[Minneapolis - Uptown] Burger Jones

Burger Jones was one of Minneapolis' first specialty burger restaurants. It is conveniently located near Lake Calhoun and Uptown and consistently receives "best burger" awards.

Burger Jones is always hit and miss in terms of quality of food and service. It is not consistent whatsoever. The food in this post is from one visit that was especially good.

Feel free to comment with your own experiences (good or bad)

If you want fries or other sides, you need to order a la carte. We typically go for the Tri-Fry Tasting Tower ($8.99). You get the hand-cut fries, maple-bacon sweet potato fries, and the parmesan waffle fries and three dipping sauces (pictured here: smoked tomato ketchup, avocado mayo, chipotle aioli).
I would pass on the smoked tomato ketchup, it did not have a very smoky flavor and was available for an up-charge.

If I had to choose I would say that the sweet potato fries are my favorite, with the parmesan waffle fries a very close second.

Fry Dipping Sauces: ranch, beef gravy, chunky garden salsa, smoked tomato ketchup, bleu cheese, smoky bbq, chipotle aioli, avocado mayo, seasoned sour cream  

The burgers are never frozen, freshly ground beef and hand-formed. The bun is housemade and a gluten-free bun is available upon request ($2.00) extra.

This particular day, I ordered the Mushroom Swiss Burger ($9.99). It was prepared as I had requested (pink) and the presentation was pretty good (as I said, hit-and-miss). The Swiss cheese and sautéed mushrooms were still warm when served, which is a major plus.




The Green Chile Cheese Burger ($9.99) was also prepared to our specifications. It is topped with an onion ring, pepper jack cheese, and green chile salsa. The salsa was not spicy, just as a warning. Overall, a solid choice.
Other members of our group ordered build-your-own burgers. This is where the menu gets a little complicated.

There are two sizes of patties: the Junior Jones ($4.49) and the Burger Jones ($7.99). Then, you can choose the toppings, some are free (ie. most sauces, American cheese, tomato, lettuce) and some are not (ie. bacon, mushrooms, cheese curds).

If you get the Burger Jones size, your burger can easily become much more expensive than ordering one of the pre-determined specialty burgers.

They also have non-beef burgers: think turkey burgers, bison burgers, and veggie burgers, salads, and hot dogs.

I ordered the Gyro Burger ($12.99) one time and was HUGELY disappointed, but this was one of the "miss" visits. It was hard as a rock and extremely dry with absolutely no flavor. I am not sure if this was a function of the lamb, or the poor service on that day. (There were so many problems with all components of our order that we walked out with a completely free tab and the manager never came over to apologize for how bad the experience was for us, which signaled some bigger problems to me).

If you're new to the Midwest, I would recommend you order a side of Summit Battered Cheese Curds ($9.99). Summit is a Minnesota brewery and cheese curds are a quintessential Midwestern food.

The Bloody Mary ($11) is also quite good and very consistent, even when service is poor. It is served in a Mason jar and served with a "mini lunch on a stick."

*FTC Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through the links provided and make a purchase.*

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