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| - This was by far the most mediocre, over-priced burger I've ever had.
Maybe I've been spoiled by Pat Lafrieda and the Shake Shack, but my patty reminded me of those frozen Schneiders burgers you would get at the racetrack, only not as tasty. Mine certainly seemed freshly thawed, on par with a Harvey's "Angus" burger, except twice the price and with a $1.29 Goat Cheese up-charge. The bun was grocery-store calibre, spongy and tasteless. Seriously, I've had better burgers at Steak 'n' Shake on the I-40 for half the price. I've had better burgers at Five Guys fer chrissakes! (Datem datum DAYUM!)
To add insult to injury, I asked if I could try a dab of the Hero "Certified Sauce" with my poutine and was asked for an additional 59¢ -- this on top of a $13 "combo." I politely said I just wanted a taste. not a bowl. He actually POINTED to the sign that said "Sauces served as a side: 59¢" -- amazingly, since he wasn't some teenage counter drone, but a man in his 50's who looked like he could be the manager or franchisee. I politely asked if that didn't seem sort of chintzy on top of a $8.99 combo AND a $2.50 up charge for the (Harveys-like, frankly inedible) Poutine? He looked winsomely back at the sign with a "can't do nuthin' fo ya maaaan" shrug.
All the packaging was default fast food, in fact the cups, wax paper and everything was identical to Harveys but for the branding. Are they a stealthy upmarket division of Harvey's serving the same lame food except with a 50% margin increase? (By rights I should deduct an additional point for no apparent blue boxing strategy; my plastic should have been VERY easy to recycle.)
Worst of all was a half hour stuck listening to a tuneless alt-rock station stuck in the nineties. It was almost enough to make me long for a Johnny Rockets staff rendition of Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Almost.
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