Anytime a restaurant closes down, there is always that curious downtime when it's flipped to become a different restaurant. When the El Pollo Loco that used to occupy this building closed, I waited anxiously to see what it would become next. One day a banner appeared advertising FLAME BURGER. It was intriguing. Several weeks later, my roommate and I decided to give it a whirl after a trip to Target.
I was really wary of trying Flame Burger because I'd never heard of it before. This makes absolutely no sense, because I love trying new places. I went with the basic Original Flame burger with pepperjack cheese and a side of fries. The fries were sort of hard and not too spectacular, but I was pleasantly surprised by the burger. They are made to order, so we were advised by the drive-through employee that it would take a while longer than certain other fast food places to get our food. No big deal. I am willing to wait for freshness. In fact, it's more reassuring in a way to have to wait for your meal, rather than having it magically appear within seconds of ordering. This way you get more of a sense that it's being prepared rather than nuked for you.
I'm kind of surprised this place is still in business because it seems like there are hardly ever any people there, but it's still hanging on for now. Give it a try! Think outside the McBun?