It Only Made Sense…

that our tour of Georgetown’s Historic Town Square should include lunch in an historic building. And we had four restaurants from which to choose. And, since Georgetown is home to Southwestern University, we decided to attend Burger University.

“On November 28, 2011, Alan Grimsley trembled outside of what used to be his burger restaurant. After a year of hard work and dedication, he watched his beloved Starburger Restaurant in Liberty Hill burn to the ground. One month later, on the verge of financial ruin, Alan placed a single ad in the business section of Craigslist, searching for an investor interested in opening a new burger joint. The next morning Alan had several emails in his inbox, but one in particular stood out. The email was from Georgetown resident and real estate investor, Rob May. Rob explained that he owned the century-old ‘Lockett Building’ on the beautiful square in Georgetown and that he always wanted to turn it into a burger joint. It did not take long for the two men to realize that they shared the same vision and within a month after their introduction, Burger University was born….

“The walls of Burger University are painted a rich navy blue which is complimented by the warm brown tones from the antique pine floors and hand crafted banisters. The halls are decorated with black and white photos of various Texas colleges and universities as well as menus (our curriculum) inscribed on giant blackboards…. Everyone who eats at Burger University is a Graduate with Highest Honors and claims us as their Alma Mater!” (burgeruniveristy.net).

As you might guess from the paragraph above, the restaurant leans heavily—very heavily—on a college theme. And at times stretches this theme to the point of being lame. I offer as an example the Burger University Fight Song.

Now if you want a real fight song, I present the following written by the great Meredith Wilson of Music Man fame (Quick—what’s the name of the Barbershop Quartet in the Music Man?*):

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”
Let every loyal Iowan sing;

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,
Until the walls and rafters ring (Rah! Rah!)

Come on and cheer, cheer, cheer, for IOWA
Come on and cheer until you hear the final gun.

The word is “Fight! Fight! Fight! for IOWA,”
Until the game is won.

Now that’s poetry, don’t you agree?

The theme is reflected in the menu where sandwiches are called “Majors,” sides are called “Minors,” your bun choice is called “Housing,” add-ons are “Electives,”

and the kiddies meals are “Freshmen Meals.”

And there is a eating challenge—“The Full Ride”—that is calling out for a visit from Adam Richman and Man v Food.

5 lbs. Burger Challenge: Eat it all and it’s free!
Eat 5 of our double burgers with a side of fries in less than 60 minutes and you’ll earn a spot on our Dean’s List as well as a t-shirt and bragging rights.

And we suspect that the Drop Outs are those who didn’t meet the challenge,

while the Scholars are enthusiastic members of the student body.

Chuck stayed true to form and ordered the Campus Classic Burger described as a fresh ground, hand formed beef patty on a bakery fresh bun (shown here with the addition of an onion ring from our side order).

I, on the other hand, ordered The Mascot which is the Campus Classic Burger with the addition of bleu cheese, bacon, and grilled onions.

After you’ve received your burger, you head over to the condiments bar where you will find onions, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapeno peppers, and pickles plus dispensers for catsup, mustard, mayo, and barbecue sauce. And we’re still not done, on the bar is a dispenser of hot cheese for those wanting cheese fries plus the restaurant’s “signature” sauce and buttermilk ranch and jalapeno ranch dressings.

Both burgers came on nicely toasted buns. My Mascot well-topped with plenty of sharp and salty bleu cheese, crisp smoky bacon, and sweet grilled onions. But the burgers themselves were rather dry and somewhat bland. While they advertise that the meat is never frozen and that the patties are hand formed, these were a far cry from the never frozen and hand formed patties we just had at Classics Burgers & “Moore” in Kerrville. The uniform roundness of Burger University’s patties suggests to me that these had been “hand formed” in a burger press which compresses the meat.

With our burgers, we shared a small order of shoestring fries and a small order of onion rings.

Yes, what you see in this photo are two small orders. Knowing that we would never eat all of both and relying on past experience, I told Chuck that we needed to finish the onion rings. These never seem to reheat very well. And I must admit that, as much as I love shoestring fries fresh out of the fryer, it is also hard to reheat them without them drying out.

Perhaps had we not just eaten one of our Top Five Burgers we would have enjoyed these more. But I left somewhat disappointed and can’t award any higher a grade than 3.5 Addies.

*The answer is the Buffalo Bills.

To review the role of Adler, Kitty Humbug, and the Addie rating system, read the November 14, 2011 blog.