Ball's Hamburgers - February 18, 2010

Yesterdays quest took us to Ball's Hamburgers at the northeast corner of Midway Road and Northwest Highway. Ball's menus has something for everyone including burgers, sliders, salads, chicken sandwiches, chicken fried steak sandwiches and shakes. The decor inside is a shrine to local sports teams of the past. You might see a 1970's team picture of the Cowboys next to a ticket stub from a Texas Rangers game. The open kitchen is behind the cash registers and you can see and smell the burgers cooking over open fire in the back. The menu is posted above the registers and you walk up to the registers and place your order with the friendly workers. I ordered a bacon cheddar burger with mayonnaise and grilled onions and a side of fries. I was asked if I wanted it cooked medium rare which is the house standard. I ordered it medium and my order was totaled and I was told that my name would be called shortly. I got my ice tea from the selection of sweet, peach or unsweetened teas and sat down to wait. About ten minutes my name was called and the following burger was served:



For some reason the burger had been cut in half which allowed the juices to escape from the patty. The half pound patty had nice grill marks on it and was cooked to the medium that I ordered. The grilled onions were thin rings of purple onions that had been cooked for a short time so that they were still a little crispy. Bacon was placed on top of the patty and then covered with shredded cheddar cheese. Taking my first bite, the patty was fresh but had dried out from being cut in half and no seasoning to the meat. The cheddar cheese was tasty even if a little piled on only about half of the patty. The bacon was crisp and gave a nice crunch to every bite. The bun was a little overcooked but somewhat chewy which I wasn't expecting but it did have a good flavor with the poppy seeds and toasting. Finally the substantial serving fries (enough for two people to share) were thin shoestring fries cooked very crispy but they were not very warm when they got to the table. A little less time under the heat lamp would have done them good.


Overall Ball's Hamburgers had some good things going for them - half pound burgers cooked to a perfect medium over fire, fresh ingredients, thick crispy bacon, poppy seed buns and a great hangout for families with kids or youth sports team, but the burger didn't come together as well as I had hoped. It was a little too dry and needed more seasoning on the patty. If you are in the area and craving a burger, Ball's is worth visiting.


Ratings (1-25):


Bun - 17, well toasted poppy seed bun, somewhat chewy but held up well to size of burger


Meat - 18, unseasoned dry patty but cooked perfectly, probably would have been better if not cut in half


Appearance - 19, nice grill marks on patty, fresh ingredients, cheese melted nicely over bacon and patty, grilled onions spread in rings over patty


Taste - 18, fresh ingredients but overall burger was somewhat bland


Overall - 72


Bonus Pic of Hamburger with Grilled Onions and Side of Fries: