FOOD REVIEW: Wahlburgers (Olathe, KS)
(What's Up, Danger - Blackway)
The hamburger has some pretty humble roots, and in the grand scheme of things, the food belongs to America as a whole. It's one thing for an unknown to open up a successful chain of burger stores, but when somebody famous for something OTHER than cooking decides to open up a burger joint, you almost feel like they're begging for it.
Is the chow any good?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Uh...yeah, actually. Yeah, it is.
THE LONG VERSION:
If you've ever been into a celebrity restaurant, many of them have a slightly more upscale whiff about them when you walk in the door, regardless of how the food holds up. When you walk into Wahlburgers, the first thing you notice is that the place is much closer to Chipotle in its feel. Everything is very clean and there's an air of industrial chic about the whole place. Waitstaff wander around in black t-shirts and casual pants doing their jobs. High ceilings prevent it from being overly noisy and it's clear that the shop is designed to be opened up during nicer days to let the weather in.
The menu at Wahlburgers is just two pages long, and the lion's share of it revolves around hamburgers. This won't shock anyone. What might shock you is how damn good most of the food on the menu sounds. The hamburgers never really reach into the realm of flamboyant, with the possible exception of The O.F.D and the Impossible Burger. The O.F.D. leverages 'tomato jam', which can't be much more than ketchup. The Impossible Burger is something else entirely, however, and I encourage you to Google the hell out of it, because it's a fascinating possible replacement for beef.
I ordered the Super Melt and, thinking I might want more food, also ordered a side of their smoked Mac and Cheese.
What arrived blew me away for several reasons:
- The menu said burger is a 1/2 pound burger. Whenever a menu says that, I take it with a grain of salt, because they usually start with a 1/2 pound patty and it cooks down to something smaller. While I didn't take the time to weigh my food, the mass quantity of beef that arrived for me looked more like they started with 3/4 of a pound of beef and cooked that bad boy down to 1/2 pound.
- Do you know how much I hate ordering a burger medium and having a restaurant cook it to death anyway? I hate it a lot. Wahlburgers must have already gotten hate-mail or something, because my burger was cooked PERFECTLY.
- There's a real art to cooking a huge, juicy burger without it turning into a mess in your hands once you eat it. Whoever was doing that particular job in the kitchen obviously knew that you need to rest your food before you devour it. The burger was moist, juicy, and flavorful from one end to the other, but was never a mess.
- The whole Wahlburgers schtick is that they loved eating burgers at home and wanted to share their home cooking with everyone else. As insane as I feel writing this, I have to admit that they sort of nailed that. All of the ingredients tasted and looked fresh. My food was hot, but not too hot to eat. It was attractive, but not 'plated'. This food tasted like something that, if I gave enough of a damn to do it, I might make myself. It tasted like the food I've eaten a thousand times with my high school and college friends when we were over at each other's houses during the summer. It tasted home-made.
Completely putting aside the burger for a moment, we need to address the massive side of Mac and Cheese that was delivered to my table. It's worth noting that Wahlburgers sells its food ala carte. You order a burger, you order sides, you pay separately for each. At first, I raised my eyebrows at this, but when I saw how huge my burger was, I absolutely admitted that I really didn't need a side. That....didn't really stop me from eating it, mind you. The Mac and Cheese, like the burger, was the perfect temperature to eat, and it tasted like something you might have made at home. The pasta was penne rather than macaroni, but the cheese sauce was flavorful without being overly salted or seasoned. Would I have done more to spice or flavor it? Sure, but not everyone likes black and red pepper in their sauce, or the careful addition of Chipotle Tobasco or Sriracha. Or any number of other things. Indeed, their dish was equal parts safe and tasty, and they're to be commended for it.
When it was all said and done, the checks came, and that's where the only real eyebrow-raised of the whole experience was. The burgers are all full-plate burger price without the sides. Thing is, the burgers are all HUGE, so you get full without needing to eat the sides. If you know this going in and don't order sides as a habit, the sticker shock won't hurt you too badly, but two people can easily drop $40 in there between the two of them if they're not careful.
Was the food worth it? I'm honestly leaning towards 'yes' on this one. Yes, I do think it's a little over-priced, but only a little. The food was all excellent, and the other three adults I dined with shared my opinions. I absolutely went into this thinking I was going to be dissapointed. I was absolutely wrong. However goofy some people might think Marky Mark and Co. are, in this respect, they certainly seem to have made good on their efforts.
The hamburger has some pretty humble roots, and in the grand scheme of things, the food belongs to America as a whole. It's one thing for an unknown to open up a successful chain of burger stores, but when somebody famous for something OTHER than cooking decides to open up a burger joint, you almost feel like they're begging for it.
Is the chow any good?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Uh...yeah, actually. Yeah, it is.
THE LONG VERSION:
If you've ever been into a celebrity restaurant, many of them have a slightly more upscale whiff about them when you walk in the door, regardless of how the food holds up. When you walk into Wahlburgers, the first thing you notice is that the place is much closer to Chipotle in its feel. Everything is very clean and there's an air of industrial chic about the whole place. Waitstaff wander around in black t-shirts and casual pants doing their jobs. High ceilings prevent it from being overly noisy and it's clear that the shop is designed to be opened up during nicer days to let the weather in.
The menu at Wahlburgers is just two pages long, and the lion's share of it revolves around hamburgers. This won't shock anyone. What might shock you is how damn good most of the food on the menu sounds. The hamburgers never really reach into the realm of flamboyant, with the possible exception of The O.F.D and the Impossible Burger. The O.F.D. leverages 'tomato jam', which can't be much more than ketchup. The Impossible Burger is something else entirely, however, and I encourage you to Google the hell out of it, because it's a fascinating possible replacement for beef.
I ordered the Super Melt and, thinking I might want more food, also ordered a side of their smoked Mac and Cheese.
What arrived blew me away for several reasons:
- The menu said burger is a 1/2 pound burger. Whenever a menu says that, I take it with a grain of salt, because they usually start with a 1/2 pound patty and it cooks down to something smaller. While I didn't take the time to weigh my food, the mass quantity of beef that arrived for me looked more like they started with 3/4 of a pound of beef and cooked that bad boy down to 1/2 pound.
- Do you know how much I hate ordering a burger medium and having a restaurant cook it to death anyway? I hate it a lot. Wahlburgers must have already gotten hate-mail or something, because my burger was cooked PERFECTLY.
- There's a real art to cooking a huge, juicy burger without it turning into a mess in your hands once you eat it. Whoever was doing that particular job in the kitchen obviously knew that you need to rest your food before you devour it. The burger was moist, juicy, and flavorful from one end to the other, but was never a mess.
- The whole Wahlburgers schtick is that they loved eating burgers at home and wanted to share their home cooking with everyone else. As insane as I feel writing this, I have to admit that they sort of nailed that. All of the ingredients tasted and looked fresh. My food was hot, but not too hot to eat. It was attractive, but not 'plated'. This food tasted like something that, if I gave enough of a damn to do it, I might make myself. It tasted like the food I've eaten a thousand times with my high school and college friends when we were over at each other's houses during the summer. It tasted home-made.
Completely putting aside the burger for a moment, we need to address the massive side of Mac and Cheese that was delivered to my table. It's worth noting that Wahlburgers sells its food ala carte. You order a burger, you order sides, you pay separately for each. At first, I raised my eyebrows at this, but when I saw how huge my burger was, I absolutely admitted that I really didn't need a side. That....didn't really stop me from eating it, mind you. The Mac and Cheese, like the burger, was the perfect temperature to eat, and it tasted like something you might have made at home. The pasta was penne rather than macaroni, but the cheese sauce was flavorful without being overly salted or seasoned. Would I have done more to spice or flavor it? Sure, but not everyone likes black and red pepper in their sauce, or the careful addition of Chipotle Tobasco or Sriracha. Or any number of other things. Indeed, their dish was equal parts safe and tasty, and they're to be commended for it.
When it was all said and done, the checks came, and that's where the only real eyebrow-raised of the whole experience was. The burgers are all full-plate burger price without the sides. Thing is, the burgers are all HUGE, so you get full without needing to eat the sides. If you know this going in and don't order sides as a habit, the sticker shock won't hurt you too badly, but two people can easily drop $40 in there between the two of them if they're not careful.
Was the food worth it? I'm honestly leaning towards 'yes' on this one. Yes, I do think it's a little over-priced, but only a little. The food was all excellent, and the other three adults I dined with shared my opinions. I absolutely went into this thinking I was going to be dissapointed. I was absolutely wrong. However goofy some people might think Marky Mark and Co. are, in this respect, they certainly seem to have made good on their efforts.
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