Cheap Date: The Counter
You will never get bored with the menu at Ballard’s new burger joint. Pinky swear.
Posted by: Nick Feldman on Sep 30, 2009 at 02:45PM
1 Comments
A hamburger on honey wheat bun, topped with grilled onions, Tillamook cheddar, roasted red peppers, dill pickle chips, and a lettuce blend.
View Slideshow » Illustration:The Counter’s milkshakes are handspun and worth their $5 price tag.
View Slideshow » Illustration:The Counter’s ultramodern design and art prints, coupled with a full bar and flatscreen TVs, ensures you can fill up in style.
View Slideshow » Illustration:The caramel & chocolate brownie—easily enough for two.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Sam Barbee dives into his turkey burger creation with both hands.
View Slideshow » Illustration:Barbee holds what remains of his burger.
Eating at Ballard’s new, ultra-sleek burger joint The Counter is kinda like reading one of those Choose Your Own Adventure novels from back in the day. Take a seat, and you’re greeted with a clipboard chocked full of options: four patties, three buns, and dozens of cheeses, sauces, and toppings. With over 300,000 possible combinations—312,120, to be exact—each burger is unique to each customer. The decision-making doesn’t stop there. Since the custom-built burgers (which cost between $8.25-$13.25) are served a la carte, a beefy bevy of starters, side dishes, and desserts are available.
An indecisive type, are we? Then choose from a handful of signature burgers and sandwiches. Side notes: The music’s always fantastic—awesome—and there’s a full bar—even more awesome.
With a $10 bill, I opted to build my own burger—with incredible results. I piled grilled onions, blended lettuce, dill pickle chips, and roasted red peppers onto a third of a pound of beef smothered in roasted garlic aioli and Tillamook cheddar, then sandwiched it between a honey wheat bun. All that for just $8.25.
What’s the must-try item?
[Andy Reese, manager] “We certainly have our signature burgers, but the real part of the experience is about building your own burger. I really want customers to try our beef; it’s hormone and antibiotic free—more along the lines of steakhouse beef that just happens to be ground. If you’re not into beef, our veggie burger is made in-house and fresh every day. It’s not a soy patty either, but an actual vegetable burger made with 11 different vegetables and held together with brown rice and Japanese-style breadcrumbs.
And if someone’s coming in and they want the full Counter experience, what makes us a little different are our fried dill pickle chips. And we do sweet potato fries better than anyone else in Seattle.”
More cheap eatin’:
Citizen in Queen Anne
Baguette Box
Mmmmmm, beefy. Read about more great burgers HERE.
Tags: Cheap Eats, Cheap Date, Burgers, The Counter
i have eaten at the counter a few times. while their burgers are cooked to perfection and the sweet potato fries ARE something to write home about, they are not cheap. dont take this the bad way because you totally get what you pay for.