Out of 100
I am admittedly a burger snob. I don’t normally take pride in such things but my hometown of New Haven invented the American Hamburger* and I feel like I’ve earned the right to hold burgers to a higher standard.
Before I start I’d like to clear the air: I believe Lou mixed up my ratings for Apple Pan and The HMS Bounty. They received a 68 and a 52 respectively. (I’ll cut him some slack because he wrote all of our ratings on the back of a receipt as we all slipped into a food coma.)
Starting off with The Foundry…GOOD GOD is that burger amazing. I’ve been there twice and have had my burger overcooked both times and I still don’t care. Have you had their Hawaiian Sweet Bread? It’s moist, sweet and holds together better than most buns. Don’t even get me started on their tots which are more or less little tiny knishes condensed into balls of amazingness that you can dip in some sort of purple mustard and oh my god I’m rambling because it was the most delicious side dish this mouth has ever had the pleasure of encountering.
THE FOUNDRY out of 100: 93. I’m bumping them down for twice overcooking my burger. I’m a rare/medium rare guy and they hit me with medium well both times. See the above paragraph for why that doesn’t matter.
Moving on to 25 Degrees. Initially my reaction was positive. I was starving and spent twenty minutes feeling my soul die as I tried to park in Hollywood. I was looking for a reason to remember what happy felt like and guess what helps with that problem? A giant portion of onion rings and sweet potato fries! 25 Degrees started out so well, they even shot down Lou’s myth of horrible service. However, once the burgers came out 25 Degrees showed their real colors. What are their colors, you ask? The same as any TGI Friday’s out there because that’s the closest comparison I can think of for their burger.
“But Mike, you gave it an 89…what gives?”
Well, I got home and I thought long and hard about the burger and decided my rating was off. It was influenced by my hunger and burning desire to remember what smiling felt like.
Let’s start with the bun. The 25 Degrees bun looks beautiful; it’s fluffy and shiny and gigantic. However, as Lou pointed out when our meals arrived, big fluffy buns are frequently used to mask the shortcomings of a mediocre burger. Unfortunately, this old wive’s tale held up.
When you mix a big fluffy bun with sloppy ingredients you’re going to have a bad time. I’m all about structure, people! The bun is the foundation of the burger and this burger was a slop fest. All that fluffiness fell apart before I took the first bite, the telltale sign of a “meh” burger.
Once you got past the bun and my neurotic need for structure the burger itself wasn’t half bad. I got The Number One which consisted of a beef patty, arugula, Gorgonzola, bacon and Thousand Island dressing. The beef was pretty good, not to dry just overcooked. The bacon was top notch, the kind that’s super crispy but it dissolves in your mouth. The arugla was a nice addition but it got mushy from the overload of Thousand Island Dressing.
Bottom line: 25 Degrees got too fancy with the ingredients and then failed to execute a properly made burger. The burger was a glorified TGI Friday’s burger, all that was missing was Jack Daniel’s Sauce and some firecracker shrimp.
25 Degrees out of 100 (revised): Originally an 89 NOW 83
*people from Texas that claim otherwise are full of shit and probably racist.
