Stax Burger Bistro
http://phoenix.citysearch.com/profile/37045574/scottsdale_az/stax_burger_bistro.html
4400 N. Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
THE STORY
Located in Old Town Scottsdale, this nuevo-lounge burger spot offers up sliders made from a multitude traditional ingredients like beef, veggies and turkey. For the more “developed” palette you can also choose from some not so regular options like salmon, lamb, veal, buffalo and Ostrich. Stax also gives the eater their choice from a couple dozen toppings. Everything from a selection of cheeses, to onions, and as strange / fancy as foie gras and pineapples. However, that’s not exactly their shtick. Taking the words “mix and match” to a whole new level, they offer up unique combinations of meats and toppings called “grinds.” There are many chef suggestions from the “Stax Style” menu but if you’re feeling creative, you make the call, they make the burger! Beyond the burger, Stax also has regular and sweet potato fries as well as mac and cheese and my personal fave, tater tots! Accompanied by microbrews and owned by the same people who created the popular morning and brunch stop, The Breakfast Club, Stax certainly were stacked for success. So on a recently “bromantic” trip with my bros to Scottsdale, you could see why in the middle of some all-day drinking, Stax sounded like a must.
THE BURGER
I’m an old school kinda fella and appreciate tradition, my elders, institutions and modesty, especially in my burger adventures. But I realize burgers are for everyone so I tried to give the modern-lounge, new age vibe at Stax an earnest go. Truth is, I was pretty uncomfortable. I like burgers to feel special like home or a nice hug so after 10 minutes of beer goggling up the Stax “grinds” I decided to go old-school; a beef burger. After all, if you can’t get that right, how can you get anything right? The Tots arrived first. They were crispy and served with ketchup as well as chipotle aioli. I had to stop myself from devouring all of them to save room for the burger. The Stax burgers are slightly larger than your tradional slider and upon first glance had my intrigued. However, by the 2nd bite, I thought this was one of the most over-worked and over-thought burgers I have ever had. The flavor was boring and bland at best, the bun and cheese were fine but wrap a penny in a dollar and it’s still a penny. What a let down and let me remind you that I was drunk. Eating shoe laces tastes good after a dozen beers or so! The mac and cheese was pretty good but not even that or the tots, made me feel anything but BLAHHHHHHHHH about Stax.
5 out of 10
-Rev
The waitstaff is friendly and fabulous. They even said I could bring my dog INSIDE the gated area (she was happy to be outside so I left her there). But the burger was bland. Overcooked and seemed not to have any seasonings. A big disappointment. Also, the don't have traditional french fries; only tater tots and sweet potato fries, both of which i tried and didn't really like; or maybe they just don't go that well with a burgeer. I would've settled for some potato chips.
I want to like this place. The ambience is fabulous and the service is friendly and charming. But the burger and lack of fries just didn't cut it.