Review: Bobby's Burger Palace

We grabbed a meal at the recently opened Bobby's Burger Palace at the Smithaven Mall before catching The Dark Knight.

The set-up is a little weird. You go in, stand in line, make your order, pay for your food before you actually see it; then you are handed a number, and you go sit down and wait for your food to be brought out. There aren't a lot of tables. A lot of the seats are part of a long, winding counter. I don't know what kind of ambience Flay was trying to create with that, but it doesn't work.

There are 10 burgers. Some are creative but didn't appeal to me: Napa Valley Burger (goat cheese, watercress, meyer lemon honey mustard) and L.A. Burger (avacado relish, watercress, cheddar cheese)for example.

I had the Philadelphia Burger (provolone cheese, griddled onions, hot peppers). My wife had the Santa Fe Burger (queso sauce, roasted green chiles [actually they were jalapenos out of a jar], and blue corn chips crumbled on top). The burgers were good, not great. They were $7.50 each, like 9 out of 10 of the burgers, and came by themselves.

They are not as big as you'd think for the price. They're about the size of a typical supermarket pre-formed hamburger.

Sides like fries are extra. Fries are $2.50, and onion rings are $3.00. The fries were all right, even though crinkle cut, which I hate. The onion rings were not great. Kind of bland. They worked better with the dipping sauce you get with the fries.

Drinks are also extra. My wife had a beer ($3.50), and I had a Sprite ($2.00). You can get a frozen margarita ($4.50) or a glass of wine ($4.50), which is interesting.

The food was good/decent. Overpriced but decent. My wife doesn't want to go back.

It's hard to give this place a star rating. It's really just fast food. But I'll say 2 1/2 out of 5.

Bobby's Burger Palace
355 Smith Haven Mall
Lake Grove, NY
631-382-9590

Bobby's Burger Palace

So if anyone has been waiting for my comments on this (though I can't imagine there is anyone), here it is. Yes, I was aware of it. But this is the first chance I've had to say anything.

So Bobby Flay has opened a burger place, Bobby's Burger Palace, at the Smithaven Mall. And that's kind of cool, huh? Big celeb chef, burger joint in Suffolk County?

God knows I likes my burgers. So I'll try the place soon. Though when the wife and I are in the area she only cares about the Cheesecake Factory or the California Pizza Kitchen. Yawn.

One thing of interest. Flay is using 80% lean beef. Holy shnit! I know you need some fat for flavor and so that the burgers stay together, but 20%? I guess he knows what he's doing.

I was around there last Friday, but at John Harvard's, with a buddy, trying their hideous beer tasting thing. The only food we had was nachos--no protein of any kind in them, like chicken or beef, BTW.

The Newsday article shows Flay's giant Irish head in your face:

Better than his giant man boobs.

Local Potatoes

Did anyone have a clue that people grew potatoes in Mattituck? They do! Then they cut them up real thin like and fry them and call them North Fork Potato Chips!

That was a lame introduction to North Fork Potato Chips, which is apparently a growing Long Island business. I get mine from Papa's Farm (a farm stand and nursery) on Connetquot Avenue in Central Islip (the subject of a future post). But I've seen them in King Kullens here and there.

OK, these aren't the greatest chips I've ever had. And the saltiness tends to be inconsistent among the types, and even in the same bag. Some chips get curled up, and it can be an f'n salt explosion. But they are a local product, so that's cool. My favorite is the Cheddar & Onion.