Burgers good enough to drive you up The Wall at BYU
The Wall Burger is served with sweet potato fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
The Wall Burger is served with sweet potato fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
From left: Crimson Crush, Y-Life, Cosmo and Brigham's Brew Italian sodas are served at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
The Wall Burger is served with sweet potato fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
A Hawaiian Burger is served with fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
A Guacamole Bacon Burger is served with fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
A Turkey Bacon Club Panini is served with fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
A Chicken Avocado Wrap is served with sweet potato fries and fry sauce at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
Deep Fried Cookie Bites are served with vanilla ice cream at The Wall at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
I think I’ve finally found the best place to get a hamburger at Brigham Young University in Provo.
Though I’ve enjoyed burgers at the BYU Creamery and the Cougareat’s Scoreboard Grill, The Wall’s variety of quality burger options takes the cake for me.
The Wall is located in the southeast corner of the Wilkinson Student Center, near the BYU Bowling and Games Center. And though the restaurant is set in the heart of the university’s campus, you don’t have to be a student to eat there.
My party of four visited The Wall for dinner on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed catching part of the BYU football game on the restaurant’s TVs in the comfort and quiet of the peaceful diner. And though not in use at the time, we also saw the stage where The Wall sometimes hosts live music and events.
The menu offers a variety of sandwiches, paninis, wraps, salads, sides, desserts and Italian sodas, all on a college student budget, with the most expensive items ringing up at $7.49.
We were a bit disappointed to find out the chef’s weekly specials were sold out when we visited. But after some deliberation, we settled on three burgers, The Wall’s most popular menu category, a panini and a wrap to share, with Deep Fried Cookie Bites for dessert.
To drink, we ordered the Y-Life, Cosmo, Brigham’s Brew and Crimson Crush Italian sodas, each of which had a unique flavor we enjoyed sipping on while waiting for our food. The Y-Life was a tasty tropical blend of pineapple and coconut, the Cosmo a scrumptious mixture of blue raspberry and cherry, and the Brigham’s Brew a simple kiwi and strawberry flavor, with the Crimson Crush’s berry and ginger ale combination reminding me of a delicious sherbet float.
We didn’t have to wait long before our rather large food order was ready for us to pick up at the counter. Everything looked delicious and we could hardly wait to dig in.
I ordered The Wall Burger, which won the Best of State 2017 Best Gourmet Burger, according to the menu. Made with perfectly cooked bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, barbecue sauce, chef’s sauce, a toasted bun and cheddar cheese melted on a beef patty, this burger was one for the books.
I’ve always been a sucker for burgers with barbecue sauce, and The Wall Burger’s fresh ingredients and perfect blend of flavors made every bite delicious. My only complaint is that the well-done patty tasted a little charred and overcooked around the edges to me, but I probably should have requested a medium-cooked patty in hindsight, as is my usual preference, and I still enjoyed the burger thoroughly.
I also tried a bite of the Hawaiian Burger and Guacamole Bacon Burger we ordered and thought both were unique and tasty. The teriyaki sauce on the Hawaiian Burger added an interesting salty flavor to contrast the sweet grilled pineapple, and the subtle-but-fresh guacamole, crisp-yet-soft bacon and savory provolone cheese also proved to be perfect complements.
The Turkey Bacon Club Panini, made with perfectly cooked turkey, bacon, tomato, pesto mayo, a toasted baguette and a tantalizing layer of melted provolone cheese, was also a savory treat. And the Chicken Avocado Wrap, made with chicken, bacon, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, onion and pesto mayo in a tortilla, although a bit onion-heavy for my liking, was especially fresh and wholesome.
Each entree came with fries, which can be substituted with sweet potato fries for $1 more. We tried both, and I personally enjoyed the crisp, salted regular fries a lot more than the sweet potato fries, which seemed to have been topped with cinnamon sugar. This unexpected sweet flavor threw me off a little and in my opinion didn’t go very well with the savory fry sauce and entrees.
The Deep Fried Cookie Bites dessert, however, provided a perfectly sweet finish to our meal. The fried cookie dough balls, made with M&M’s, served with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate and powdered sugar in a large yellow mug, had an interesting texture somewhere between cooked on the outside and raw on the inside, which is fine by me as a cookie dough lover.
Since it was our first time at The Wall, we didn’t realize at first our dessert was waiting for us at the counter, and it had apparently been sitting there for a while before we picked it up. I wished we had gotten to try it fresh because the ice cream had mostly melted and the cookie bites were a little cold and soggy by the time we started eating it. But the sugary treat still satisfied our sweet tooth.
All in all, we enjoyed a wonderful meal at The Wall, and I realized I definitely missed out by never eating there during my time as a BYU student. The next time your burger craving is driving you up the wall, I’d recommend giving this hidden BYU treasure a try.
THE WALL
Where: 1151 Wilkinson Student Center, Provo
Hours: Monday noon to 7 p.m., Tuesday 1-9 p.m., Wednesday noon to 9 p.m., Thursday 1-9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Saturday noon to 9 p.m., closed Sunday.
Prices: $1.49-$7.49
Info: thewallbyu.com