Photo by Michael A. Gardiner
Lounge burger and fries at Burger Lounge
One’s a West Coast legend, the second is an East Coast behemoth and the third is a San Diego upstart. One is endorsed by a TV food celebrity, the second is created by one of the country’s top restaurateurs (Danny Meyer), and the third, well, it’s got pretty much no one famous behind it. It’s In-N-Out versus Shake Shack versus Burger Lounge. These facts won’t decide who’s got the best burger in town, but to paraphrase an old Schaefer beer ad, it might just decide where to go when you’ve had more than one.
Shake Shack’s a huge company. Founded in 2004, it has 162 locations across 12 countries. To put it in perspective of just how big it is, remember it’s taken over 60 years for In-N-Out to grow to 328 locations (all in the Southwest). While it’s still a family-owned company, valuation estimates hover around $1.1 billion. Burger Lounge has only 25 locations, just five of which are outside Southern California. There’s little, if any, readily available financial information on the chain: It’s that small.
To compare the three chains, I ordered the signature burgers and French fries at each. The quality of the meat in Shake Shack’s burgers is very good, it’s well seasoned and the smash technique used in cooking them results in good crisping and caramelization. It’s the rest of the burger that’s the let down: a jacket of American cheese and a potato bun that squishes to essentially nothing. My favorite of its burgers is the SmokeShack. The chopped cherry peppers and Niman Ranch bacon balance out what the cheese had thrown out of whack.
In-N-Out’s Animal-style burger (a Double-Double burger with the meat fried with mustard, and topped with caramelized onions, extra pickles and Thousand Island) is the most famous item on its not-so-secret “secret menu.” It is, perhaps, the ultimate representation of the fast-food burger. The story, though, is the reverse of Shake Shack. The bun is nicely toasted, the lettuce is crisp and the cheese doesn’t dominate. It’s the meat that’s the problem: overdone, too small and with no textural contrast and pretty much no caramelization.
Burger Lounge’s signature Lounge Burger, on the other hand, offers a burger that’s the best a fast food joint has to offer. At one level, it’s not fancy: meat, cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and Thousand Island. At another level, it is: The beef is grass-fed, the cheese is organic and there’s real care that goes into the construction and execution. It’s a juicy, fast-food burger that doesn’t eat like a fast food product. And the turkey burger option may be even better.
I was suspicious of Shake Shack’s fries: crinkle cut (suggesting they were frozen, not freshly cut on site). But they were thick, nicely seasoned with perfect potato flavor and texture. And while In-N-Out’s much-vaunted fries were thin, cold and unevenly fried, Burger Lounge’s fries (fried in GMO-free peanut oil) were thicker, hotter, perfectly seasoned and much tastier.
At the end of the day, if the battle is between In-N-Out and Shake Shack, I’ll give the win to the Eastern seaboard. With Burger Lounge in the mix, though, give it to San Diego. Give it to the upstart.