One very famous burger chain's "have it your way" slogan has served them well for decades -- and there's a reason for that.
While nearly everybody can say they enjoy a good burger, the masses are divided into many parts when it comes to exactly how they like that burger built.
I'm an American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo, mustard and ketchup kinda girl myself. But as I perused the menu of the new Cheeburger Cheeburger on Main Street in Newark, I was tempted to change my usual course thanks to a wide variety of topping options.
Our foursome gathered for lunch around noon and as the hour passed, the old silver diner that had served us up sloppy eggs and hash browns under several different ownerships became packed with burger-craving patrons. The pink and silver interior of the new restaurant is nothing like what you may have remembered when it was the Korner Diner or Jude's back in the day. The joint is shined up like a new penny.
A cardboard cutout of James Dean welcomed us at the door while Betty Boop flirted with us from our table. Marilyn ushered us ladies into the restroom and the "Pepsi-Pepsi, No Coke" line made famous from the Saturday Night Live skit hung over the counter, behind which endless varieties of delicious milkshakes were made with Edy's ice cream.
Once our friendly waitress arrived with our soda selections in old-school mason jars, we began to rattle off our orders. To start, our foursome shared the Best of Both basket ($4.49 for the half order, $5.49 for regular) with their four dipping sauces ($2.99).
The fries were thin and crispy with bits of potato skin on the ends -- just how I like them -- and the onion rings were also unusually thin, which went over well with the group as we all decided big, thick onion rings are tougher to bite through. The cheese, jalapeno and garden vegetable sauces were basic, but the zesty horseradish sauce added a memorable kick to our fries and rings.
I ordered The Classic 5.5 ounce "beginner" burger ($5.39) and opted to keep it classic and stick with my usual toppings. Our other carnivore decided to create his own version of a steak burger and went with the Semi-Serious 7 ounce burger ($6.39) with Heinz 57 sauce, bacon, mushrooms, onions and Swiss cheese. He found the option of Heinz 57 to be a big-time bonus since it mixes all the good parts of a steak sauce: ketchup and Wocertershire sauce.
We agreed that the patties themselves weren't overly seasoned other than with salt and pepper, and with the 30-plus topping options including banana peppers, pineapple and Grey Poupon, we decided it was not necessarily a bad thing.
The remainder of our group went the poultry and veggie routes, creating sandwiches like grilled chicken with barbecue sauce, onion rings, sauteed mushrooms, jalapenos and bacon ($7.58, most toppings are included but sauteed mushrooms) and a grilled portobello mushroom sandwich ($6.59).
But nothing tests a true burger joint like a milkshake and this spot passed with flying colors. Each of us sampled half portions ($3.59), trying flavors like chocolate-raspberry and butterscotch. As we sipped our delightful treats, we were teased by the board boasting other flavors like S'mores, mango kiwi, Swiss chocolate, coconut cream pie and dozens more -- all the more reason to revisit.
