Grill Power: Spice up your life at these local burger joints
The Beehive Burger at Smash Burger in Orem, Thursday, April 1, 2010. With In-N-Out, Five Guys, Smash Burger, along with a slew of other burger joints, Orem is quickly becoming a slider mecca in the valley. PATRICK SMITH/Daily Herald
MARIO RUIZ/Daily Herald The Western Bacon Cheeseburger at Burgers Supreme in Provo comes stacked with lettuce, tomato, bacon and onion rings.
One of the most popular sliders at Marley's Gourmet Sliders in Provo is the Handsome Rob, which has grilled onions, buffalo sauce, cheese and bacon on top of a small burger. Photo taken on Monday, June 6, 2011 at the Riverwoods in Provo. ASHLEY FRANSCELL/Daily Herald
A gourmet Jalepeno Bacon Cheeseburger with homemade ranch dressing, lettuce, fresh tomatoes and American cheese from JCW's The Burger Boys in Provo Monday, April 25, 2011. ANDREW VAN WAGENEN/Daily Herald
Start talking burgers and it’s easy to get people riled up — just about everyone has an opinion about which restaurant has the juiciest, tastiest beef patties in town. Nothing pairs with fall football season like a big hunk of meat, and there are plenty of places in Utah County to get your fix.
You can go to burger specialists like national chains In-N-Out and Five Guys Burgers & Fries, where menu items are limited in order to focus on simple burgers done right. Or you can fancy it up at Thanksgiving Point’s Harvest Restaurant, with a chargrilled buffalo meat burger topped with bleu and Swiss cheeses, mushrooms, onions and applewood smoked bacon. Any of the aforementioned items will surely satiate, but might we also recommend the following locations:
Burgers Supreme
This unpretentious burger joint has a dozen burger choices, from the Belt Buster’s 3/4 pounds of meat to the more manageable 1/4-pound hamburger patties. Burgers Supreme also has a fairly extensive sandwich selection (pastrami, Rueben, tuna melt), as well as a smattering of Greek food (gyros and chicken kabobs) thrown in the mix. Food here is exactly what you’d expect from a burger joint: high-calorie, greasy and delicious. We love the fried mushrooms and the thick blackberry shakes.
— 1796 N. University Parkway, Provo, (801) 373-5713, burgerssupreme.com
Dairy Keen
If you live in Provo (or Lehi, or Spanish Fork) it’s a long drive to Heber. But if you have little boys and live in Provo (or Lehi or Spanish Fork), it’s worth making that long drive to visit the “Home of the Train,” Dairy Keen. (The restaurant got its name after its original owners purchased an existing, closed-down Dairy Queen location and, not having enough money to buy a new sign, simply came up with a name that could use most of the letters.) The burger shop is a little-kid paradise with an outdoor train that children can play on, as well as indoor train and Lego tables, and a model train that chugs around the restaurant. While there, you might as well order a Train Burger, made with 1/4 pound of beef, and ham and melted Swiss and American cheeses. The thick shakes are also noteworthy — Fresh Raspberry! Caramel Cashew! Burnt Almond Fudge! — as are the soda machines that allow customers to come up with literally hundreds of combinations of flavored sodas.
— 199 S. Main St., Heber City, (435) 654-5336, www.dairykeen.com
Marley’s Gourmet Sliders
It’s hard to even walk into the Marley’s Riverwoods location without salivating. The restaurant focuses on sliders, with several house favorites for $2.99. (Most people would probably want between two and four sliders for a meal.) We recommend the Rickster, made with a burger topped with a bleu cheese spread, tomato, bacon, lettuce and grilled onions. You can also make your own slider, by choosing a meat, toppings and sauce. In addition to hamburger sliders, Marley’s offers them made from pulled turkey, portabella mushrooms, grilled or breaded chicken, hot dogs, pastrami, grilled salmon and filet mignon. (A filet mignon slider will set you back $6.49.) Then go for toppings that include jalapeños, avocado and Swiss cheese, and sauces such as honey dill, chipotle mayo, bleu cheese spread and cranberry.
— 4801 N. University Ave., Suite 860, Provo, (801) 225-2720, additional location in Lindon
JCW’s
JCW’s brands itself as “the Burger Boys” and for good reason. Chairbroiled with a quarter-pound of beef, the burgers come topped every which way: with chili, with ranch, with avocado and bacon. If you miss the ocean, there is the Hawaiian Burger, served with ham and pineapple. Or head south of the border with the Guacamole Bacon Burger, smothered with Swiss cheese, bacon and homemade guacamole. As an added bonus, most burgers cost less than $5. Besides burgers, JCWs has all the standard burger joint fare, including shakes, fries and a selection of sandwiches.
— 580 E. State Road, American Fork, (801) 492-1762, and other Utah County locations, www.jcws.com
Smashburger
Smashburger is a little piece of grill heaven, with thick, juicy, greasy burgers that are highly addictive. Burgers come in smash (1/3-pound) and big smash (about 1/2-pound) sizes, and can be custom made with toppings like spicy chipotle mayo, sweet relish, cucumbers and spinach. We are only too happy to choose one of the ready-made creations, however. We especially love the restaurant’s Spicy Baja Burger, made with pepper jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion, spicy chipotle mayo and jalapeños. Pair it with sweet potato smashfries and an IBC rootbeer float, and you’ve got a meal that’s bad for your waistline but great for your taste buds.
— 542 E. University Parkway, Suite D, Orem, (801) 616-5071, and other Utah locations, www.smashburger.com