You can’t channel surf for 30 seconds without encountering what might be called “fast-food porn”: those burger ads full of swelling, curving buns, bright and glistening red tomato slices, and hot, thick beef patties. Consumers are burdened with visually provocative expectations that can’t possibly be met.
Enter: the recently opened downtown location of Jake’s Hamburgers, a North Texas mini-chain that started 24 years ago. Jake’s burgers are sturdy, compact creatures whose modest appearance masks a sometimes intense mingling of flavors. Don’t judge them at first sight. In fact, most of the food sampled was unassuming and laid-back at first but feisty on further inspection.
Three of the appetizers/sides ranged from bland to spectacular. Our batch of crinkle-cut sweet potato fries had lingered too long in the boiling grease. They arrived hot and with a light sheen of oil, but the edges were fried beyond crisp to chewy, masking the natural pumpkin-y flavor of the sweet potatoes. The jalapeño bottle caps were much better: dime-size sliced peppers deep-fried in a light brown, almost cakey coating. These burning little coins of jalapeño bread didn’t even need the small side of ranch dressing they were served with.
Best of all were the tater tots topped by a hot, melted glaze of American cheese and accompanied by a lean-beef red chili sauce. Your appreciation of this sloppy side will be bolstered immensely if as a kid at school you saw tots in the cafeteria line and got especially happy. Yes, the little potato bullets appeared to be originally frozen — after all, what restaurant employs a tater tot artisan in the kitchen? — but were fried to a glorious crispy and tender texture. Go further and order the chili- and cheese-slathered tots with chopped white onions and jalapeños. Imagine if you arrived at your fourth-grade lunch line and one of the sweet plastic-gloved ladies handed you this specially made remedy. You’d still be only half as happy as I was at Jake’s.
Jake’s menu offers about 10 different kinds of burgers, including a Texas chili, a mushroom-Swiss, a veggie, and a burger of the month. All are served on grilled, pillowy poppyseed buns that shed those little beads as profusely as dandelion seeds, except they’re harder and more likely to get stuck in your teeth. Seriously, you will want to check yourself in the restroom mirror — put down that silverware! — unless you want to spend the day flashing a smile full of black flecks.
We tried July’s burger of the month, called a Cheddar Steer, and it was completely satisfying: two thin, juicy, singed-around-the-edges grilled beef patties, a melted mound of shredded sharp cheddar, fragrant diced red onions, and a bold hickory flavor that might have come from liquid smoke. The flavor combo was more intricate than you’d find in your average burger.
The black-bean veggie burger with thin-sliced tomato, onion, and shredded lettuce contained what looked like a traditional beef disc that was grilled until lightly burnt around the edges, Jake’s-style. But the firm, no-flesh patty retained the unmistakably rich, peppery flavor of seasoned beans.
The Flaming Rooster was a winner from first bite to last. Those poppyseed buns returned to surround a lean, thin, grilled chicken breast with shreds of hearty Monterey Jack cheese and a thin swipe of medium-spicy, light-brown mustard. A liberal dose of pico de gallo — freshly chopped white onion, tomato, jalapeños, and tiny green bits of cilantro — was sprinkled atop the bird. Lovers of pepper heat, rejoice. This fiery pico was not at all shy. Like the beef burgers, the Flaming Rooster tasted more impressive than it looked.
It’s tough to advertise flavor, but rest assured, Jake’s best creations have wild personality under their mild façades.
Jake’s Hamburgers
515 Main St, FW. 817-332-JAKE (5253). 11am-10pm Sun-Wed, 11am-11pm Thu, 11am-midnight Fri-Sat. All major credit cards accepted.
