five napkin burger

Let me cut right to the food.

Original 5N burger with caramelized onions, garlic aioli, and fries. Reminiscent of and perhaps inferior to a Double Shack Burger but for double the price. The patty wasn't piping hot like one would expect with a good burger. The garlic aioli did complement the burger well, the lukewarm and soggy fries did not.


The Ahi tuna burger (medium) with wasabi mayonnaise, tempura onion rings all sandwiched between toasted sesame seed buns, and required several salt sprinklings. The wasabi mayonnaise added a good touch of heat and the tempura onion rings were light and crispy. Again, the fries were lukewarm, and come to think of it, the burger as well.


The only redeeming part of the meal were the hot wings, which were supposed to come at the beginning of the meal as an appetizer, but came at the end after two reminders and a dubious look from our waiter. I enjoyed the thick coating of sauce, which wasn't terribly vinegary (like I find many hot wings to be), well balanced with a good dose of heat. The wings were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside but the drumsticks were slightly dry.


What was supposed to be a celebratory lunch marking the end six long weeks of camp counseling ended with the four of us slightly unsatisfied with both the food, the service, and the bill. We were disappointed, yet surprised because our experience had contrasted so drastically with the chain's solid reviews. Maybe we were unlucky, but nonetheless, next time we crave a good burger, we're headed down a few blocks to Shake Shack.