‘Burger and Fries’
courtesy of ‘A. L. Huber’

Not to be confused with New York City’s brgr or another area competitor, BGR The Burger Joint (by whom they are currently being sued), is the latest entrant into DC’s rapidly expanding hamburger scene, brgr:shack. Click on through for a peek at the area’s latest patty purveyor.

Both the concept and decor of brgr:shack are simple, but manage to avoid being too plain. The menu is diverse enough to be appealing, featuring nine burgers such as the yum:brgr (topped with spring mix, tomato, avocado, brie, and wasabi sauce) and the luv:gouda (topped with caramelized onions, Gouda, and Dijon mustard on a pumpernickel bun). Likewise, the decor of the place, with simple, clean lines and colors exuded the idea that this was a high-class establishment when I stepped into the shop.

My meal, however left me a little disappointed. After a fairly lengthy wait – over 20 minutes – we finally got our food. The burger I had was well-cooked, but the seasoning was a little off. Although the first bites contained a lot of flavor, by the time I got to the middle of the burger there was almost none. The burgers were also only warm, not hot, and the cheese was only partially melted.

The other toppings, which were very fresh and delicious, and the quality of the bun did make up for this to some degree. However, the size of the burger, especially compared to other local gourmet burger places, was small, and both me and my buddy were left feeling not quite full and as though we did not get great value from the meal (two burgers, two fries, and a drink was around $30).

The highlight of the meal was the fries, both the regular and sweet potato variety, which were perfectly cooked -crispy on the outside and soft inside – well seasoned and served in a miniature deep fryer basket, which I thought was a cute touch.

Recently, I asked if the DC area was suffering from burger overload. Although I think the answer to that question is still no, I think it is becoming harder and harder for burger places to establish a niche in the already crowded market. With so much choice available in the marketplace, burger places have to pay more attention to the details and customers are going to be pickier.

It is a few of those details that trip up brgr:shack and keep it from truly establishing itself as a great burger place. That being said, there are a number of things that brgr:shack does very well that left me confident the restaurant can successfully find a place for itself.

‘Decor’
courtesy of ‘A. L. Huber’

brgr:shack is located in Ballston at 4215 Fairfax Drive and can be contacted via email (info@brgrshack.com), phone (703-647-9191), Facebook, or Twitter

Addison Huber

Addison is a fourth generation Washingtonian, actually born and raised within city limits of DC. He currently resides in Arlington and works in DC as a government lackey. Addison can be reached at addison (at) welovedc.com