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| - I was looking for a place for lunch today in Mesa, and decided to try something new. Haven Burger came up as an interesting option. I had never heard of it; it's a local spot right across from the temple. I knew this is a sketchy neighborhood, so I didn't know what to expect - but place actually looks nice and clean, inside and out.
The setup looks very similar to another locally owned burger joint, the popular Giant Hamburger. The grill is right behind the counter, so you can see them cooking the food, just as at Giant. It's small, with something like 4-5 tables and a similar number of booths.
I went with their signature Haven Burger combo. The burger is topped with lettuce, tomatoes, pastrami, and thousand island dressing.
Another similarity to Giant: you're basically eating fast food, but it's not fast at all. Sure, the wait isn't quite as long as you'd get at a gourmet burger joint, but don't expect to sit down and start eating right away. This isn't a knock on the place, but something you should expect.
As far as the food is concerned, it's very good for a fast food burger. The pastrami and thousand island dressing really work on the burger. The quality of the ingredients is not what you would expect at a gourmet burger joint, so don't expect a nice, thick, juicy patty cooked medium-rare with thick-sliced pastrami. It's just good enough to make this an excellent fast food burger.
The drinks offered are standard Pepsi products. (They give you one free refill, although I don't know that they're strict on this. You shouldn't drink that much soda anyways!) They also have horchata and jamaica (no refills), but I didn't get them, so I don't know how they rate.
The single biggest problem with this place is no doubt the fries. These are freezer fries, not fresh cut. They were really not good fries - I regretted not getting the thousand island or ranch dressing to dip them in ($0.30 extra). Some vinegar would also help a lot; I didn't see any vinegar anywhere, but I didn't ask, either. If they don't improve their fries, it'll be hard to justify eating here over one of the popular mid-range burger chains (Five Guys, Smashburger, etc.) where they actually have tasty fries.
Overall, I'd rate this a step above Giant, two steps above your average fast food burger (Burger King or Wendy's), and a step below Five Guys and Smashburger. If they were to improve their fries, they might be able to move up to that next tier. (Their prices are more reasonable, though, so if you're budget-conscious, this may be a better option.)
Haven Burgers is a reasonable place to eat if you're in the neighborhood, or you're on a budget and want something better than Burger King. But don't add it to your list of destination burger joints.
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