By Mike Thayer
I recently completed a pizza challenge, sampling 19 local/regional pizza joints and finding the 10 best in the Wichita area.
It’s time for a new challenge: Burgers
Who makes the best burger in the Wichita metro area? I’m going to find out, sampling all the local/regional burger joints to see who crafts the best burger.
During the course of this challenge I’ll be sampling classic cheeseburgers, straight forward beef and American cheese goodness with the typical toppings. The way I see it, if you can’t put together a classic cheeseburger and do it well, then there’s no reason to sample a burger joint’s other burger options. So there will be no mushroom & Swiss, no on BBQ & onion strings, no on jalapeno & pepper jack cheese, etc., versions of burgers
Being evaluated on a point system scorecard will be a plethora of categories that includes but is not limited to the appearance, meat, bun, meat to bun ratio, how the burger is dressed (that means the assortment of veggies, sauce and/or condiments for those of you who live in Valley Center), service, time to order and more. Weighing most heavily in the score of course, is TASTE and depending on the size of the patty, I could be sampling a single or a double, there’s a quarter pound minimum. After scoring the burger, the point total is then broken down into a star system, 1-5, with 5 stars being a top rating. I’ll post all the numbers for each burger joint and their offerings in the final report.
No national chains will be included in this challenge, no Five Guys, no Red Robin, no BurgerFi, no Freddy’s, etc…. Only the local, regional burger joints qualify. Besides, when it comes to burgers, McDonald’s is most everybody’s last resort, Wendy’s is nothing extra special with their square patties and Burger King, well, isn’t a king at all.
The visual appeal is less than stellar
Today’s Burger Challenge is a review of Dog N Shake, a Wichita icon, serving up burgers, dogs and shakes since 1948. This restaurant is the fourth tasting in this challenge of 28 burger joints to review.
I ordered the Double Cheeseburger combo to go. It’s the #1 item on their menu and priced at $7.29. This is a classically dressed burger with toasted bun, onions, pickle and mustard. The question becomes, is the combo worth that price?
I have to say that I’m not a big fan of Dog N Shake. The visual appeal of the burger certainly isn’t there, I’m not sure what’s up with that bun for starters….. It was not a good first impression for this first time Dog N Shake diner.
Small burger and it’s a double!
Of the four burger joints I’ve reviewed so far, Dog N Shake comes in a distant fourth that’s how this burger measures up. The meat to bun ratio at first glance is good from above, but check out this side view?! Worst.bun.ever. The patties were under seasoned and the pickle, onion, mustard combo was underwhelming. And despite this being a double cheeseburger, it’s small in size.
Dog N Shake scored a 42 out of a possible 63 on the spreadsheet, which earns them a 3 star rating. The fries were decent, but Dog N Shake’s Double Cheeseburger is NOT worthy of a repeat buy and the combo is NOT worth $7.29…. Small burger, small fry, small drink, most telling: Small in the flavor department!
The Dog N Shake visited on this occasion is located at 8800 W. Maple, Wichita, KS., 67209. The service for my to go order was polite, professional and fairly quick, I was in and out with my meal in less than 4 minutes at the dinner hour.
I look forward to the next burger joint tasting!
Here’s my list of 28 restaurants that tout burgers, more joints are to be added, I’m sure I missed a few when putting this challenge together.
- The Anchor
- Big Larry’s Burgers
- Bionic Burger
- Bomber Burger
- Braums
- Broadway Burgers & BBQ
- Buster’s Burger Joint
- Calvin’s Hamburger Haven
- Chicken N Pickle (Yes, really, a chicken place that does burgers!)
- Deano’s Grill & Tapworks
- Dempsy’s Burger Pub
- Dog N Shake
- Emerson Biggins
- Fizz Burgers & Bottles
- Harry’s Uptown
- The Hill Bar & Grill
- Lotus Leaf
- Oasis Lounge
- O’Malley’s Irish Pub (1/2 pound burgers!)
- Side Pockets
- Spangles
- Sport Burger
- TJ’s
- Two Brother’s BBQ
- Ty’s Diner
- Walt’s
- West St. Burgers
- Yo-B Yogurt & Burgers
Doing this in the name of “Food Science” (cough), I’m looking forward to finding the best locally crafted burger! I’ll eventually whittle this list down to the 10 Best Burger Joints in the Wichita Metro.
Stay tuned and $pend Wisely My Friends…..
$pend Wisely My Friends…
Enjoy this post?
If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation. Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike
Burger Challenge: Who makes the best burger in the Wichita metro? Is it Dog N Shake? – Bachelor on the Cheap
By Mike Thayer
I recently completed a pizza challenge, sampling 19 local/regional pizza joints and finding the 10 best in the Wichita area.
It’s time for a new challenge: Burgers
Who makes the best burger in the Wichita metro area? I’m going to find out, sampling all the local/regional burger joints to see who crafts the best burger.
During the course of this challenge I’ll be sampling classic cheeseburgers, straight forward beef and American cheese goodness with the typical toppings. The way I see it, if you can’t put together a classic cheeseburger and do it well, then there’s no reason to sample a burger joint’s other burger options. So there will be no mushroom & Swiss, no on BBQ & onion strings, no on jalapeno & pepper jack cheese, etc., versions of burgers
Being evaluated on a point system scorecard will be a plethora of categories that includes but is not limited to the appearance, meat, bun, meat to bun ratio, how the burger is dressed (that means the assortment of veggies, sauce and/or condiments for those of you who live in Valley Center), service, time to order and more. Weighing most heavily in the score of course, is TASTE and depending on the size of the patty, I could be sampling a single or a double, there’s a quarter pound minimum. After scoring the burger, the point total is then broken down into a star system, 1-5, with 5 stars being a top rating. I’ll post all the numbers for each burger joint and their offerings in the final report.
No national chains will be included in this challenge, no Five Guys, no Red Robin, no BurgerFi, no Freddy’s, etc…. Only the local, regional burger joints qualify. Besides, when it comes to burgers, McDonald’s is most everybody’s last resort, Wendy’s is nothing extra special with their square patties and Burger King, well, isn’t a king at all.
The visual appeal is less than stellar
Today’s Burger Challenge is a review of Dog N Shake, a Wichita icon, serving up burgers, dogs and shakes since 1948. This restaurant is the fourth tasting in this challenge of 28 burger joints to review.
I ordered the Double Cheeseburger combo to go. It’s the #1 item on their menu and priced at $7.29. This is a classically dressed burger with toasted bun, onions, pickle and mustard. The question becomes, is the combo worth that price?
I have to say that I’m not a big fan of Dog N Shake. The visual appeal of the burger certainly isn’t there, I’m not sure what’s up with that bun for starters….. It was not a good first impression for this first time Dog N Shake diner.
Small burger and it’s a double!
Of the four burger joints I’ve reviewed so far, Dog N Shake comes in a distant fourth that’s how this burger measures up. The meat to bun ratio at first glance is good from above, but check out this side view?! Worst.bun.ever. The patties were under seasoned and the pickle, onion, mustard combo was underwhelming. And despite this being a double cheeseburger, it’s small in size.
Dog N Shake scored a 42 out of a possible 63 on the spreadsheet, which earns them a 3 star rating. The fries were decent, but Dog N Shake’s Double Cheeseburger is NOT worthy of a repeat buy and the combo is NOT worth $7.29…. Small burger, small fry, small drink, most telling: Small in the flavor department!
The Dog N Shake visited on this occasion is located at 8800 W. Maple, Wichita, KS., 67209. The service for my to go order was polite, professional and fairly quick, I was in and out with my meal in less than 4 minutes at the dinner hour.
I look forward to the next burger joint tasting!
Here’s my list of 28 restaurants that tout burgers, more joints are to be added, I’m sure I missed a few when putting this challenge together.
Doing this in the name of “Food Science” (cough), I’m looking forward to finding the best locally crafted burger! I’ll eventually whittle this list down to the 10 Best Burger Joints in the Wichita Metro.
Stay tuned and $pend Wisely My Friends…..
$pend Wisely My Friends…
Enjoy this post?
If you appreciate the article you just read and want to support more great content on BachelorontheCheap.com, you can help keep this site going with a one-time or a monthly donation. Thank you so much for your support! ~ Mike