‘Bobby Flay’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Review: Boom Burger {Rochelle Park, NJ}

July 17, 2013 · Narrative

It all started with a Groupon.

Two burgers, two orders of fries, one jumbo cupcake, and one 38 oz (super size!) alcoholic drink.

$27

A new restaurant that we hadn’t yet visited. Boom Burger.

A bit out of our local area, but not too bad.

Easy decision.

The restaurant is very easy to find, right off the Garden State Parkway and near IKEA and the Garden State Plaza Mall. Ample parking in the lot, and we were greeted as soon as we walked in.

We asked for a booth, if available, and since there weren’t any on the “restaurant” side, they suggested a half booth in the bar area. Perfect. But holy short seats, Batman! I swear I felt like my knees were hugging my chest the whole time during our two hour stay, and it was definitely a little bit of a challenge when we got up to leave.

The waitress came over to take our drink order, and we asked for her suggestions on burgers. Although she pointed out several menu items that she loved, we ended up going with different selections, but kudos to her for being helpful and knowing the menu and offerings. Some days, that’s a rarity! The menu, while not huge, offers enough of a variety that everyone should be able to find something easily. I personally find the huge menus too overwhelming. Odd that the online menu doesn’t include prices. The burgers were between $7-10 each.

When we saw the Guido Burger (with roasted red peppers, mozzarella, and a balsamic basil spread), we felt it our obligation, as born and bred Jerseyans, to order it. We also ordered the traditional Boom Burger, which featured two patties with cheese in the middle, and Boom Sauce on the side (sauce that you may more commonly know as Thousand Island).

For the fries, we went with the Parmesan and Rosemary version, and the standard version.

The alcoholic drinks are all named by color, and we chose the “pink.” Good and strong. They also have Sangria Towers available, which are perfect if you’re going with a large group.

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Review: The Pop Shop {Collingswood, New Jersey}

December 28, 2012 · Narrative

Now if you happen to find yourself at the Adventure Aquarium and need a bite to eat, you’re in the perfect area to check out The Pop Shop. Located just four miles away in the cute downtown of Collingswood, it’s a little throwback joint that has received some national acclaim by being featured on Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay. If you’re not familiar with the show, the chosen restaurant dishes up the dish that they are most known for, and Flay then competes, using all of his chef prowess (and two helpers) in a throwdown, to see whose end product really is the best. When The Pop Shop competed, it was with their grilled cheese (they offer 31 varieties of it!).

But beyond the brush with fame, The Pop Shop was popular in its own right. Soda fountains, decorating reminiscent of the 1950s, and breakfast served all day, it’s a cute spot with a fun, cheery vibe. They have won numerous “best of” awards for their pancakes and their grilled cheese. On street parking and an easy-to-find location, we were lucky enough to snag a booth with no waiting. Although we had to ask for them, they have soda jerk hats and crayons to keep the kids busy while waiting for food.

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Review: smashburger

October 4, 2010 · Narrative

When I saw the “coming soon” on the window of a new smashburger location, I made a mental note to add it to our list of places to visit. And then, magically, less than two weeks later, it was open. My friend, Beth, has become our unofficial partner in crime when it comes to evaluating burgers, so it seemed only natural that we went together. After some time at a nearby town festival, we made our way over this weekend.

As soon as we opened the door, it reminded me right away of Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace. From the way the line queues up and people place their order, to the long tables for seating to, really, the menu. The Denver-based restaurant is growing at a super fast pace, planning to open up another 100+ locations by the end of the year, and has franchises lined up to bring their total number of restaurants to 375 in the next five years. Voted a Hot Concept! last year, it’s a nice, albeit even healthier, alternative to the usual spate of fast food burger joints.

The menu is varied enough to have a nice variety for meat eaters and meat-freers alike. There are plenty of salad options, kids meals and free soda refills. The shakes, although we didn’t get them, are made with Haagen Dazs, and there are a ton of burger topping options and delicious side items, including fried pickles, haystack onions and sweet potato fries.

Burgers: I went with the New Jersey smashburger, which was topped with bacon, tomatoes and bleu cheese. I added avocado. This burger came on an onion bun and had I been paying attention, I would have swapped it out for a wheat bun (egg bun is the third option), because I thought the onion flavor overpowered the burger. The burger had little to no seasoning on it, and it seems they rely solely on the “smashburger technique” and toppings to carry the burger’s taste. As a side note, I really hate it when restaurants try to use subpar tomatoes and avocados on burgers, as if we wouldn’t notice. The avocado had too much brown and while it may have been fine for guacamole, it had no business crowning the burger. The less than red, less than ripe tomatoes as well.

Haystack Onions – A lot of restaurants offer these, and I think smashburger’s are now the ones to beat. Fully seasoned and totally addicting.

Sweet Potato Fries – I’m not usually a fan of these, but stole a few of Beth’s. There was a definitely taste of rosemary and salt, and they were delish, soft on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside.

Fried Pickles – One of those weird little things that you can’t stop eating, especially with the dipping sauce….

Bobby Flay Burger Cook-Off with Burgers, Fries and Shakes

August 23, 2010 · Narrative

The week after we visited Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace, we couldn’t get the burgers out of our mind. I happened to have his burger cookbook in my collection, and a plan quickly formulated to have a Bobby Flay Burger Cook-Off. Anything to have his Napa Valley burger again.

After leafing through the recipes in the cookbook, seriously each burger recipe looks better than the next. Oh those toppings! And then the onion straws. And the milkshakes. It was all we could do to cut the menu off where we did. Beth’s commitment to our plan included buying a Cool Daddy to make the onion straws – such dedication to our cause!

We ended up going with the Napa Valley Burgers, the Cheyenne Burgers, Onion Straws, and Strawberry Milk Shakes, all from the cookbook. Rounding out the meal were hot dogs for the kids, sweet potato fries, chips and guacamole and homemade coleslaw. Oh yes, and, of course, grown-up drinks.

1. The Burgers. Even with toppings galore, the recipes are basic, easy to follow and deliver. The Napa Valley burgers tasted as good as they did in the restaurant, and I love the warm goat cheese that sits on top of the ground beef. The Cheyenne Burgers are topped with Cheddar, homemade Barbecue Sauce and the Onion Straws. My mouth is seriously watering just thinking about the Onion Straws again.

Love Madeline’s expression in this one. I have no idea what she was looking at that was so darn awe-inspiring.

2. Those Onion Straws. Using only one onion, the recipe made a crazy amount. And that’s a good thing, because they are addictingly good. Whether topping the burger or eaten by themselves, you can’t go wrong. I bet they’d be fab dunked in a little Ranch sauce as well. It makes me want a fryer too, but I’m going to be brave. And just hope Beth puts hers to work again.

3. The Milk Shakes. Bobby’s recipes for the shakes use a fruit base that you make by simmering fruit for a bit. I’m not a big milk shake girl to begin with, but I could definitely change my tune after tasting the Strawberry one. It tasted like warm strawberry jam through and through, delivering a clear flavor that just couldn’t be beat.

If you like Bobby Flay, or burgers, pick up the cookbook. There are serious taste-bud delights from cover to cover.

Project 365
August 23, 2010, Photos #149, #150, #151 and #152

When I caught a glimpse of the inside of Beth and Roger’s kitchen cabinets, I had to take a picture. These might be the best organized cabinets I’ve ever seen.

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Review: Bobby’s Burger Palace

July 28, 2010 · Narrative

My friend Beth has been trying to get me to go to Bobby’s Burger Palace for months now. Bobby as in Bobby Flay. Although I wanted to go, usually we ended up somewhere a little more local, but this past Saturday, our whole day was planned around a burger lunch with Bobby.

As I was plotting out our route (since it also included a stop at a new cupcake spot as well), I quickly glanced at the reviews for the burger place. Not a good idea. There were many that totally panned the place, with a lot of them mentioning the long wait. Given the set-up of the restaurant, knowing that there’s not really a good spot to wait, and the fact that we were going with the kids, I started to second-guess going there. Especially on a Saturday. At lunchtime. But I needn’t have worried.

When we got there, we were 7th in line, which gave us a few minutes to look at the wall-mounted menu and decide what we wanted. I was torn between a few different burgers… Bleu Cheese is always my go-to, but then I saw one with Goat Cheese … and then the burger with Avocado Relish. What’s a girl to do? Order two and share! Beth got one with Cheddar, tomatoes and Avocado Relish, and I got the Napa Valley one with warm Goat Cheese and Meyer Lemon Sauce. OMG. Just sayin’. If only I could have convinced Nick to get the Bleu Cheese and Bacon Burger, I could have tasted all three. But no. My kid came to a burger place and ordered a salad. I can’t be mad about that, but you know… it just gives us another excuse to go back.

For Madeline, I ordered a grilled cheese kids’ meal, thinking it was the easiest thing for her to eat (read: least messy). As an aside, the grilled cheese kids’ meal is not something on their menu (they only have a cheeseburger kids meal listed), but ask, and smile, and ye shall receive.

And fries. Of course, fries. Regular fries. Sweet potato fries. Assorted dipping sauces. I do one “reward meal” a week and between the cheese, the burger, the fries, I was doing it right last week. The fries are my favorite kind, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Salted just right. They come in these cute little tins. So cute, I asked about them. They are cake baking pans (from Allied Metal Spinning). Fun idea, right?

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