My best friend Bill and I used to eat hamburgers at diner called the Royal Chef in Melbourne Florida. They had the best hamburgers that I have ever had; a very thick, flame broiled patty, heavy on the American cheese, on a grilled bun. The burger was served piping hot, juice dripping from the patty; oh, they were the best hamburgers to be had. From the Royal Chef, Bill and I discussed the pursuit of women, planned our futures, and laughed at life. Ever since those early days, I have been in pursuit of a hamburger of equal value. It has become my Holy Grail. I stumbled across Burger Moe’s and thought I would give it a try, here are my thoughts:
Burger Moe’s offers 19 variations of burgers, a very sound choice for a place billing itself as a burger joint. The classic starts at $7.95 up to the Kobe burger at $10.50. I settled for Moe’s Original Burger with caramelized onions and American cheese for $8.50. The burger comes with fries, although you can upgrade to onion rings, waffle fries or Tater tots for an extra $2.00. The waitress convinced me to go with the Tater tots. I thought that upselling for tots was pricey; onion rings I can understand, but tater tots!
The burger was served on a very thick sesame bun (not grilled) which over powers the flavor of the meat. The patty did not seem overly hot and was not juicy. Burger Moe’s adds a Chipotle Aioli to the bun, which did nothing for it and I think is a poor way to try and spice up a simple American dish. I actually hate when restaurants do this, and I would have ordered it without the sauce if I had read the small print on the menu. A burger should only be served with the basic of condiments. I was into my burger and tots for $10.50.
Burger Moe’s offers 40 beers on tap, and 60 different bottled beers. I went with two pale ales on draft and was into another $10.00 dollars. I thought a $5.00 draft was high for a lunch meal. The waitress offered a dessert and recommended a Churros sundae. I am a sucker for ice cream and went with the sundae. It was a churro with a couple scoops of ice cream and drizzled with some chocolate sauce for $4.95. No whip cream and no cherry on top. How can you have a sundae with no cherry? I thought it was pretty lame.
So, $10.50 burger, $10.00 ales, $4.95 sundae, $5.00 tip, and $30.00 later I am out the door. A pricey lunch!
The atmosphere is nice, there is live music on Friday’s, and the location is good for the Excel Arena. I would go back again, however, I would think twice about going.
