Best in Wichita Metro Burger Challenge 2022: How does TJ's Burger House rate?
09/19/2022
By Mike Thayer
I've been traveling around the Wichita Metro, sampling the burger offerings from any joint that has burgers on the menu, local, regional, national chain, it doesn't matter. In order to determine a true champion of burgers in the metro, I'm on a mission to sample them all in the name of "burger science" (cough). For the burger criteria, click here.
Today's Burger Challenge lunch took me to the beautiful Delano District and TJ's Burger House. TJ's is an award winning burger joint, a Wichita Eagle Reader's Choice Favorite for Best Burger back in 2015.
I stopped in a bit after 11am for my first meal of the day. I was greeted nicely and it was open seating so I parked it in view of a TV and ESPN football highlights. My waitress took my drink order, quickly returned with it and then placed my burger order for their Bacon Cheeseburger with a side of tater tots.
After checking out the sports highlights and doing some texting, my made to order 1/2 pound burger was delivered piping hot, there was steam coming off the patty when I pulled back the lid for pics! I almost burned my fingers holding the patty to take one - damn auto focus! It wouldn't focus due to the steam.
After pics, I took that first bite. The beef was tender but unevenly seasoned and a bit over cooked resulting in a dry bite. TJ's knows how to apply bacon though! The portion was generous and perfectly cooked, delivering a wonderful crispiness in each mouthful. The veggies were fresh, there was a perfect dose of creamy mayo but the bun lacked a good toast.
Side Note: The tots were good, they were nicely fried, seasoned well enough and had a decent crunch on the exterior. We're talking tots here, it's a frozen pre-packaged product a restaurant just has to fry right and season correctly. I don't think anybody in town makes their tots from scratch so it really is a matter of oil at the right temp, fried for the perfect amount of time, seasoned evenly right after the fry. It's about execution. These weren't the best I've had, but they're certainly not the worst I've sampled during the course of this Challenge. I'd call these above average.
Costing me $17.74 for the burger, tots and a drink, TJ's Burger House Bacon Cheeseburger scored 57 points out of a possible 63, earning it 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars. Overall, it's a tasty burger, but falls into the lower tier of the 5 star rated group in terms of both points scored and the cost. There are better burgers out there for a lower price.
Located at 1003 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213 the service at TJ's Burger House was top notch, friendly, courteous and attentive. I enjoyed my visit and you can tell this is a popular lunch time spot, the tables were really starting to fill up with hungry patrons as I was leaving.
$pend Wisely My Friends...
Related: Other burger joints reviewed so far
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