Thursday, September 6, 2012

A Pleasant Burger in Placentia


B & C Burgers
1868 Placentia, Ave.
Placentia, CA 92870

Has it really been six months? Yes, I guess it has. This year is flying by. Every six months, like clockwork I have a standing appointment to get my teeth cleaned at my childhood dentist. Yes, I live in south county, but I have not wanted to change dentists. So every six months I make the trek up to Yorba Linda, get my teeth cleaned, and then usually have lunch with my Mom. It works out perfectly. I get to eat at a restaurant in an area I am usually not in, and she gets to eat lunch with her favorite child, (sorry to break this to my sister, but she will get over it).

After another spotless dentist visit, I had to choose where to eat. As an added wrinkle to my selection, my Mom informed me that my three nieces would be joining us for lunch. That narrowed my list quite a bit, so we headed to Placentia's very own B & C Burgers.

Restaurants like B & C Burgers dot every city in OC. They usually have names like Gus's, Bill's or Ted's. The menus are always very large, serving breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, and Mexican or Greek food. At B & C there is no Greek gyros, but they do have a wide assortment of Mexican favorites. After reading the Yelp reviews, I knew what I was going to be having when we showed up here.

We got to B & C right as the lunch rush was forming. The restaurant is pretty small, with six tables inside, and about the same number outside. Ordering is done at the counter, and with such a big menu, of course it takes awhile for most people to find out what they want, including my nieces. The heat was getting to me, so we ordered, got our drinks and waited for our food to come out.




It was not breakfast time, but a number of people in reviews had made mention of how good the B & C Breakfast Burrito ($6.99) is, so of course I had to try it. The potatoes were very creamy and the large pieces of sausage were very tasty. The eggs did get lost here and this burrito needed a little more cheese and bacon. What really made this burrito pop was the salsa that came with it. I am pretty sure it was homemade, and it added a nice kick of heat to the burrito. I almost wanted to steal the whole container of it and bring it home with me, but my Mom was sitting right next to me, so I was good.



I only ate half of the burrito, because of course I had to try their burgers. The one hamburger that got more mentions on Yelp than all others, was the Double Frisco Burger ($7.99 as a combo). I know his sounds like a huge burger, but the patties at B & C are very thin. I would have been very disappointed if I had only got a single patty. The sourdough bread could have been toasted a bit more, but it held the contents of the burger well. The cheese kind of got shoved to the side on this because the bacon was some of the best I have had in awhile. This is thick cut bacon, which was full of salty flavor. I also liked that they put mayonnaise on this burger. Not too many places opt for this condiment, and it was a refreshing change. Instead of fries I went with onion rings, and they were pretty good. The breading was not over the top, and the onion was cooked well, without being crazy greasy. Insiders tip, the yellow squirt bottles on the tables are not mustard, they are filled with ranch dressing.


If there is one food that I would say my Mom orders more than any other in restaurants, it is a Tuna Sandwich ($3.99). I can remember her ordering these when I was a kid at Polly's Pies, and the tradition continues today. She liked the basic looking tuna sandwich at B & C. The tuna was fresh, the produce was fine, and the bread appeared to be wheat of some sort.


My Mom and I split the Fried Zucchini ($2.99). This was a pretty good fried zucchini. Not a heavy breading, the zucchini seemed pretty fresh, and the light dusting of Parmesan cheese was much appreciated. This was not a real heavy fried item. The serving size for this was not awful for three dollars. We had some left over to take home.



Two of my three nieces had the Bacon Burger Combo with Fries ($5.99). Kids are picky eaters, and these two are no exception. Neither of them wanted cheese or produce on their burgers, which makes for a very drab looking picture. Both of them only ate a few bites of their burgers, after complaining that they were starving before the food got to the table. They were way more interested in the fries than the burgers.


Gracie of course did not want to be like her sister's, so she had the Kid's Chicken Strips ($4.99). She struggled to finish these and really only started eating when I told her I would get her a milkshake. She finally finished after forty-five minutes, but the milkshake would have to wait for another day because her sisters were getting antsy. I did try the chicken and it was good, nothing special.

B & C claims to have the best burger in Placentia, and up to this point in my research I believe that to be true. Although there is not much competition in this north county city. There is only fifteen burger places listed on Urbanspoon in Placentia, and nine of those are fast food chains, including the supposed number one burger in the city from In N Out. I like this burger better than In N Out. The patties might be thin, but the thick bacon makes up for that in my book. The service was really good. The guy working the counter came out and checked on us frequently. He also made sure that we were happy with everything, and cleared our plates for us while we were waiting for Gracie to finish her chicken strips. There were signs on the soda machine warning people that they are only allowed one refill, but we did not see anyone enforcing that. Now, where to go when I have my next dental visit in March?

Out of five Olympic medals, (because former Placentia resident, Janet Evans won five Olympic medals in her swimming career), five being best to zero being worst, B & C Burger gets 3 Olympic medals.

For more information on B & C Burgers, click here: http://www.bncburgers.com/index.html

B & C Burgers on Urbanspoon

8 comments:

  1. These burgers are better than In N Out? I have to respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree. I'm guessing you are not a big In N Out fan but regardless, the burgers at B&C are extremely average. The produce does not taste fresh, the patty is too thin and the overall flavor is lacking. Nice service though.

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  2. Speaking about burgers, but being completely off topic; I had the worst service I've ever had at a restaurant last night at Slater's 50/50. So disappointed and just needed a place to vent.

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  3. Anonymous - You are very perceptive. I am not a big fan of In N Out. As far as fast food burgers go they are probably the freshest, but their limited menu works against them in my book. If that was the only fast food place I was allowed to go for the rest of my life, I would probably be tired of it by the start of the second week. Just by B & C adding bacon to their burgers puts them a notch above In N Out in my opinion. I do understand the In N Out mania though. Thanks for the comment and also thanks for reading the blog.

    Cody - Sorry to hear about your experience at Slater's. Bad waiter/food or something else? I have given myself a break from Slater's after eating the one pound bacon burger. I need time to recuperate.

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  4. Anonymous here. I totally understand about the limited menu. I am a fan of big menus but I think the fact that In N Out has such a limited menu yet their fan club continues to grow says a lot about them. I also like to mix up my order at In N Out between grilled onions, raw onions, both grilled and raw, chopped chilis, animal style, extra spread, extra toast, etc. Each addition or subtraction makes a difference to me.

    You really should try Brea's Best. It's not too far from B & C. Their bacon avocado cheeseburger and onion rings always hit the spot.

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  5. Anonymous - You could probably revoke my food blogger card, but I was not aware that In N Out had chilis. I will have to get those for sure next time I go there. We have Brea's Best on our list of places to try. I have heard really good things. Also, if you want my two cents worth, you need to try G Burger in La Habra. I would love to know what you think about it. Spoiler alert, I think it is the best burger in OC. Thanks for getting back to me. Have a good weekend!

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    Replies
    1. I don't want your blogger card. It's been tainted LOL! The chilis at In N Out are nothing special. Just chopped up pepperoncini's I think but it gives the burger a spicy kick.

      Brea's Best is like B&C type of place but their burgers taste very fresh and very flavorful. Hopefully you'll like it. It's my favorite simple/cheap burger joint.

      I've been to G Burger a few times and I was impressed. Very good burger. You can tell that the place really cares about their product. G Burger serves up a damn good burger but my favorite burger place that isn't in the simple burger category is Mick's Karma Bar in Irvine. Their Habanero Burger and strawberry basil lemonade is pure bliss

      Keep up the good work. I thoroughly enjoy this blog

      - Anonymous

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  6. It was a combination of both. We arrived at 11:00 pm. Was told it was open seating and full menu until 2:00am. We sat down and five minutes later we were offered menus. The place was half full and most people looked like they were just drinking.
    We ordered appetizers and burgers. The appetizers took 40 minutes to come out. I went with my roommate. She said it was a classic case of someone forgetting to put our order in. In fact, the server said they lost power to their appetizer maker. Huh? And when unsay forty minutes it's not the typical exaggeration that people use when impatiently waiting. It was really forty minutes. We watched the end of the VMA's and an entire episode of Jersey Shore on one of the TVs. Haha.
    I ordered the ballpark. It had chili and cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was good, but it honestly tasted like something I could have gotten at Carl's. My roommate ordered the Thanksgiving burger and hated it. I tried it and it was awful. I thought it would be good, but the cranberry sayce tasted like chemicals. Luckily they let her return it and took it off the bill.
    My coke was refilled only once and my roommate was never asked if she wanted another beer. We didn't receive forks or napkins with our appetizers and the server even asked if out meal was worth the hour wait. No joke.
    Now, I know I sound like "that guy" right now but I'm kind of a chunky guy and I was excited to go all day yesterday. I have been only one other time, about a year and a half ago and it was good. Maybe the three locations has taken away from the service.
    My roommate who is always a food tipper because of her job made sure we only left about 18% when she normally always tips about 30%.

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  7. Cody - This is not the first story I have heard about Slater's service late at night. I have heard other complaints just like yours before. It almost seems like they should just close their kitchens past 11, or just limit their menu to appetizers after peak hours. Sounds like you hit the bottom of the barrel with your waiter too. Sorry to hear about your bad night.

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