being catty - 6.12.09

On Fridays, I sent out a weekly newsletter for the Techcon office, "A Collection of Plates". In this newsletter, I include one weekly restaurant impression. My new series has been pointedly titled to allude to my style of writing. I will be straight-forward, honest, and yes, of course, “catty”.

This is from last week's newsletter, June 12, 2009.





If you saw the bruise on my arm the past few weeks, you would rightfully conclude that I do not eat enough red meat. Before I moved to Dallas two years ago, I couldn’t remember the last time I had a hamburger. Gasp! Never had a burger in Dallas?! Being a born and bred Dallasite, the husband insisted that I eventually try the “great burgers of Dallas.” So we began the mission. Slowly but surely, I have had three half (and 1 set of minis) burgers in Dallas now.


Last Sunday, we decided to enjoy the beautiful day by lounging on Jake’s scenic patio with a good midday burger and fishbowl to share. I was pumped up and excited for my deviant dietary plans. But once we got there, I couldn’t do the fishbowl thing; it scared me. Who was I kidding? I can’t break ALL the rules at one time. Instead, we opt for watered down and weak margaritas on the rocks. Stick with the draft beers here. The peppy, sometimes pretty, but always friendly female staff are really quite enjoyable. Our sweet sixteen server, donning purple braces this week (I wanted to ask what color retainer she had chosen, but this might be crossing the line), highly recommended the new “fried pickle chips”. Before I could respond, the basket of spicy, crunchy pickle chips arrived with that ever present dipping sauce, ranch. If they had been just a smidge less greasy, they would have been perfect. But they were pretty darn good just as they were, seasoned with a touch of cayenne, crispy fried with a still cool pickle center. I felt a budding friendship with Jake.


Then for the burger. As usual, we split the “house” burger and the establishment’s most popular side item. We ordered the “Jake’s Burger” (double meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and thousand island dressing) and their famous sweet potato fries. Jake’s burger patties fall under the “thin meat” category and up until this point, I had never formed an opinion on the patty predicament. Alas, the clouds parted and it was revealed to me: I prefer the “thick meat” burger mostly for the cooking temp. of the burger. I found the thin meat Jake’s Burger a little dry and overcooked. However, the poppyseed laden buttery bun and a heavy handed douse of dressing did an excellent job of masking this misstep. Perhaps, that’s why its the namesake burger. But I’ve saved the best for last, the sweet potato fries. They are crinkle cut, (I love that!) and just sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and bit of salt.


Jakes Old-Fashioned Hamburgers, Uptown
2702 McKinney Ave. #101
Dallas, Texas
Phone: 214-754-8001