We’re back!
Well sort of. I mean, we never actually went away, since we’ve been doing this whole “Covid Quarantine Carryout Only” thing ever since restaurants started reopening in the late spring. We posted some pictures on social media. We started a Facebook page. But we missed getting to be our usual sarcastic selves on the blog. And ironically it was this photo that prompted the return to telling a little story about our Wednesday adventures instead of just giving the coffee table book format.
Because, like, how do I explain this photo properly on social media?
You see my dilemma.
But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
Shane and I picked Butcher & Sprout for this week because, well, burgers just sounded good, and after a quick glance at some of our recent blog posts I remembered this being a new contender for good burgers. I mean, it didn’t crack Shane’s coveted Top 5, but … well, we’ve been down that road before.
On our last visit, Shane got the ‘Shroomin Burger, which he liked OK, but thought that the next time he might like to try the Breakfast Burger that Ted had ordered. So of course this time around it makes perfect sense that he decided on … the “You’re My Boy Blue” burger.
I’m gonna take a wild guess that no one wins money in that pool, correct?
He also upgraded to the side of truffle tots. You’ve seen this photo already. We’ll get to that whole debacle in a second.
Last time around I got a turkey burger, after much debate over that vs the BLT. This time I landed on Shane’s previous choice of the Shroomin Burger, which we all know I never had a chance to try when we ate here the last time because Shane doesn’t share food. I also added an upgraded side of brussels sprouts.
And an app of the pickle fries, which last time we were in awe of, so of course we had to sample them again.
Yeah, so back to that picture that prompted this blog post.
I mean, I get that plating food for take out vs dine in loses a lot of points for presentation. There’s only so much you can do once you lose the cute little tin pails or mini mesh fry basket replicas that apparently normally house the now-realized obscenely small number of tater tots you have to pay an upcharge to consume. But like either downsize the to-go box, or – more preferably – throw a few more tots in there to make up for the whole take home experience. Because 16 tater tots (and I know it’s that many because, well, I can clearly count them in the photo. You can too. It’s a new party game!) is not exactly worth an extra $3 over the already somewhat high $13 cost of the burger. Even as a free side I would look at that and wonder how I missed the news of the most recent potato shortage, or whatever the latest 2020 reason is for why we can’t have nice things anymore.
As for the burgers, we both agreed that they were decent, but they did seem a bit overpriced for what you got. I commented upon picking mine up that it was quite heavy, so bonus points for the extra workout as I’m enjoying my meal, and the meat itself was good. Honestly the actual burger patty and whatever seasoning was on it was the best part, and I could’ve done without all of the other extra stuff that was party of the “specialty” sandwich. And you know how much it pains me to leave mushrooms, cheese and bread on my plate … as well as the bacon I paid extra to add to the burger. But next time around I would probably just get a basic burger with nothing on it, and even go so far as to order the naked burger that just arrives on a bed of lettuce. Because you know my rule, regular boring buns just aren’t worth the calories.
Words to live by, my friends.
Also we were glad to have checked back to this blog before our order – hey, that’s why we started this whole thing, right?!? – because we were reminded how the servers had warned Shane against ordering his burger rare as it would basically just arrive slightly warmer than raw meat. He had also said that night that the medium rare he ordered was almost too undone for him. So this time around we both went with medium, which still had considerable pink inside.
The brussels sprouts were not my favorite, and definitely not worth the scent that will likely live on in my car for the coming weeks. Although if we’re looking specifically at the value then I can say it was far better than the tots on that front.
The fried pickles still held true, although they seemed to be missing the spicy sauce I remembered from last time, despite selecting the only option on the list of sauces that included the word “spicy.” Hmm.
The real winner of the evening was the experience of ordering and paying via the Toast app, as well as the no contact pick up in a special location at the front of the store. But truthfully our food seemed to be overpriced for what we received. Like had we been dining at the actual restaurant I probably would cut some slack for the ambiance of the actual location and the use of the table. But for 16 tater tots enjoyed at our kitchen table while using our own silverware … well, let’s just say it was more than we would be comfortable paying again.
Where To Go Wednesdays 