Review: The Fatburger from Fatburger

Posted May 17th, 2012 | 1:41pm by Ryan

I love a good burger. Surely I can skip my Western-BBQ preferences from time to time in favor of an all-American classic style. Fatburger is primarily a west coast burger chain, but thanks to the late Orlando “Zeus” Brown of the Baltimore Ravens, we’ve got a Fatburger in Elkridge, Maryland.

There are 5 sizes of burger to choose from at Fatburger. The Small (Baby Fat 2.5 oz), Medium (Fatburger 5.3 oz), Large (Kingburger 8 oz), XXL (Double King 16 oz) and the XXXL (Triple King 24 oz). Fatburger describes their hamburger as “Fresh, 100% pure lean beef, grilled to perfection, on a toasted bun.” I went for the restaurant’s namesake with the standard Fatburger ($4.69). The 5.3 oz burger patty with all the fixins’ and I added American cheese (+$0.69) for a little too much extra scratch to make this a well-rounded cheeseburger.

This burger is quite a sight isn’t it? Probably one of the more photogenic fast food burgers I’ve encountered. My 1/3 lb. Fatburger was perfectly constructed and pretty much every ingredient within the burger could be seen without having to remove the bun or shuffle things around. Bonus points for aesthetics definitely. The burger patty was piping hot right off the grill and nice and meaty. Like I mentioned before, I ordered my Fatburger with the works which included lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, mustard, mayo and my favorite… the relish. The relish is sweet and has almost a hint of cinnamon-like taste to it. You’d probably love it or hate it, but I think the relish gives Fatburger a certain signature flavor. I know the burger should be the main star, and honestly, of course it is… but the relish complements the burger package really well. With all else being the same, there’s not much to say about the produce of a burger. In this case, everything was fresh and crisp. While the only two choices of cheese I considered were American and cheddar, I’m a little slightly disappointed that I didn’t go with my gut instinct and choose cheddar. The sharpness of cheddar stand out far above American cheese any day of the week. As for my choice to go American, it was decent, but nothing too much of a spectacular addition.

If you didn’t already notice, of course I subbed in Homemade Onion Rings (+$1.00) with my combo (included a medium drink). I love Fatburger Onion Rings. This was a well-rounded fast food meal and I was perfectly content not picking and choosing a la carte items like I’m used to. Going with the traditional really worked in this situation. My biggest gripe would have to be the price. I don’t put Fatburger in the the same league as McDonald’s or Burger King, but the fact that I paid $10.28 before taxes for this slightly upgraded combo is way too steep. Although next time careful consideration will be made for such additions to my burger as chili, a fried egg, or bacon. Yup, those are all available too. For my first review of a burger from Fatburger, I just couldn’t pass up the standard Fatburger.