The Grazing Cow - June 2, 2010

Once again we traveled to Plano this week to seek out new burgers to try and we ended up at The Grazing Cow at the northeast corner of Spring Creek Parkway and Avenue K. The Grazing Cow opened in early 2010 and serves only grass fed beef from Burgundy Beef in Grandview Texas on the burgers. The menu consists of 1/3 and 2/3 pound burgers, hot dogs, fries served plain or dusted with different salts, cheese fries, salads and a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. Our group walked in and were promptly greeted by the owner who sat us at a table near the open kitchen where you could hear burgers sizzling and smell the fries and burgers cooking. Our waiter brought us menus and took our drink order about a minute later. When he returned with our drinks, he told us about some of the off the menu items that he likes to create such as hamburger meat wrapped around cheddar cheese and bacon and then shaped like a hot dog and served in a hot dog bun. We all decided to stick with the menu burgers but were intrigued by some of his offerings. I ordered a 1/3 pound bacon cheddar burger served on a brioche bun which was priced at $7.87 and the table decided to split The Experiment which is fries topped with danish blue cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon and pesto sauce. About ten minutes later, the following burger arrived at the table:



A thin handformed patty was topped with a slice of cheddar cheese and two slices of crispy bacon cut in half and the patty was then served on a toasted brioche bun. The patty had a good blend of crunchy bits from cooking and had a good amount of juices around the edges. I took a bite and could taste a nice blend of flavors of fresh meat, sharp cheddar cheese, crunchy smoky bacon and a fresh bun. One negative to my burger was that it was slightly overflattened during cooking which caused it to be thinner and a little drier than other patties around the table but it still had a great flavor and the fresh grass-fed beef was evident in every bite. I will probably try the 2/3 pound patty next time. I really liked the bun as well. It held up well to the patty and had a nice homemade taste. Finally, "The Experiment" was some of the best cheese fries that I have tried around Dallas. The pesto sauce was very fresh and coated each bite of fries which were then tossed with blue cheese and bacon and topped with a substantial amount of melted cheddar cheese. The waiter suggested that we add smoke salt to the fries next time to take them to the next level. We tried the smoke salt on regular fries and it added a unique flavor to each bite that I would think would work well with the bacon and blue cheese.


Overall The Grazing Cow serves a nice offering to the selection of burgers in the area especially if you are trying to eat products that are grown locally. The grass fed beef is top notch and the side offerings are very good as well. If you are in the area and it's during their opening hours of 11ish to 3ish, you can't go wrong with trying one of their burgers.


Ratings (1-25):


Bun - 20, fresh brioche bun, good flavor


Meat - 20, grass fed local beef, seasoned well


Appearance - 20, cheese melted on patty, crispy bacon, patty had good amount of crunchy bits


Taste - 20, patty had fresh flavor but slightly overcooked, bacon was crispy, cheese complimented well


Overall - 80


Bonus pics of "The Experiment" and "Cow Patties":