Same Address, Same Result?

Sol Agave

31111 Rancho Viejo Road

San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

I think it's safe to say that this address has had a pretty good run. We first visited this quiet little shopping center, nestled above the more hectic mission area of San Juan about a year ago, when South Coast Kitchen inhabited this very same space.  We raved about Chef Justin Davis's wine country-inspired food, but he got the itch to actually move up north, to real wine country and left broken-hearted culinary fans wanting more from this kitchen. Enter Sol Agave.

Sol Agave started as a food truck about two years ago but opened up in the former South Coast Kitchen spot at the start of this year. Executive Chef Manny Velasco is the man in charge here, and his prior work experience was obtained at Marie Calendars, Carmelita's, Amorelia, the Costa Mesa restaurant that recently got included on our restaurant wish list, and also some time spent at the now-shuttered Savannah Chophouse, as their Executive Chef. I learned of Chef Manny's cuisine from a former coworker, who turned me on to his Instagram account, and I knew I would be trying his food eventually.

Eventually turned out to be about two years later, but hey, we've been busy. I made reservations on a recent Saturday night at 7 pm, and I'm pretty glad I did. Having been here before, I knew this restaurant was small, so reservations were encouraged to avoid the twenty-minute wait other diners experienced on this evening. That will soon change, as later on this month, they will be moving across the parking lot, to the much more spacious revamped Harlow's old spot. I'm looking forward to seeing how that shakes out for them.

As for this evening, we were seated on their small patio out in front of their restaurant. According to their website, they tout their food as, "upscale, organic Mexican," and judging by the menu I'd say that's a pretty fair assessment. The Sol Agave menu boasts ten entrees ranging in price from $10 to $19 and is complimented with a fair assortment of starters and salads. There's also a brunch menu offered here on weekends, which we will definitely have to try out in the future, but for now, it was all about a long-overdue date night for Katie and I. Let's see how everything turned out for us on this evening.

As is customary when eating in a Mexican restaurant, we were brought out Chips and Salsa before our meal, but Sol Agave also included Bean Dip to up the ante. I always enjoy it when a restaurant includes an extra like this. These chips were pretty solid, with a nice crunch to them, and the salsa had a good consistency to it, with a mild pop of heat. The bean dip was nice and smooth and complimented the salsa wonderfully. After this little starter, I had quite a good feeling about this evening at Sol Agave.

Something that I've noticed that has been passed down to Katie, from her parents is a love of Guacamole ($7), as she orders it, just like they do in every Mexican restaurant they inhabit. The streak continued here at Sol Agave. This avocado mash is mixed with tomatoes, cilantro, Serrano chilies, chipotle cream, onion, and sprinkled with a little queso, and adorned with two plantains. This was very fresh and clean tasting guacamole, but I was hoping for a little flavor boost from the ingredients added to this. I might see if they can make a spicy version of this next time we are here.

I knew we'd be getting this Cazuela de Queso ($9) when I read OC Register Restaurant Critic, Brad Johnson's glowing review a few months back, and he was spot on. I learned from the waitress that this is not listed as a queso fundido because this includes sour cream in the bubbly cheese mixture. It's also topped with pasilla pepper, guacamole, and a little pico de gallo. Maybe because this had the sour cream added, or for some other reason, this was probably one of the lightest versions of this starter that we have ever had. It was delicious, with a subtle flavor that was not in your face, or too heavy. It came with handmade corn tortillas that were the best I have had, and I'm not even a fan of corn tortillas. They were thick but had an airiness to them. Excellent, and this is a must-try when dining at Sol Agave.

Just like Katie ordering guacamole in a Mexican restaurant, you can almost always count on her ordering Chicken Fajitas ($20) in that same restaurant. True to form, that's what she had here. This organic chicken came with plenty of grilled veggies, a dollop of sour cream, and guacamole. These fajitas did not need the attention-grabbing sizzle and steam that most restaurants use to drum up interest in their fajitas. The chicken was one of the most tender we have had, as that is one of my litmus tests for a Mexican restaurant since most over cook pollo to almost jerky-like toughness. The orange sauce covering the chicken was almost like an orange chicken sauce, just not as sweet. The veggies were done well, and this also came with the great corn tortillas and beans and rice, but not pictured. Sorry about that.

Okay, I guess I shouldn't publicly shame Katie for getting the same thing all the time, as I always seem to gravitate towards Carnitas ($16) on my maiden voyage to a new Mexican restaurant. This was an excellent rendition of this dish. The Kurobata pork was tender, a bit fatty, which I don't mind, and full of flavor. Really good swine here. I opted for the flour tortillas, which were okay, but I should have gotten the much better corn version. The beans and rice were okay, but nothing earth-shattering. I really did enjoy the pork though.

Pretty full by this point, but we were tempted by the Churros ($6). These freshly fried churros were filled with cajeta, which is a caramel-like syrup, usually made with caramelized goat's milk. Not sure if that was the case here, but I kept that fact hidden from Katie, who's a little squeamish about things like that. Anyways, back to these churros, which also came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and cinnamon whipped cream. These came to the table super hot, and we had to let them sit for a while which was hard to do. I really enjoyed these, but wish there was a little more cinnamon or sugar clinging to the churros, and of course, a little more ice cream could never hurt.

Modern Mexican is quickly becoming one of my favorite kinds of cuisine. Restaurants like Sol Cocina, Tacos y Amor, Anepalcos, Tempo Urban Kitchen, and more have shown OC diners that Mexican food has evolved from the combo plates that they have grown up with. You can definitely add Sol Agave to the list of very good upscale Mexican, and I'm pretty stoked that they are located close to where we live. This restaurant, along with the others I have listed, really shows their chef's creativity and commitment to quality. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this restaurant evolves once they are in their new, larger digs across the parking lot. I'm also pretty interested to see what takes over their old spot and hoping for a third straight great restaurant for this charming location.

Out of five bottles of tequila, (not only because agave is essential in the production of tequila, but also because they will be showcasing a great selection of tequila when they move to their new location), five being best to zero being worst, Sol Agave gets 3.5 tequila bottles.

For more information about Sol Agave, and to keep up with their impending move, check out their website here: http://www.solagavesjc.com/

You Snooze, You're Not Going to Lose

Snooze an AM Eatery

3032 El Camino Real 

Tustin, CA 92782

I've come to realize that most people are not morning people. I'm proud to say that I am a morning person. I love waking up early, getting some stuff done, and if I'm being completely honest, taking a nap later in the afternoon to make up for the sleep I missed by waking up early. My wife Katie is completely the opposite, as she likes to sleep in until noon, and then stays up late checking out her phone until the late hours of the evening. So it was rare that I could get her up and out the door to try a breakfast restaurant that has gotten a lot of buzz for the better part of three months now, Snooze.

A little bit of buzz might be one of the biggest understatements I have ever made on this restaurant blog. Snooze, which opened its first OC location in early July, has been a real hot ticket since opening up at the Tustin Marketplace, right next to Hopdoddy Burger Bar, and in the same parking lot as Ikea. They not only usually have wait times on weekdays, but on weekend mornings like this one, you can wait up to two hours to get inside and get a table. Needless to say, I was intrigued about the new kid in town.

Snooze is not a new restaurant. They have locations scattered about in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and two others operating in San Diego. Founded by two brothers, a little over ten years ago in Denver, they wanted to reinvent the first meal of the day, which to be honest is a little challenging for a lot of restaurants. Don't get me wrong, I love eating breakfast foods, but after seven years of writing this blog, it's become apparent that a lot of restaurants serve the same old breakfast entrees that we've all become accustomed to for years. From the little that I knew about Snooze, I knew this was not going to be the case on this morning.

The Snooze menu is broken up into egg dishes, Benedict's, sweet breakfast foods, lighter fare, and a few breakfast inspired sandwiches, including a very intriguing Havana Day Dreaming sandwich, which is a riff on a Cuban, which is my favorite sandwich of all time. I also enjoyed seeing on their menu that they encourage customers to customize their items to suit their tastes, something that a lot of restaurants have gotten away from these days. Snooze also features a full bar and touts several cocktails, Bloody Mary's, and champagne drinks.

We arrived here at just before 10 and were met with a two and a half hour wait. Not that we didn't see this coming with all the people waiting outside the restaurant, and everything we had heard about this place. We gave the hostess our cell phone number, and killed time by walking around the entire Tustin Marketplace, which made the time go relatively quick, even though I was becoming hungrier by the minute. Finally, as we were in T.J. Maxx, my phone buzzed, and we high-tailed it back to the restaurant and got seated two hours and fifteen minutes after putting our name in. Let's see if the wait would be worth it.

Ladies first, so we'll start with Katie's choice on this now early afternoon, the Snooze Breakfast Burrito ($10.25 or $15 as Katie ordered it). Yes, you read that correctly, this breakfast burrito was $15, as Katie added caramelized onion, sausage, and avocado to their base burrito that also came with scrambled eggs, hash browns, black beans, cheddar and jack cheese, and was then topped with pico de gallo and a green chili sauce. This was a huge burrito, which Katie only finished half of it and I took the other half home for dinner. I really enjoyed this the next day, even though Katie did not leave me too much in the way of sausage. Very selfish.

The breakfast taco has always intrigued me, and it must have done the same for our good friend Oscar, as he went with the Juan's Breakfast Tacos ($10 or $12 with bacon added). These three corn tortillas came topped with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and jack cheese. Oscar is a lightweight when it comes to spice, so he opted to omit the green chili hollandaise sauce and pico de gallo from his tacos. I'm sure this would have made these better, but these did not receive any complaints from our friend. I'll have to try breakfast tacos soon to see what all the fuss is about.

The creativity of the breakfast items at Snooze really makes itself evident in the Benedict portion of the menu. I was happy that they offered a Benny Duo ($13.25) for the indecisive here so I could try two Benedict's at the same time. It was a tough choice choosing between the six Benedict's offered, but I went with the Chilaquiles Benedict and the Chili Verde Benny. I did enjoy both of these, but I think the chilaquiles version edged out the chili verde version. The chilaquiles version had barbacoa beef placed on top of a stack of ranchero sauced tortillas and is finished with cheese, poached egg, roasted poblano hollandaise sauce, pico de gallo, and cotija cheese. The beef was good, and the hollandaise sauce provided a nice spark of heat. The egg was poached well, and the runny yolk bound everything together perfectly. The chili verde option came with a very good pork topping the green chili drenched tortillas, along with cheese, green chili hollandaise, poached egg, pico de gallo, and cotija cheese. The pork was solid here, but I expected a little more from the green chili sauce. It kind of fell flat for me. I also had wished that the serving size of these were a little larger. It seemed like I took three bites, and they were gone. These also came with house hash browns, which were pretty average. I asked for this extra crispy, but they were still a little soft in some spots.

I guess I was pretty indecisive, or I just wanted to get a good lay of the land here at Snooze because I also took advantage of their Pancake Flight ($10.50). With this option, you get to choose three different kinds of pancake offerings. Oh, the breakfast spot you go to only has two or three kinds of pancakes, not the case at Snooze. Here they have six varieties, plus three kinds of french toast, which you can also include in your pancake flight. I selected the Pineapple Upside Down Pancake, the Pancake of the Day, and the OMG French Toast. The pineapple upside down is a gold medal winner here, with its caramelized pineapple chunks, vanilla cream, and cinnamon butter. No need for syrup with this sweet pancake. The silver medal out of this trio would go to the OMG french toast. Here they stuff brioche with mascarpone, and top it with fresh strawberries, vanilla cream, salted caramel, and toasted coconut. The result is a decadent french toast, which does not overwhelm with sweetness, and a good crunch to the outside, which I liked a lot. The pancake of the day on this particular Sunday was a white chocolate raspberry concoction, which was also pretty solid, but would end up with the bronze medal on this plate.

I really enjoyed my time at Snooze. The food was good, but what made this restaurant for me was the creativity of it. This is not a normal diner breakfast, this is breakfast food with some pizazz. They really made breakfast their own, and it seems to have struck a chord with people. Not sure if it's a wait two hours every weekend kind of food, but every once in awhile for sure. I can definitely see Snooze opening up additional OC locations down the line, which will help alleviate wait times here. I thought the prices were on the high side, but again, this is more of a special occasion kind of breakfast restaurant, instead of every weekend. Service was exceptional on this visit, even with our waitress, Mel nearing the end of her busy shift. She was cheerful and answered all of our queries. I've heard that food can sometimes take awhile to make its way out to the tables, but ours was served in a timely manner on this afternoon. I'll look forward to coming back here again and trying their breakfast pot pie, more of their pancakes, and of course that Cuban-style sandwich. Hopefully, I can get Katie to turn into a morning person again real soon.

Out of five alarm clocks, (because of course all of them have a snooze button, which probably gets used way too much), five being best, to zero being worst, Snooze an AM Eatery gets 3 alarm clocks.

For more information about Snooze, head to their website here: http://snoozeeatery.com/

 

Sound the Alarm, There's a New Barbecue Restaurant in South OC - CLOSED

Firehouse Ribs and More

111 West Avenida Palizada 

San Clemente, CA 92672

Katie and I have been trying to be more active in this last part of the year. We have been walking a lot more frequently, which has actually made us feel pretty good. On a recent Friday afternoon, Katie had gotten off work early, and we decided to go walk one of our favorite trails in all of OC, the San Clemente Beach Trail.

This trail not only offers the picturesque coastline of the Pacific Ocean but has the added excitement of watching the commuter trains passing by, only a few feet from the walkers, cyclists, and joggers taking advantage of this great spot. This trail also offers us the advantage of trying out some nearby restaurants, and after giving Katie three choices, she decided we'd give Firehouse Ribs and More a try.

I've often lamented the fact on this blog that there are not many good options for barbecue in South OC. In my opinion, the only decent option for barbecue south of the El Toro Y is Dickey's, but they are really more of a fast-casual spot, and not really a restaurant for dining in at, although you can definitely do that if you wish. With the lackluster barbecue in these parts, I always get excited by the prospect of a new barbecue spot becoming my new favorite place to get ribs, brisket and more, and that's what I was hoping for when we entered Firehouse.

Firehouse Ribs is located in one of the strangest shopping centers we have been to in a while. One block south of El Camino Real on Palizada is Old City Plaza, which is also home to a Chinese, Mexican, and breakfast restaurant. It was also the location of some retail shops, which were all closed at the very early hour of 6 pm. Kind of odd, and even odder, was the fact that when Katie and I walked in Firehouse, the only other table occupied besides our own belonged to my aunt and uncle. We quickly took the two empty seat at their table and set up shop while they waited for their food to arrive.

Opened since April, the decor here can best be described as kitschy. There's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, along with a Millennium Falcon, lots of framed rock music posters and albums, and if you feel so inclined, you can eat in one of their two private dining rooms, which just happen to be converted jail cells from the Historic San Clemente Jail. The menu is pretty straight forward, and not going to make you gasp at the hugeness of it. There are seven barbecue plates, along with two burgers, pulled pork sliders, and chicken strips. They are also waiting for a liquor license, which we were assured was on its way soon. Since we ordered after my aunt and uncle, let's take a look at their food first, and see if this will become our go-to spot for barbecue in South OC.

First up was my uncle's selection, off of their specials board in front of the restaurant, the Baby Back Rib Special ($12.99). With this special, that seems to be available regularly based on the pictures on Yelp, you receive three ribs, two sides, and cornbread. He had no qualms with the ribs, calling them, "delicious." For his sides, he opted for the mashed potatoes and the baked beans. The cornbread won rave reviews from him and his wife. A very satisfying meal for my uncle.

Not what many would consider ordering in a barbecue restaurant, my aunt Hiroko had the Chicken Strip Dinner ($9.99). These tender pieces of white meat chicken were not overly breaded like others tend to be. This allowed the natural flavor of the chicken to shine through. The fries were pretty average, and nothing special. A good plate for people not wanting barbecue.

Katie went a more traditional barbecue route at Firehouse, by getting the Pulled Pork Sliders ($9.99). These three sliders came with plenty of pork and coleslaw, and also included fries as a side item. She liked the pulled pork here, calling it, "tender and juicy," while the coleslaw added a nice textural crunch. The fries again were just average.

As is my usual in a barbecue restaurant, I always try the largest combo plate available. At Firehouse that would be this Rib Combo Plate ($21.99). This plate was made up of three baby back ribs, two beef ribs, one side item, and cornbread. The best of the bunch was the beef ribs. These had plenty of meat on them, which was tender and flavorful. I don't think beef ribs get enough love from barbecue enthusiasts, and I'm going to attempt to change that by ordering beef ribs whenever I'm in a barbecue restaurant. The baby back ribs were a little disappointing. Parts of them were good, but some parts of the ribs were on the dry side, which was rectified with adding some extra sauce. I also had mixed thoughts about the side item I selected, the mashed potatoes. The menu says these include onions, parsley, and bacon, which they did, but I expected a bigger flavor boost from these. They did have a good texture, not too lumpy or too dry. The cornbread was good, but not as sweet as I enjoy it. It did hold up structurally, which is my pet peeve when it comes to cornbread, which can sometimes be too crumbly.

Firehouse Ribs and More is a welcome addition to the desolate barbecue landscape of South OC. This is still a very new restaurant, so I'm curious to see where they go from here. The barbecue this evening was not knocked your socks off, but it's a better alternative than not having any barbecue options. I'd probably stick to the specials here, as they are more moderately priced than the regular plates, and the portions are pretty much the same size, and you also get to choose an extra side item. People are slowly finding out about this place, as when we left the restaurant, it was packed with customers consuming lots of ribs. I've also heard great things about their burgers, and they looked fantastic as well. With only two servers to help a full restaurant, service was stretched a little thin on this evening, but they were at least trying. We will definitely be back after future visits to our favorite walking trail in OC, the San Clemente Beach Trail.

Out of five dalmatians, (because all firehouses need to have one these black and white spotted dogs), five being best to zero being worst, Firehouse Ribs and More gets 3 dalmatians.

For more information about Firehouse Ribs and More, head to their website, which has one of the longest web addresses ever, here: http://bbqrestaurantsanclemente.com/bbq-restaurant-san-clemente-san-clemente-bbq-restaurant-firehouse-ribs-bbq-restaurant-san-clemente-ca-ribs-san-clemente-ca-golden-roasted-chicken-san-clemente-pulled-pork-sandwiches-san-clemente-beef-ribs-san-clemente-pork-ribs-san-clemente-old-town-san-c

Not All Smoke and Mirrors at Creamistry - CLOSED

Creamistry

27692 Santa Margarita Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I didn't see the big deal about liquid nitrogen ice cream. I had been to two of Creamistry's competitors and left underwhelmed. That's probably why I was not expecting too much when we arrived here after a rather lackluster dinner nearby. They had made me a convert when I walked back through their door.

Creamistry has expanded like my sweatpants after inhaling their fantastic ice cream. They have locations throughout California, including eight in OC, and even have spots in Arizona, Texas, and on the other side of the world in India. I'm unsure of the science behind their ice cream, as I barely made it out of my 10th-grade science class, but I know the result is delicious. Each frozen treat is made to order using liquid nitrogen.

The menu here can be intimidating with all of their choices. They have tried to make it easier for Creamistry virgins like me by ordering in four easy steps. First, you order the size that you would like. They offer singles, doubles, and shakes. Then you select your base, with choices like premium cream, organic cream, sorbet, or coconut-based, which is non-dairy, vegan, and an alternative for people sensitive to lactose, eggs, or gluten. Now, the hard part picking a flavor, and with 30 different kinds, this could take a while. The last step is adding any toppings or sauces you may desire. Then your order is made.

It is a remarkable process with all the smoke, and it takes only a few minutes before your ice cream is ready. Let's see what got me all excited.

What you see above is the best Peanut Butter and Chocolate Shake ($7.50) I have had. It had a great chocolate flavor, with just the right amount of peanut butter, which got sucked up the straw in little pellets. This shake had the perfect chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio, and I also enjoyed the thick chocolate sauce coating the cup and the whipped cream. It's so good, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about this shake since I had it a few weeks ago. Thankfully for my waistline, they are not too close to my house, so this will be a special treat when I'm back in this area.

Next up were the scoops that Katie and Stephanie got. Honestly, I was in such a euphoric state with my shake, I'm not even sure what Stephanie got, but I know that Katie selected the Single Scoop Nutella ($5.50) made with the coconut base and pecans added. She loved this non-dairy ice cream, which she claims is one of the best she's eaten. I tried it and thought it was good, but I'd stick to ice cream made with dairy. She enjoyed the slight coconut tinge here but wished the Nutella would have been more prominent.

I was kind of blown away by Creamistry for not expecting too much when walking in here. With previous mediocre visits to their competitors, Sub-Zero and Scoops and Scoops, they are leading the pack regarding liquid nitrogen ice cream in OC. I look forward to trying more of their flavors, including their cereal flavors, which get a lot of attention. The girl who took our order was very patient with us as we perused the overwhelming menu, and she explained everything to us. Glad I finally found my go-to liquid nitrogen ice cream place. Now, I have to just practice a little restraint.

Out of five airplane tires (because nitrogen is also used to inflate airplane tires), five being best to zero being worst, Creamistry gets 3.5 airplane tires.

For your nearest Creamistry, check out their website here: https://creamistry.com/

You're the Boss at Burger Boss

Burger Boss

27690-B Santa Margarita Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92691

I get pretty excited whenever a new burger place comes to town, even though it seems like this happens at least every month or so. Perfect for a burger lover, such as myself. There's a sort of anticipation as to whether the new joint can replace one of my burger spots on my personal, "Mount Hamburgermore." Trademark pending. Most of the time the answer is no of course, but I do always have that sense of anticipation that this new burger is going to be able to dethrone one of my top burgers. Oh, you want to know who is currently on my Mount Hamburgermore? Read on then.

Back to the new burger place on the block, Burger Boss.  Burger Boss has burst on the scene all of a sudden, and are planning a very aggressive expansion from what I can gather. They have two restaurants open in the Inland Empire and have five listed as either coming soon or already up and running in OC.

Since every burger spot needs a gimmick, Burger Boss actually has two. They are a 100 percent completely customizable burger spot. There are no already made burger options here, you build yours from the bun up, adding sauces, toppings, and proteins. Their second twist is that they are featuring grass fed burgers, while all their meats are growth hormone and antibiotic free. They also do not offer real bacon, instead only having turkey bacon at each location. So this would be my first time partaking in this alternate bacon. I was interested to see how this would play out.

The ordering process at Burger Boss is a little different than most places. When you walk in the door, immediately to your right there are two ordering screens where you can build and order your own burger. These machines are not very user-friendly. With so many options, each burger takes a long time to build, and the swiping and selecting features are not too easy to navigate through. Also, with only two of these machines in a such a tight area, this part of the restaurant tends to get a little bottle-necked. Seeing our struggles with this machine, our friends Chuck and Stephanie decided to order at the register up front, which also was not a speedy process with the small type on the menu boards and the many choices of toppings.

After ordering, you give your name and the food is brought out to your table. I'd much rather be given a number, or get the food myself, than having someone carrying my meal and yelling my name in a restaurant. This 50 seat restaurant seems smaller than it actually is, because the layout is kind of off, and people appear to be on top of you while you're eating. There's an odd 4 seat high top bar facing the kitchen, which takes up too much room, and really restricts the flow of the space. Even though I was a little uncomfortable here, and there were some kinks, I was still pretty excited to see how Burger Boss was going to turn out for us.

Up first was Katie's dinner, the Chicken Sandwich ($8.67). She chose to add smoked Gouda, grilled mushrooms, baby spinach, grilled onions, and garlic herb mayo to her sandwich. She enjoyed this sandwich, but would skip the spinach next time, or at least take half of it off. The chicken was moist and the mushrooms were done nicely here. She would not hesitate to get another chicken sandwich at Burger Boss again.

Sorry, I did not get real great shots of my Double Burger ($12.36), because I was so excited to try it. I piled on the toppings here; turkey bacon, fried egg, sharp cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and jalapenos, along with chipotle mayo. To be honest, I expected a little more out of this burger than what I got. The meat here is very clean tasting, it's not greasy, and even though this was a double, I did not feel sluggish after finishing this. Good quality meat, but it still needed to be seasoned more. The toppings also fell flat as well. This was my first time having turkey bacon, and hopefully my last. It did not have the flavor of regular pork bacon, in fact, I couldn't taste it at all. The chipotle mayo had no flavor, and the jalapenos were very weak. When I saw this burger placed in front of me, I thought it was going to be great, but it was just very average.

This was the same sentiment that Stephanie had about her Burger ($7.98). She said it was okay, but she was hoping that the combo of pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, grilled onions, and chipotle mayo were going to provide something in the way of heat, but all fell flat. She felt the meat here was pretty solid, but the toppings are where things went awry.

A simple Burger ($7.98), for a simple man. Our old friend Chuck concocted his burger with Gouda, lettuce, pickle, tomato, and garlic herb mayo. He thought his burger was good, but he did not think it was worth the price.

The fries at Burger Boss are customize-able as well. Both of us couples got the Boss Fries ($3.99) to complete our meals. Katie and I went with chopped jalapenos and onions while adding their sharp cheddar sauce and thousand island dressing to the top of the fries. Chuck and Steph had just the cheese sauce covering their fries, along with some ketchup and chipotle mayo on the side. We should have just had the fries plain. The cheese sauce was not too tasty, and just like on the burgers, the other sauces failed to impress. The fries were good enough on their own, though. Good crunch to the outside, and soft inside, just like a great french fry should be. Next time I'd just get the regular fries, and forgo the boss version.

So, you can probably guess that the burgers here at Burger Boss did not make my Mount Hamburgermore. The burgers were not awful, but they did not pop with flavor, and either did the dull toppings or condiments. I don't really get the whole, "healthy burger" concept. People don't eat burgers to be healthy. When I want one, I'm fine with a greasy, great tasting burger with real bacon. This is kind of like vegetarians eating veggie ham and salami, which is another thing I have never really understood. If they don't like meat, why are they eating vegetables disguised and flavored as meat? Burger Boss should at least give people the option for real bacon, but sadly, I'm not sure that would have saved the boring burgers here. Sadly, these burgers could not live up to my current top four burgers who have taken up residence on my personal Mount Hamburgermore, which currently includes the burgers from The Counter, G Burger, Burger Parlor and Hopdoddy. Looking forward to seeing who'll be able to knock one of these guys off my mountain.

Out of five video games, (because the TV show Bob's Burgers has an episode called Burger Boss, and it centers around a video game), five being best to zero being worst, Burger Boss gets 2.5 video games.

For more information about Burger Boss, head to their website here: http://www.burgerboss.com/#