Andy’s Burgers
http://andysburgers.net
83699 Indio Blvd
Indio, CA 92201
THE STORY
It was day 2 of the Metal Summit and as stories of a burger in a castle began to spread, I started getting asked if there would be another Burger Conquest. With a constant desire to please people, I quickly whipped one up. After a quick search of the interwebs, I stumbled across Andy’s Burgers. Andy’s opened in 1991 in NC by Kenny Moore for only $500. The restaurant has grown to more than 100 locations.
Known locally for fresh daily specials, homemade Mexican food mixed with all-American eats in a friendly environment, Andy’s also serves breakfast and just about anything that can be fried or cooked on a flat grill. Amy, Jason, Dave, Allie, Ian and I piled into 2 cars and braved the blazing desert heat to get some burgers.
THE BURGER
Upon inspection the burger had a West Coast style appeal Ala In-N-Out although a much larger burger. Served in a toasted sesame seed bun, I ordered mine lettuce, cheese and special sauce. At Andy’s they make ‘em how they make ‘em so no sense in asking for medium rare. A thick bun held together some lettuce, sauce cheese and a very thing burger patty. The burger was good although not robust with flavor. The large bun and sizable pile of lettuce overpowered. I wished I had known about the whole wheat bun option but it was too late. The fries were pretty standard frozen fries and weren’t begging to be written home about or blogged in this case.
On the way in, there was a sign on the door advertising 99 cent tacos and most certainly planted the idea in my brain. When I worked at McDonalds, we called the “suggestive selling.” So along with my burger and fries, I ordered one hard shell beef taco. In Spanish they say “el ganador” which means the winner! The beef was full of flavor, the taco shell was hot and fresh and the cheese was the fancy version of what we got served on taco day in our grade school cafeteria. I actually wish I had gotten a plate full of them.
6 out of 10 ounces for the burger
8 out of 10 ounces for the taco
-Rev
For such a simple burger it was extremely delicious and filling. I, myself, would have given it a 7.5 I think. I am a big fan of the thousand island dressing on a burger, and I don't think enough places take advantage of that ingredient. I wish we woul dhave been informed that a wheat bun was an option, though, because I think that might have bumped my rating up to an 8. The place was super old school diner cute, and I am glad I was invited on the trip.
For the type of burger it was, i liked it. Didn't love it. Maybe a 5/10. I would say that i was BUMMED about missing the whole wheat bun option, and was even more bummed that i didnt try the taco!
I ordered a burger with avocado and bacon. I figured, hey, I'm in California, I ought to get some avocado…
…and bacon, well, bacon is delicious.
Overall the burger was fine.
The meat was fine. The avocado was fine. The everything-else was fine.
I wasn't in love with it by any stretch of the imagination and if 2 things hadn't happened, I'd probably have forgotten about it altogether by the time my flight hit ground in New York.
Those 2 things were:
1 – I was in the California desert and I don't get out there much.
2 – I was asked to comment on it.
I don't personally lament not knowing about the whole wheat bun, but I would certainly have preferred a bun that wasn't so basic.
Rev tells me that I was the first person to order cottage cheese as a side on any Burger Conquest. Kudos to me.
I don't personally like french fries all that much, so I opted for something that wasn't french fries. I don't recall the other options because I'm fairly sure I was fascinated with the idea that I could actually GET cottage cheese in a burger joint and I got momentarily fixated.
The cottage cheese – if you like cottage cheese – was also fine.
I don't think I'll be rushing over there anytime soon but I won't warn anyone away.
Burger: Eh. Put barbeque sauce on anything and I'm pretty happy. Was kinda a pretty lame, frozen turkey burger, not very well cooked. It's surroundings were more exciting, though. I too got avocado, and I experienced the whole wheat bun which, while probably better than the regular bun, was still not a GREAT whole wheat bun by any means. Oh well.
Taco: a-MAAAAAAAAAAY-zing!
One of the best tacos I've ever eaten. This point was driven home further upon consuming Del Taco on the drive back to the airport. Andys: 1, Del Taco, 0.
Hey Rev! Just FYI, there is a bit of a mix-up in your research. Kenny Moore’s Andy’s Burgers, Shakes & Fries are located only in eastern NC at the present. We do have the best burgers in the good ol’ US of A, so you are invited to roll on over here and try one! Thanks!
Neal Dennis, COO, Andy’s Burgers Shakes & Fries