Everyone knows Johnny Rockets. Why it’s practically an institution, much like Cafe 50s or In-N-Out. And yet, it has been maintained by several parties involved in this process that they have at the very least one of the best burgers in town (although judging from the size of the chain, that holds true for most of the nation).
So, with that in mind, we decided the only way to critically examine it would be to head down to one and enjoy a burger and shake.
If you’ve never been to one, think corporate take on retro diner. From the uniforms to the booths, there’s a special emphasis given to 50s Americana, not that it doesn’t have it’s charm in a very homogenized way. But how’s the food?
I’ve been eating at Johnny Rockets for a number of years, and while I can’t think of a single bad dining experience there, none of them particularly stand out either. As an inexperienced and banal diner, I enjoyed their “Original” burger, moving onto the #12 as I grew a little more daring. Ah, the folly of youth!
The only logical choice was to try them both again. And of course we need the fries and onion rings because no burger experience is complete without them. The milkshakes, however, were ordered purely out of gluttony.
So, looking at the Original, we’ve got lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion (grilled on request but otherwise overpoweringly raw), relish, pickle, mustard and mayonnaise. Pretty standard fare, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
If we look at the #12, Tilamook© Cheddar (yum), lettuce, pickle, mayo, a slice of onion (seriously, get it grilled or you might as well just be having an onion sandwich), and the mysterious “tangy red, red sauce.”
We order, but getting the food is half the fun here. Aside from the jukebox, staff sing-alongs and the acrobatic displaying of the straws, the waiters are also required to give you ketchup in a playful shape. Originally, they would just make a little smiley face in the little cardboard ketchup dish, but now they’ve gotten all artsy. Observe:
A pretty flower.
A fairly accurate portrait of me.
A detail from Picasso’s Guernica. Or possibly a Rorschach test.
Before we get the burgers, we get our (disappointingly small portions of) fries and onion rings. While their fries are fluffy and pleasant, the onion rings feel heavy and taste a bit too much like deep fried batter. Won’t be getting those again.
The burgers arrive, and I am completely unable to tell the #12 from the Original. Hazarding a guess, I take my first bite with gusto, having worked up quite an appetite. The bun is standard. Not bad, not memorable. The tomato ripe, the lettuce crisp-ish. The meat is firm but juicy, but noticeably lacking in flavor. The most dominant feature of the burger is the fact I keep adding a fry with ketchup to each bite, ostensibly to bulk up the taste.
I hazard a guess I’ve been eating the Original, and turn my attention to the other burger. A hint of what appears to be “red, red sauce” confirms this suspicion, although for all I know it’s ketchup. Same bun, same tomato, same lettuce, same meat… Hell, as far as I can tell, same cheese. Ultimately, the defining difference between the two is that while the Original has diced onion, the #12 has a slice. The red, red sauce took the burger from “pedestrian” to “pretty much pedestrian”.
French-fry order size notwithstanding, I have no real complaints with the place. It’s consistent, they’ve got a decent selection, prices are reasonable, they’ve got shakes, they try and keep you a little entertained (those little touches, while completely forced and insincere, are still interesting)… But overall it’s exactly what you’d expect from a corporate restaurant: safe, predictable and very middle-of-the-road. They’re not trying to blow your mind, they’re trying to please as many palates as possible.
While you can’t go wrong with Johnny Rockets, you could just as easily enjoy a double double animal style, or whatever god-awful Del Taco burger Jon is always trying to get me to taste. I doubt I’d be able to identify one of these from anything served up at a Chili’s or a TGIFs, the decor and atmosphere making up the bulk of the dining experience.
It’s a great option if you’re in Irvine for a job interview, or one of your co-workers is celebrating his birthday over lunch. I enjoyed the meal, but I can’t tell you with any certainty if and when I’ll ever eat there again.
And remember, we’re still taking your suggestions on what the best burger in town is. Who knows, if you turn me on to the winner of the competition, I might just buy you a burger there myself!
All photos by me.
1 response so far ↓
1 cornel // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Another must see, and taste, place for burgers is a quaint, near hole in the wall in Playa del Rey. At the juncture of Culver Blvd and Vista del Mar is “The Shack”, home to the infamous ’shackburger’. I don’t recall fry quality, but who cares when you’re trying to down what we used to call the ’shack attack’. Worth a visit and only a couple of blocks from the sand and jetty in the Marina.
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