Total Score – 70
Jake's Roadhouse is a Monrovia fixture known as much for their sponsorship of the best, Friday night, Street Fair in the Southland as it is for their restaurant near the corner of Myrtle and Olive. If you're fit and healthy, (or young and elastic as I once was when I used to eat at Jake's often,) Jake's is a great way to change all that. It's hearty food for a hearty sort of person. I recommend their breakfast fare with a spicy Bloody Mary on a weekend morning out on the Myrtle Avenue sidewalk. So very Monrovia.
As for Chuck's Bacon Burger, it was merely good. I have real disdain for a burger that doesn't have any space for some lettuce, which is how Chuck's was served. I mean, really? The rule with a burger should be: since burgers are inherently unhealthy and fatty, they should ALWAYS include a friggin piece of lettuce, if only to suggest this thin leaf of watery fiber, (mostly water,) will somehow shepherd the ground beef, soft bread, saucy condiments and hints of veggies or fruit, (personally, no tomatoes for me thanks, that's like eating a membrane,) through one's alimentary canal without incident or sticking. I like imagining that tiny bit of iceberg is somehow a small salad which magically protects my colon from all this soft food, which is so prone to resist the pulsing movements of my intestines. So strike one on Chuck's Bacon Burger for not including lettuce. (If I wanted Carl's Jr. I would've jus went there, after scheduling some counseling of course. I am not 14.)
As for the chuck in Chuck's Bacon Burger, it was good. Probably about 80% lean if I had to guess but fitting of Jake's overall feel, what with the Americana memorabilia galore in the form of dining room walls packed full of nostalgic 50s diner style humorous signage. Jokes on all walls, like an episode of Flo, but I'm not hating. Jake's flare is busy but unobtrusive.
The fries were good too. The pink lemonade? Not so much. Jake's offers their guests free peanuts to be shelled on the floor. I'm done. I always eat some. Who cares if everybody and their grandma's hands have been in these buckets of nuts? I know, I know. There's fecal matter on those shells just like on all the benji's in your pocket. Whatevs. If I wanted my white blood cells to go on vacation I'd buy a plastic bubble. Instead I'll let them pump some iron when I go to Jake's. Go ahead WBC's, flex your little disease fighting muscles. The bad part of the peanuts is they can fill you up prior to your meal's arrival. Now that's a real problem.
I enjoyed my burger in Monrovia as I am wan to do. I went in famished and I came away ready for a stroll down to Wang's to sit at the bar with Crystal and Megan, (and David,) and have a delicious Sapporo to wash it all down.
David ordered one of those Pink's style burgers by the way that had the flesh of like 5 different beasts on it. The sausage looked particularly inviting and so it was I concluded David had chosen the better burger this time. Throughout our meal I kept spying that thing over there as he took it down with envy. For one it had sausage and pastrami and probably venison and beef jerky and maybe some lamb or something, and for two I clearly saw fresh lettuce poking out of the sides. Wtf, Jake's? That unhealthy monstrosity gets lettuce but you can't put some on the basic bacon burger? Reevaluate already-geez.
(I snuck a picture of David's sausage. Go ahead. Have a look-see. So much more exotic than my bacon.)
In the final analysis, Jake's was good. It always is. And yes, the bacon on my burger was the same, thick-cut, peppered bacon they serve at breakfast. Mmmmmmmm, Jake's breakfast...must, return, soon. (Seriously, the home fries, the BM, [thats Bloody Mary-geez, what's wrong with you?] and the eggs with that peppered bacon? Scrumptious.) it was not great but it was exactly what I expected when I chose Jake's Roadhouse in Monrovia.
In the final analysis, Jake's was good. It always is. And yes, the bacon on my burger was the same, thick-cut, peppered bacon they serve at breakfast. Mmmmmmmm, Jake's breakfast...must, return, soon. (Seriously, the home fries, the BM, [thats Bloody Mary-geez, what's wrong with you?] and the eggs with that peppered bacon? Scrumptious.) it was not great but it was exactly what I expected when I chose Jake's Roadhouse in Monrovia.
The bacon is tasty, like beef jerky. It's thick and chewy.
Jakes Roadhouse - David's Overall Score-73
This week’s burger Blog is Jakes Roadhouse on Myrtle Ave. I will be reviewing the Real man’s burger.
Be hungry young man. Be very hungry.
Setting 1-10 (6)
Jakes roadhouse a small place and is best known for its BBQ. It has the small BBQ place feel. You will find a bucket of peanuts on the table, peanut shells on the floor and a red checkered table cloth. Just like Mom’s place…except Mom would beat your ass if you throw your peanut shells on her dining room floor! This is a fine place to eat a burger, but it looks more like a place to eat BBQ ribs or a rib eye steak…in Texas.
Presentation 1-10 (7)
“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.”
The Real Man’s burger is a huge burger. I needed to cut it into 4 pieces! It has a ½ pound of ground chuck, grilled bell pepper & onion, butterflied Spicy Texas sausage, lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, mayo & mustard. It comes with a generous portion of French Fries. It comes neatly arranged on a steel reinforced plate, because a plastic or paper plate would just fold under the pressure of all that meat. Good presentation. Nothing special. This is really what you want with this type of place. If you have a simple décor and bring the burger out on fine China…there something wrong…right?
Taste 1-80 (60)
Over all, this burger is good. The beef patty has that taste you get when you make a burger at home. You know the taste. It’s the same taste you get when you just season it with a little salt and pepper…where the patty is a little too thick and vaguely shaped like a hamburger patty. I love this and is, for me, the true test of a good burger. The condiments were fresh and the fries were good. The only issue I had with this burger was the spicy Texas sausage. Good in its own right, it kind of took a little bit away from the overall experience. This is the Law of Diminished hamburger returns. The Law of Diminished Hamburger returns states that adding more of one ingredient, while holding all other ingredients in a constant state, will at some point yield lower returns. The Texas spicy sausage was that ingredient. Just “Over the Top” if you ask me. Without it, this is an awesome burger. With the sausage, it got to be a little too much. By the end of the meal, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to try and finish it. The rule I always cook by is: just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should. A lot of people love chocolate and burgers. Doesn’t mean you should add chocolate to a burger! This lost it some points. Maybe a smaller sausage portion? On the side maybe? You have the taste but it’s not overpowering the experience. I’ll be back for sure, but next time I’m getting something a little less over the top. That Bacon Burger looks Bomb!
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