Broad Ripple – Boogie Burger

Between work and an after hours activity I found myself driving on Keystone Avenue looking for some food (I was especially hungry since I worked through lunch).  My plan was to stop at Sakura for some sushi but at 6pm (on a Thursday night) the parking lot was packed so I sought out an alternative…

As I drove down Broad Ripple Avenue I approached Boogie Burger and I turned in, remembering it was on my Urbanspoon Wishlist.  With only a few cars in the parking lot I figured I would not have to wait long to eat.

Upon entry to Boogie Burger I was greeted by the friendly staff and, since it was my first time here, they helped me with the menu.  Being a sucker for a Mushroom & Swiss burger I picked the “‘Shroom” ($6.09) and an order of beer battered onion rings ($3.19).

I had just gotten settled into my chair, and was enjoying the 80’s music, when my order was called.  That was fast…  A little too fast…  The ‘Shroom burger looked good and was dressed as I requested (lettuce, onion, mayo) and it was overflowing with mushrooms.  The onion rings looked good as well.  Nice sized order and not greasy looking.

This is where my normal review is going to differ.  I like to pass on good experiences and normally skip negative reviews.  This time I’m going to tell it like it is and by now you’ve probably guessed it’s not going to be positive…

There is no way this burger was cooked to order unless they threw a patty on the flat top when my car pulled into the parking lot. With as much as this burger had going on it was bland.  I mean no seasoning bland.  The mushrooms were nice and earthy and had a hint of seasoning but not nearly enough.  The patty was cooked through with a very minor hint of pink in the middle.  The produce was fresh and the cheese melted, so no complaints there.

I guess I was expecting more…  More flavor for sure…  I ate the entire thing so it was not awful.

On to the onion rings.  These were thick cut and beer battered.  I was careful on the first bite not to pull the onion out of the batter as that seems to happen more times than not.  The sweet onion inside was cooked through and soft enough to bite through.  The flavor of the batter and onion was great but after my third ring we hit a snag…  As you can see in the picture the remaining rings had fused together during the cooking process and, this is the bad part, the batter was still raw in the middle.  The three rings I had were good and I would order these again without hesitation (if they were separated and cooked through).  But a dollar a ring is a little much.  Yes that’s mustard on the side, please don’t judge me… (ha).

Boogie Burger is nicely decorated on the inside with bright decor and quite a few seating options, including outdoor seating.  It’s kid friendly, clean, has free refills (who doesn’t offer that anymore?), and it’s in a good location.  The service was friendly, no complaints about that.

I want to like Boogie Burger and I love supporting local business. For a place that touts itself as a premium  burger place they need to watch the quality control.  Maybe my burger was supposed to taste the way it did but I can’t help but think the salt/pepper was just forgotten during the cooking process.  The onion rings should not have gone out the way they did, especially when it’s obvious that huge mass was going to be under cooked.

Did I make a big deal about this meal when I was there?  No.  Would they have taken care of it?  I think they would have.  Am I going to give Boogie Burger another try?  Yes, and I’ll and will write a follow-up post about the experience.