kurt thought they were overpowering flavor-wise and I thought they were a bit too tough), this really was a good solid burger. At $13, it is standard for a burger of this quality at a restaurant of this type, though by no means a great deal. The fries were pretty standard; salted nicely but somewhat anemic. My guess is that the co op has not gotten the memo about double-frying their french fries.
That is why I was dreading this meal. I did not want to be in the position of having to slam a co-op. Thank goodness this burger turned out to be so tasty.
As is usually the case at the co-op, Kurt and I sat at the bar waiting for the server to finish her conversation with her friend who was also eating at the bar. I believe we waited too long, but Kurt felt like we barely waited at all, which I believe is the result of living in the PNW for so long and having to tolerate bad service. But, tomato tomahto.
We ordered, he the shrimp pasta dish and me the Third Street Burger. As we waited, we watched the kitchen staff work and spoke with a staff member who I had worked with at the Community Food Co op in Bellingham. It was quite pleasant, though again, seemed to me to be a long time to wait, and Kurt felt like it was not. Six of one, I guess.
When our food came, I was optimistic. One reason is that our server took our food out of the window as soon as it appeared, the other is that the burger was beautifully prepared, and smelled LIKE A BURGER. Which is always nice. The Co op gets their meat from Double R ranch, so it is clean and local, and when I bit into it, I could also tell that it was cooked perfectly to temp, the Medium we requested. The burger was juicy, had a great texture, and was flavorful. In fact, Kurt proclaimed it to be the best patty he had eaten in both thickness and flavor. So that really is something. It was served with fried leeks, very fresh lettuce, a tangy sauce and white cheddar. I could not find the cheddar flavor in the mix, but the sauce added a nice flavor; in fact I would say it even helped bring the flavor of the meat out.
The leeks became a bone of contention between Kurt and myself, as he kept referring to them as onions, "the onions are too overpowering," and I kept reminding him that, "those are leeks, actually." It got to the point where he finally let me know that, "It doesn't fuckin' matter, leeks are onions, babe." So....after we cleared that up, we got to scoring:
KURT:
- Flavor 9
- Juiciness 8.5
- Vegetables 6
- Bun 8
- Source 8
- Value 7
- Synergy 6
SARA:
- Flavor 9
- Juiciness 9
- Vegetables 6
- Bun 6
- Source 8.5
- Value 6
- Synergy 7
So, Leek Argument not withstanding, (Kurt thought they were overpowering flavor-wise and I thought they were a bit too tough), this really was a good solid burger. At $13, it is standard for a burger of this quality at a restaurant of this type, though by no means a great deal. The fries were pretty standard; salted nicely but somewhat anemic. My guess is that the co op has not gotten the memo about double-frying their french fries.
So, in sum, we both vote yes on this burger, my faith in this cafe has been partially renewed, AND, I basically went along with Kurt's assessment of the "onions" just because life is not always about arguing over the difference between "leeks" and "onions," if you catch my drift.
RSS Feed
