Kenny's Burger Joint in Frisco
Thought I'd throw a recommendation out there for those craving a burger even better than Keller's... ;)
Below is my review of Kenny's Burger Joint in Frisco. I went there with a couple of friends today...
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I love a good burger, and I tend to be picky about it. I'm not ashamed to say it. I love sleazy goodness (Keller's) as much as I love gourmet perfection (Father's Office in Santa Monica). Kenny's has honestly nailed gourmet perfection to the ass of sleazy goodness. Pin the tail on the donkey, if you will.
The Frisco strip-mall location belies the goodness that lies inside. Walk right in, sit right down, and you're treated to a clean eatery that's very nice, but offers no frills except for framed movie quotes on the walls. Nice... A full bar is available, and flat screen TVs are present, but not distracting. If you wanna watch sports, you gotta go to the bar. Fair enough.
The menu is shockingly simple (yet comprehensive), with an assortment of sides/appetizers, burgers, ribs, and salads. But it only fills one side of one page. Period. Lots of burgers to choose from, including turkey and tuna, but beef is where it's at. Right?
To get things started, we ordered the bacon-wrapped jalapenos. Holy Sweet Jesus. First off, these bad boys are HUGE, and oh-so fresh. Somehow they manage to stuff them full of jack cheese without completely splitting them in two. Then they wrap them in bacon and grill 'em till the bacon is mostly crispy. These things are obscenely good. The peppers are sweet and spicy, the bacon is smoky, the cheese is suitably messy, and the dipping sauces (Ranch and BBQ) are damn-near perfect.
Oh yeah... we ordered burgers too...
The burger selection ranges from Plain-Jane to Starship-Phantasm, so I went mid-line with the Mushroom Burger. This burger makes me want to cry for joy, hoot my vuvuzela, dance a jig, then go back and collect the whole rest of the burger lineup. First off, the patty was cooked to perfection EXACTLY as I ordered it - medium rare. No fuss, no muss, no excuses, just pink and juicy and messy and bloody goodness - I ain't skeered. In fact, when I ordered "medium rare," the waiter actually gave a knowing nod and a subtle Wooderson "all right, all right, all riiiight." So right there that's four thumbs up. Moving on... The Mushroom Burger is topped with (you guessed it) very fresh sauteed mushrooms - earthy and rich and yummy. Cheese? Yes... melty, runny, buttery, rich BRIE cheese! Hell yes! And to think I actually toyed with the idea of the chili-cheese burger. Pffft. On top of that was the usual complement of unusually fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. By the time I was done with my burger, I had cheesy-juicy goodness running down to my elbows. If I could've licked my forearms clean, I damn sure would have.
Alas, we come to the one shortcoming of Kenny's... their sorry-ass napkins. But, you know, that's it. I can't think of any other reason to bitch. I will definitely repeat the drive to the Great White North to delve deeper into their burger menu.
Re-reading this, I realize there may be too many superlatives here, but I was quite moved by Kenny's burgers. I'm putting it in my Pantheon of Great American Burgers. Yes, it was my first outing, but I can't think of one single reason not to return. Not to name names, but Kenny's stomps Twisted Root like a sack of helpless kittens...
Next time I'm bringing a roll of Brawny paper towels. Problem solved.
