THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR! – Shady’s Burgers

It’s 11:00 am and a meeting invitation from Breet pops up on my screen. 

G, I know you are dining with Lana today, but if you would like to invite her to join the MMBT, she’s more than welcome.

Well, you know what I said… HECK YA!

Much like the last The first Magical Mystery Burger Tour stop, it is also an incredibly cold day.  Today's burger stop?

Shady's Burgers in Richardson. 

 I repeat, will the real Shady's Burgers please stand up?

While closed in, we were not going to dine on the patio.  Scro commented that the patio would be great in the summertime and I agreed. 

We walked in the back door so it was a little confusing where we were supposed to go.  Pintrish found the line to order and we examined the menu.

I was tempted to go with the special, the Chicken ‘Schroom-Wich, which is grilled chicken topped with grilled mushrooms and white cheddar cheese, but that would have thrown off the whole burger tour… and we can’t have that! Instead, I ordered the “Shady burger” and added bacon, avocado and white cheddar cheese.*  I added some frings (french fries + onion rings) and a water to my order. Decent price, I think it came to $12 + tip.

Went to the table to sit on the most A$$-FREEZING ALUMINUM CHAIRS OF ALL TIME! Why do burger joints do this?  They are either too cold in the winter or freaking hot-cross-buns burners in the summer. 

Here's the crew:

 

LALA, Pintrish and Lana (nickname TBD, who got a salad.)

$50 says Pintrish is thinking something naughty.

 

Nam, Nam, Nam... enjoying his noms. And by noms I mean a Slim Shady. 

Check out the Liquor jail behind him!

 

Scro doing a little trigger action and Totes McCoates looking swell.

 

The great Macedonian himself. What a great looking guy!

The food arrived REALLY quickly.  I was impressed. 

So was Breet. But not when he saw this photo…  

“Wow...I look like a psychopath...awesome."

Breet - “Good lord...I need to go see a professional stylist/groomer or something...that was craze, yet not amaze.”

LALA – “I look totes norm in this pic...“

There were four people in the kitchen and two servers who swapped roles at the cash register, bartending and serving foodies.  The guy was nice and friendly. He even said “thank you” when I asked him how his day was going.   

When the girl swapped him out at the register, she made a comment along the lines of “I’m prettier than he is.” Well, uh… okay little Miss Sassafras.

We noted that the food was on a tray, similar to Haystack’s.  

 Cut the burger in half with the big steak knife they thoughtfully supplied. Perfect medium.

We learned that LALA doesn't eat the onion part of onion rings... which is odd, but whatevs.

 

All in all, good place and great location. I guess I would go back, but probably more for a happy hour or during the summer.

Ambiance – 6 (post-apocalyptic slash recycle-land. FREEZING CHAIRS!)

Burger – 6.5 (a little salty. Not as juicy as expected. Light on the avocado and they gave me the wrong cheese.)

Cleanliness –9

Drinks – 9 (it’s happy hour ALL DAY LONG! I could have gotten a vodka tonic for $2!)

Location – 10 (literally around the block.)

Misc. – 7 (LARGE patio space with space heaters and fans.)

Restroom – 5 (why is there a mirror right across from the toilet? It smelt like a zoo.)

Sides – 5.5 (fries were a little greasy and not crisp. Onion rings were MASSIVE!)

Staff – 8.5 (friendly, a little too much hovering and asking us if we wanted refills or to take trays away. But the guy did lower the back garage door when we said it was cold, which was nice.)

Bonus points – 3 (good social media on Facebook, but their website is down and twitter activity stopped in September of last year. They do have Instagram as well, but I haven't checked that out yet.)

TOTAL SCORE: 69.5 of a possible 100. 

We had to leave when a full on double rainbow hipster came in wearing vans. 

What do you see in this photograph?

And here are a few more photos of the environs before we left.

THE END... for now. Until it's time for another MMBT stop.

Catch you on the "flip" side.

*Note: the only cheese they serve is yellow cheddar and white cheddar. That’s it. No Swiss, no pepper-jack. Just cheddar. Swiss is the only cheese to be capitalized besides American (which is not cheese, it’s processed cheese food and it is gross. Don’t eat it.)

January Wall Quotes

Here's a recap of the latest work sayings that made it on "The Wall".

What's that beeping? (it's me) We're going to call you G-3P0 from now on. 
I'd be Cap'n Crunch... cause I like the hat. 
What's that pregnancy hormone? THC?
Teamwork makes the dream work!
And then I came out of the closet...
Love is like a fart. If you have to push it, it's probably s**t. 
Can I tell you how much fun I has taking out your balls and playing with them?

RELEASE THE SCRAPPLE!
If it burns when you pee, you gotta stop.
(singing) I second that emulsion!
I look much, much better when I have a bra on.
(How to make a flow chart for labor) PUSH! Did it come out? NO. PUSH! Did it come out? NO.
Sorry, but I'm not the only person in this room who's had a penis in his mouth. 
(Turning on the screen saver to a fireside scene.) I figuratively, and quite literally, keep the fire going!
Being pregnant is like being stoned 24/7 with the munchies.
It's like the Last Supper! But with less dying. 

That smells great! What is that?
Island Nectar.
Eyelid nectar?
Eyelid nectar, the tears of god...

It's DANCE OFF PANTS OFF!
I knew something in the milk ain't clean!
(singing) Feeling Grube!
No, it's in there but you're going to push it to the side. 
They could get lei'd!
I'ma be his Christian Grey!
You have it in your mouth, but you're probably going to spit it out...
That's why you need to be friends with Barbara and get access to her secret closet.
It was like 50 shades of Don.
Of all the women's shoes I've tried on, those are the most comfortable. 

The MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR! has a logo!

Rock on! Totes McCoates made us a logo for the burger tour!  Now we just need Scro to select the next restaurant. (I think it's a Scro / Breet kind of thing ... so likely have to wait until the team returns from Cleveland.)

What do you think?

Real Work Convo, Part 12414:

It all started with a conversation that I was not a part of... 

Email from a male teammate to the whole team:

For all of you who were poking fun at me yesterday regarding my dry hands.  Forever Midnight is a real collection with legitimate triple moisture cream from Bath and Body Works.  My wife tells me, it ended up in our bathroom cabinet because a few years back it was a gift from a distance family member. 

I don’t know much about cream….but I can say it didn’t do a very good job.

Forever Midnight

Also I forgot to tell you…it smells horrible.  Not to mention the name Forever Midnight is terrible.

Response from McCoates:

Sounds like a name for a Victoria Secret line.

Response from me:

No, I’m going to go with Harlequin Romance. 

What do you think?

THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR! - Haystack Burgers

Tom* decided that the Lunch Bunch needed a new 2014 dining goal.  As such, he cultivated a list from Yelp.com of the top locally owned, non-chain, minimum four star burger spots in Richardson.  This would be called THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR!  The first on the list … Haystack Burgers off Belt Line and the 75. (Yes, I still say “the” before a freeway number. It’s the SoCal girl in me.)

It was an incredibly cold and windy day, so the first joke out of our mouths was whether we should eat on the patio.  It was decent sized and I’m sure lovely on a Spring day, but definitely not today.  We walked in and were greeted with a great atmosphere. Woodsy counter tops, paintings on the walls of goats, fake boar heads, steel/aluminum chair rails and funky green chandeliers (you gotta get yourself a shan-da-leeer! Like this one! Or dat one!)

 

Instead of ordering “The Haystack”, their specialty which comes with onions, cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, BBQ sauce and the usual burger fixings (just say no to BBQ sauce), I decided to build my own.  This monstrosity, here forth known as “The G”, included avocado, Swiss cheese, haystack onions, bacon, and all the fixings. I also included a side order of haystack onions and fries, what they call the “Half/Half”, to be shared with Pintrish (formally known as Trish the Dish). Also, they have a very long and diverse beer list, but I couldn’t read it all in time.  Looks like they have a good selection on tap too.

 

 

We collected our drinks (note they have Cherry Coke!)  along with CLOTH napkins and a choice of regular or chipotle ketchup. I was very excited about the large cloth napkins.  Used one on my lap and one as a bib; the chances of me spilling something on my chest are very, very great. They have that really cool slush/crunch ice, but the straws are a little too skinny and get clogged by the ice quickly. But that is acceptable because the seating allows for individual or large groups, so you can easily accommodate 2 or 7 in your party.

The food arrived.  Pintrish and I mao-ed on the fries and haystack onions; these came with a spicy ranch and a dip that is similar to what you’d find with blooming onions. 

I cut my burger in half because it was too big and clumsy for me to eat whole. Terribly delicious and prepared at a perfect medium. I finished the whole thing (sorry diet) and had a pleasant food belly – not burger coma.

All in all, fantastic place and will come back for more! Next time with BEER!

Ambiance – 7 (a little bit eclectic and modern at the same time.)

Burger – 8

Cleanliness – 8

Drinks – 8

Location -8

Misc. – 10 (CLOTH NAPKINS!)

Restroom – 5 (did not visit the restroom so I’m giving it an average.)

Sides – 7 (was not a huge fan of the onions or fried pickles that Laura got. The fries were okay.)

Staff – 8 (friendly, family owned)

Bonus points - 5 (good usage of promoting their social media and with a discount!)

 TOTAL SCORE: 74 of a possible 100. 

I may revisit this score based on the rest of the burger joints on the tour.  Especially as I am sure their restroom was fine and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Right now, we just need Andy to come up with our logo for THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BURGER TOUR!… get on it Andy!

*Who picked up the new nickname "Scro" at lunch. Confidentiality clauses and non-disclosure agreements prevent me from revealing why.