(see Albert's Square Burger Review)
Square Burger in downtown McKinney, TX is a newer place in the area, that is getting some great reviews
(mostly from Albert, love ya buddy). So, I went to check out the hype, this is the review I wrote on his page, while not the best place around it was good, and I do recommend you check it out if you are in the area.
- Bugs, Buns, and Barmaids….So after a great deal of hype from Mr. Samuels about Square Burger in downtown McKinney, I made it in for some “Genius” burgers. We came to the restaurant about 1:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon, we would have been there sooner but could not find it as they have no visible sign.There were several open tables, but we were seated at the bar as the hostess, a very nice lady, advised us they were expecting a large party. The overall appearance of the restaurant was very modern looking, slightly cramped and not very inviting. Some folks love the modern look, to me that is not what I expect for a “burger place”.My lunch companion pointed out right after we were seated a rather large bug on the bar, and then a spider on my shirt shortly after. Now I am thinking “okay this place must be great even the bugs love it!”. We waited for a few moments for the bar tender, a lovely young lady whose name escapes me. I ordered the square burger with onion rings, and was very surprised when the bar maid did not ask how I wanted my burger cooked ( I do not recall seeing a specification on the menu, regarding cooking temperatures.) interesting, I thought I had read somewhere that the service here was “on their A-game” I guess this was a different staff. It is important to mention that the time our order was placed was about 1:10pm.So I waited for the amazing burger that I had heard so much about, and waited… two glasses of water later… still waiting. Now the time is 1:35pm almost 30 minutes have gone by no sign of our order. Now for those of you who do not know me, I did attend culinary school and cooked in a four star restaurant, a country club, and several other fine establishments, under the guidance of chefs that trained and taught at the Culinary Institute of America , and cooked on the US culinary Olympic team. I have made a few burgers, and don’t recall it taking that long to prepare a burger and onion rings, ever. Finally at 1 :45pm our food arrives, well part of it anyway. Our server brought us our sides (fries and onion rings) first stating that the rest would be right out. Remember the large party that I mentioned was supposed to be arriving, they had still not shown up as far as I could see, and the restaurant was not that busy for the time. So my long awaited onion rings (which really take about 5 minutes tops from fresh or frozen state to prepare) are getting cold. A few minutes later the burger has finally arrived.I ask the bar maid, who has mixed up our condiments and is busy switching them, before she goes get the mayonnaise she forgot, “So how was this burger cooked?” Her response, “We cook everything to medium.” That is great for me because I order mine medium anyway, but what about someone else who likes well done? So I still have great expectations at this point, and I am not disappointed. I bite into a fresh juicy burger with a slightly tangy Cheddar, and a wonderful bun. I am disappointed as was Mr. Samuels by the iceberg lettuce, and to find that the burger was not cooked medium but more medium well, I could see almost no pink. The quality of the meat was good, well seasoned and not dry. The bun was probably the best part of this burger, very well made, great job as always Empire! Now for the onion rings, they were fantastic, defiantly in my top ten of all time, wonderfully crisp and not soggy at all, the tempura batter was made with a local beer which I love!So in summation (I know I wrote a small novel Albert), I would give Square Burger 6.5/10. The lack of service, over all snootiness of the place (just because you are gourmet does not mean you have to be pretentious), and the wait time after order were the real downers. Twisted Root (Deep Ellum Location) is still the King of Dallas burgers in my humble opinion. Still looking for better, and haven’t found it yet. Not bad food, Square Burger, a little pricey — $9.50 just for a burger, not my style on the atmosphere (what do you expect from downtown McKinney). I will be back and hopefully not for the last time, waiting and waiting to be impressed.
