Author: Linni Kral
If you’re looking for a burger that is truly one of a kind, look no further than The Counter, a sleek Santa Monica eatery where diners construct their own burgers.
The customization commences as soon as you’re handed the menu, a tear-off checklist of burger accessories. It’s organized into neat sections to simplify the near-impossible task of designing your sandwich.
First, choose your meat-their beef is freshly-ground 100% natural Angus from corn-fed cattle, but if you’re not feeling that, go for the turkey or veggie burger, or even grilled chicken. Next up, decide how hungry you are-burgers come in 1/3, 2/3 and 1lb. sizes. I chose the 1/3 lb and it’s definitely enough, but there’s no shame in going big! Cheese comes next, of which there are ten amazing choices; I settled with Danish blue cheese, after much agonizing. To complement that, I chose dried cranberries, grilled pineapple, mixed baby greens and avocado from the list of toppings, and with the help of a friendly staffer, an apricot sauce to dip it all in. The fifth step is choosing your bread-hamburger buns, honey wheat buns and English muffins are all available, as well as the option to have your burger in a bowl on a bed of lettuce. And finally, there are the sides, ranging from the traditional (sweet potato fries, fried onions) to the unusual (cranberry-topped turkey chili and delicious hobo packets.)
When this masterpiece arrived, I didn’t even want to disrupt the beautiful display with my silly mouth. I couldn’t bite into this any more than I could bite into a Monet painting. But of course, the hunger that developed in traffic en route to Santa Monica overcame me. The leaning tower of beef was toppled, the heavens opened up, harp-playing cherubs sang to me . . . okay, not quite. But this was one of the best burgers I have ever tasted. Call me crazy, but for a moment I wished the toppings weren’t in the way so I could just taste the pure, unadulterated cow.
Mine was cooked medium-well, but the menu suggests getting it done medium, and after sampling my friend’s medium patty, my lesson was definitely learned. This didn’t stop it from being appropriately crumbly, juicy and moist, the perfect base for the salad of toppings I had selected. The waitress said I could try another sauce if I thought the apricot was too sweet, but it was just right for this fruity sandwich. The English muffin I ordered wasn’t dry or rigid like I feared. It absorbed the mixture of blue cheese morsels and sauce and hugged the interior like a crunchy blanket.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the 27 toppings listed, they do have a few tried-and-true recipes on the menu, as well as a burger of the month. They featured a halibut burger with jicama slaw while I was there, and I can’t wait to go back and try their namesake Counter Burger, served with sharp provolone, lettuce, tomato, fried onion strings, sauteed mushrooms and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. There’s also the herb goat cheese spread and gruyere left to sample, the caramelized onion marmalade and roasted garlic aioli have yet to tantalize my taste buds and I won’t even get into the laundry list of toppings I have yet to explore-lets just say there are sun-dried tomatoes and honey-cured bacon strips in my future.
Believe it or not, this whole sandwich was under ten bucks, and the entire bill was less than $15 when you add my apple pie milkshake, with actual pieces of crust and apple blended in. They also whip up banana, peanut butter, and coffee flavored shakes and malts. The only downside to the Counter is its Santa Monica location, but if you get some friends together for a beach trip and make a day of it, I promise you it won’t let you down.
For a full menu and locations, visit www.thecounterburger.com.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
