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Burger Boy, our second stop on our city-wide burger quest, is located at 2323 N. Saint Marys, just a few blocks from San Antonio College and The Sandwich Garden (another delicious area dive). We didn't have trouble finding it, thanks to the rotating sign out front with the name "Burger Boy" appearing beneath a picture of an obese chef scurrying about (presumably in search of a hamburger). One can only assume that this is Mr. Boy himself.


Burger Boy is housed in what looks like a converted Wienerschnitzel hot dog restaurant (actually, the name of the place used to be Whopper Burger, according to one online review). The interior is pretty small, consisting of two narrow counters on opposite sides of the restaurant that start at the front door and extend to the front counter, each having 5 orange rotating barstools. The line to order forms in between these side counters, with little other room for standing around.


The menu is straightforward, presenting none of the ordering dilemmas we encountered at orderup. Most of us ponied up for one of the reasonably priced meal deals - the "Bates Special," which includes a Burger Boy, Regular Fries and Drink, or the "Working Man," which includes a Double Boy, Large Fries and Drink. Hamburglar, Burger Boy (whose moniker caused some confusion on this particular excursion) and I pulled out all the stops and each ordered a Working Man, substituting milkshakes for our drinks. We were glad that we did. BurgerGal, who saved $1.70 by ordering a Bates Special, was hungry again at 3 o'clock that afternoon.


The Burger - 7 out of 10

The Double Boy with cheese (pictured below) came out greasy and hot. Although it looked just like a big fast food hamburger, after one bite we knew weren't eating some Burger King knock-off. The burger was filing and delicious and was better than the more expensive hamburgers we'd had at orderup. the week before.


My only complaint about the burger (which was not shared by all of my co-reviewers, especially Hamburglar) was the Kraft cheese. Not being a big fan of American cheese, I would have preferred cheddar (although overall I still thought this was a great burger).

Sides - 5 out of 10

In keeping with the rest of its basic menu, Burger Boy offers fries as the only side to accompany its burgers. The fries were firm and decent enough but, as Burger Queen pointed out, were reminiscent of elementary school fries. Beyond bringing back fond memories of sitting in the cafegymatorium with classmates eating off of styrofoam trays, this was not necessarily a good thing.

We were excited to see milkshakes on the menu, although these did not quite live up to our expectations. They were all right, though, and not too thin. On a warmer day they would have been a refreshing addition to our meal.

Ambience - 3 out of 10

Ambience is the one category where Burger Boy really fell flat for us. The counterside seating made conversation in a large group impractical, and the view of the parking lot and neighboring delapidated buildings through the large windows facing the barstools was unimpressive, to say the least. Like the fries, the white linoleum floors reminded us of our elementary school cafeterias, and the decor in general was bleak and minimalist.

On the positive side, if you get a kick out of rotating barstools, this is your place.

Price - Excellent

The prices at Burger Boy are comparable with those of fast food burger chains, but the burger is much better than any you'll find at a Burger King or Wendy's. A Burger Boy is $2.69, and a Double Boy is $3.89. The Bates Special (Burger Boy, Regular Fries and Drink) is $4.59, and the Working Man (which I recommend - Double Boy, Large Fries and Drink) will set you back $6.29. "Real" Kraft cheese is $.49 extra.

Service - Excellent

We went at lunchtime, and our piping hot burgers were out in 3 minutes or less. As far as we can tell, no heat lamps had been used to keep our burgers warm. Given this, we were not overly bothered by the fact that no one showed us to our barstools.