We’ve all heard about Seattle burger institutions such as Red Mill and Dick’s or continual top 10 listees like Zippy’s and Skillet, but I want to discover the burgers that fly under the radar. What type of burgers are being made in the shadow of the big boys?
One burger joint literally resides in the (former) shadows of one of the big names. Burger Hero, a family-owned restaurant in north Ballard, is actually in the original location of another Seattle burger favorite—Lunchbox Laboratory. Every time I drive by I wonder : how does Burger Hero match up to its predecessor?
The restaurant itself is quite small—with the kitchen taking up half of the 12-seater dining room. A few picnic tables are available outside, but I’m not sure how beneficial those will be in Seattle weather.
(note: Halloween decorations, not health code violatons)
The “Hero” in Burger Hero is more than just a name—it characterizes the theme of the restaurant. Walking in, it would take a truly impressive lack of awareness not to notice the abundant decorations. The bright yellow walls are covered with neat rows of comic books, trading cards, and packaged action figures. Boxes full of comics sit on the floor in front of the counter. Action figures haphazardly line the window sills like a child’s bedroom. The atmosphere is complete with a Donkey Kong arcade table illuminating one of the corners.
The theme extends to the burgers, with names such as Spidey’s Web, High-Beam Cyclops, and Super Bad Boy Luthor. In addition to beef, Burger Hero has chicken and salmon burgers as well as fish and chip combos.
For my burger selection, I went with the Crunch Thing—one of Burger Hero’s hand-formed 1/3 lb Angus beef patties topped with crunchy onions, grilled onions, bacon, melted colby jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red relish, and house sauce. The standout here was the meat. The toppings added some nice complimentary flavors—the colby jack had a great melt—but the taste of the grilled Angus beef is what shined through, as it should. I get a little tired of burgers that pile on toppings that only serve to mask the flavor of the meat. This was refreshing. The bacon was cooked to the point where it definitely gave the burger its crunch, but at the cost of the bacon’s flavor.
The waffle fries were good but weren’t too memorable. The from-frozen fries were lightly seasoned and gave way easily to each bite—almost disintegrating in your mouth. It was like eating potato cotton candy—not a childhood dream of mine.
The onion rings, however, were much more than I was expecting. The panko-breading gave the rings a nice crunch while still being light. Burger Hero’s onion rings passed the test in two categories that I normally find plague onion rings: the breading didn’t crumble with each bite and the onions came apart easily so that the entire onion slice didn’t slide out of the breading.
Overall, I’d say that Burger Hero makes one heck of a burger. Although it very well may never reach the heights of Lunchbox Laboratory, it carries on the torch of its forerunner. I’m very glad to have gone under the radar and I could definitely see myself walking into Burger Hero again in the future.
7302.5 15th Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98117
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