Review #23 - Bunsen Burgers
Posted by Where's the Beef? | | Posted On Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Bunsen Burgers is a relatively new burger joint (opened a mere 8 months ago) located near the Rackspace "castle" on I-35. I was eagerly anticipating our trip to Bunsen, as they have, by far, the best website (www.bunsenburgers.com) of any burger place we've been to so far. My giddiness, however, quickly transformed into shattered dreams...
The first thing everyone noticed was how hard it was to find this darn place. It is situated in a fairly run down strip center. In case you get lost, like we did, just look for Sally Beauty Supply and "Gengls Kahn Chinese Mongolian" Grill:
Perhaps Gengls Kahn was Genghis' lesser known brother or cousin. If you couldn't tell from the name and the website, Bunsen has a signature "retro-atomic" vibe going for itself. Have to give Bunsen points for the creative theme, and it definitely sets them apart from the tried and worn road sign decor of most San Antonio Burger Joints. Unfortunately for Bunsen, the idea is there, but the execution seems to be lacking.
Bunsen's interior is fairly sparse, save for the tricked out ordering counter. Bunsen, in line with its retro image, had three turntables behind the counter spinning the old vinyl. Vintage is in, and I always liked the sound of vinyl compared to CDs and MP3s - so points to Bunsen for this little perk. The menu was prominently displayed above the counter, as well as on smaller tablets on the counter (a nice touch for our more senior bloggers, like Burgermeister Meisterburger, who can't see that well anymore). Bunsen was very creative with its burger names, all of which conjure up images of the good ol' "duck and cover" days.
Still trying to figure out what the heck this is supposed to be...
The Burger - 3 out of 10
On to what matters most- the burgers. As you can see from the menu, Bunsen offers an array of non-traditional burger options. One of our bloggers tried Bunsen's version of the increasingly popular burger "shots" (or, as the White Castle fans among us call them, "sliders"). BurgerGal, who rolled the dice on the pint size burgers, commented, "I ordered the mini burgers and they were cute, but blah." I'm sure "cute" is what Bunsen was going for.
Unfortunately, Bunsen's full-size burgers did not equate to full-size taste. First, everyone was universally disappointed with the portion size. The burger was also served in some sort of taste-lacking ciabatta bun, complete with (burnt?) sesame seeds. Things only got worse from there, where the burger itself seemed to be grossly overcooked. I personally found my burger to have the texture and taste of a hockey puck.
The above is a picture of the Bikini Atoll Burger - served with a grilled pineapple, bacon and Swiss Cheese, with some teriyaki flavor thrown in. Again, creative and different idea, but much like the rest of the offerings, lacking in execution. Overall, our bloggers gave the Bunsen burger an average score of 3 out of 10.
Sides - 5 out of 10
The sides were almost as disappointing as the burger. The onion rings were actually quite tasty, and, along with the milkshakes, were one of the few bright spots. The fries (both regular and sweet potato) were tempura-battered. Great idea, in theory, but both variants were severely lacking in flavor. We gave the sides a combined score of 5 out of 10.
Ambience - 6 out of 10
The decor was definitely...different, and while we enjoyed the 1950's retro theme, we could not escape the fact that we were eating in a run down strip mall. Burger Boy put it best when he commented, "The place felt sterile and antiseptic." We gave Bunsen's ambiance a score of 6 out of 10.
Bunsen clearly has the brains to succeed, but, like most pocket-protector wielding, pimple-faced adolescents, simply lacks the brawn needed to stand up to the big burger-boys in town.
Posts
Wow, I find it very hard to believe that this was a 3 out of 10. I ordered a double (first rule-NEVER order less than half a pound of meat) Roswell with bacon at this place not long after they first opened, and my burger was excellent. It had a lovely charred exterior and plenty of juice and robust meat flavor inside. I was particularly impressed that the meat's flavor could be heard above the loud chiles on my burger. This was a serious feat of burger craftsmanship, and the sweet potato fries were pretty good as well. I would chalk your review up to an isolated "incident," but you and your cohorts seem to be lacking in credibility. You have only one grilled burger in your top five, which includes Chester's, one of the city's most overrated (though delicious) burgers. What's more, you place the Lord's Kitchen's burger above the Longhorn's. For the record, T.J.'s, The Longhorn, Luther's, and the newly opened San Antonio Burger have the best pan burgers in the city. Also, great grilled burgers always trump great pan burgers, so in no particular order, here is an idea of what a trustworthy San Antonio burger site's best of the best would include:
La Tuna
The Gourmet Burger Grill
Specht's (Spring Branch)
Bunsen Burgers
The Roaring Fork
South Presa Grill
Rosti Pollo
Brasserie Pavil
My Place (Bulverde)
Silo
I've eaten at about 250 different burger places in the last five years, many of them in San Antonio. It saddens me to think that anyone is routinely reading your blog and taking your opinions seriously. You people obviously have underdeveloped palates and pedestrian tastes, and you actually seem to care about ambience...when the only thing you should care about is what the burger tastes like (provided there are no pests or death threats during your dining experience). Haha, wait, don't tell me-one or more of you prefer mustard to mayonnaise on your burgers...
Anyway, I've been told by a number of people that I ought to start a burger blog of my own, but I have always hesitated because I hate to mix work and play. Your ignorant blog is enough to make me reconsider my position. I think it would be a boon to the community.
mhann24 -
I agree, many of their reviews are fairly pedestrian. There are some great burgers in restaraunts not know for just burgers.
Your list also missed Chris Madrid's which I think is excellent. I also think your list is totally just North and North of San Antonio geographically. I am also assuming you frequent the North Silo location as opposed to the original. So looking at your list makes me think that you are slanted to only the North side restaraunts that you frequent (which is probably near your residence).
I don't see many comments on this blog, so not sure how many people are reading it as well. I don't know what the criteria which they are basing their reviews on either which you and I would probably differ with. I would encourage you to try and do a blog as well, but try and cover the entire city!
i can't believe the SCORES ON THIS BLOG!!! FOR ONE BUNSEN BURGER IS WAY BETTER THAN SCORED HERE. we heard of bunsen burger threw friends and we tried it out & love it!! we're regulars now, it's really good and portions are just right & filling. IT HITS THE SPOT. the sweet potatoe fries and onion rings are DELICIOUS!! MAKING ME HUNGRY.. ; ) we've tried everything on menue within time, not one burger Was disappointing. for vegetarian mushroom cloud and soylent green,salad are just as tasty!! everyone is super friendly and love that they play vinyl.it's worth going too for sure. ANOTHER GREAT PLACE IS CENTERPOINT- IN SAN MARCUS AND DAVE'S PLACE ( VERY INTERESTING PLACE TO HIT UP BY RIVER) NEAR CENTER POINT TOO.
The fact that Bunsen Burgers fared worse than the terrible Lucky Burger says it all. That you can't distinguish a flax seed from a sesame seed doesn't help y'all's culinary credentials a whole lot.
While I agree that the decor and location both suffer from high-concept/low-execution, I agree with Mhann24 that the real issue is the burger, and the Roswell is both a fine piece of work, and one of the better burgers in town.
flax seed on a homemade bun......fresh ground meat....sweet potato fries in tempura batter?.....where do I sign up
I tried this place a few months ago and loved it. I even took the leftover fries, onion rings, and burger home with me for dinner. After a few minutes in the oven, everything tasted even better. I've recommended this place to my friends and I'm sad to see you rate it so low.
This review is Flawed.. Sorry...its a good thing you guys are not real food critics or you would be out of jobs.. Have Look at some of the scores you have given to some terrible burger places over bunson burgers? This review is very misleading Bunson Burgers is easily in the top 5 in San Antonio.. Easily... As a business owner ive tried every place in S.A. BB is easily in my top 3.
regards,
jiu-jitsuGOD
I agree that this burger pretty much sucks. It was dry, tasted weird, and the bun was dry as well. The battered fries I though were good though. I work close by but probably wont return as Mcdonalds is next door to me.
Bunsen Burgers are so good I shed a tear just thinking about them. Orgasmatronic flavor combinations! Almost everything made fresh, in-house! The chili is so tongue singeing that it requires a shake or float as an antidote. Burnt sesame seeds-are you blind or just kidding? Your consistently tactless and uninformed reviews discredit you to such a degree that it's hard to believe any of the contributors here actually reside in S.A., let alone have functioning tastebuds.
Mhann - are you kidding me lady? Perhaps you're a guy, but i'll choose to hope you're not, and you are acting like an incredible priss. Here's an inherent flaw with what you posted, and anything i write after it may be optional reading for you: ***These People Only Review Burger Restaurants, Not Fufu Upscale Establishments***
Brasserie Pavil? A French restaurant that bears no mention on this list
Silo? Any place that serves lobster bisque shouldn’t be on a Burger Blog.
Please don't mention a Bulverde location in the midst of a San Antonio burger blog.
Only your assessment of GBG was right (ironically you share an opinion with the 'pedestrian' bloggers here). I could just go on all day picking apart your incredibly pretentious response to the bloggers, but there may be a text limit in these boxes. I'll end with your "great grilled burgers trump great pan burgers comment" - by what metric? This is a fairly arbitrary statement and i'm not sure you can back it up. Go grill burgers in your backyard if you don't want them the way these restaurants have prepared them, to great success, for decades. I'd like to read your burger blog, if you ever created one, and see what kind of pretentious garbage you spewed as you review burgers with your "sophisticated palate." It the people, such as yourself and the reviewers over at Texas Monthly, with skewed perspectives of burgers that screw things like this up. You are attracted to all the “bells and whistles” and neglect the most critical qualities of a good burger.
On to defending the Burger Bloggers: While they may have made an exception or two in their reviewing, there is a trend that any moron can see. These guys review burger joints, period. It seems to me that a bunch of Rackspace nerds may have gathered here to post about Bunsen Burgers. I have never tried them, nor have I heard about them until I read this thread. Their other reviews have been spot on, and the top burgers are all rated fairly accurately. This seems to be the only review with major backlash, and it’s a bit fishy. These bloggers have their sh*t together: Chris Madrid's, Lord's Kitchen, the rest fall behind these two. Universally accepted knowledge in SA, and for good reason. It is also fairly common knowledge that if you are laying it on thick with some sort of "wild" and "unusual" additions to a meal, it's probably lacking in the core quality. I don't want some bullsh*t tempura fries and some outlandish flax seed bun, i want a traditional burger than can be measured by the same classic metrics that all burgers are judged against.
I ate there once last year which was once too many. $2.50 for 5 onion rings!? Are you serious?! I got ripped off. And a mediocre burger to boot. I can't believe they still exist. -Mike
Mhann24-
I fail to understand how someone could attack the San Antonio Burger Bloggers, and follow it up by recommending a restaurant like Silo be included on a site that reviews burger joints. And to mention the "four best burger places in the city" WITHOUT including Chris Madrid's or Lord's Kitchen really does show that YOUR opinion has no merit, not the writers of this blog.
I can also PROMISE you that these guys are certainly not the only people that enjoy a burger restaurant with a great ambience.
These people are not food critics. They're not paid for reviewing. They simply go to (mostly) popular burger places in San Antonio and record their experiences, hoping to share with those who are interested. If you're not interested, stop reading it and go dine out at your fancy, upscale restaurants that you so vehemently promote and defend. Maybe this place REALLY is good, and they went on a bad day...that doesn't necessarily make them "pedestrian."
Burger Bloggers, keep doing what you do. I read this blog all the time, and send the recommendations to my parents in San Antonio. When I go visit, I like to stop by your most recommended places that I had never tried before. THAT'S what this site is all about.
Bunsen Burgers is awesome.. you guys should go back and try it again.. besides it's right next to Northern Tools so what could be better than to go buy some tools after a great burger
I ate there last week. The burger was ok. It tasted about the same as a Texas Roadhouse burger or the like. The price was steep, $11+ for a fountain drink, fries and the regular burger. The fountain drink machine only had 2 of the 4 or 5 drinks working.
The theme is ok but like the review said it was kind of sterile and the facilities matched the run down shopping center. I like the mom and pop style restaurants, I just didn't get the feeling of warmth? at this place. I guess I'm too old (in my 40's) and too clean. This place reminds my of a college hang out where bathing is optional. I did like the vinyl records on the turntable.
As we were leaving, I guess we were lucky, the next customers that came in were turned away because the place ran out of meat. According to the customers, this wasn't the first time.
Another thing, what's the big deal about of place grinding their own meat? I guess to kids today that's an ancient art form or something?