Kind of like when I discovered McDonald's poutine, I was morbidly curious when I heard that Burger King was selling bone-in ribs made in their new broiling machines.
Really?
I had to see this disaster for myself.
For $7.50 I got a box of six ribs, onion rings, and a drink. Straight from the grill? I guess my definition of grill differs from that of the King.
Now, you may have seen the tv and print ads for BK ribs. Through the magic of advertising, those things look like luscious baby backs. Not so fast. These are pork shortribs from the short end of the slab.
They tasted just OK. Burger King used a lot of that artificial grill flavor that they use in their Steakhouse burger patties.
I've included an onion ring here for size comparison. These ribs are TINY. The pigs they used for these are probably from that same farm that KFC uses to make the tiny chickens they use for their grilled chicken, where the drumsticks are the size of the wing drumettes from regular chickens.
Also note how inconsistently they are cooked. I thought their new high tech broiler was supposed to guarantee effortless even cooking. Guess not.
While digesting this very dissatisfying meal, someone texted me to remind me that Squeeze Inn had just opened in Roseville.
Yes, THAT Squeeze Inn. The burger shack in deepest darkest Sacramento that's been on every food TV show in existence. Apparently they set up an outpost in, you guessed it, a Roseville strip mall.
We'll do a full review and Chomplevent soon, but until then here was our takeout order:
One thing about these hard to get to (and more to the point, hard to find parking at) restaurants is that there are other items on their menus than their signature items. But you never get them, because you didn't go all that way to have something other than their famous dish. Nobody knows what the hamburger tastes like at Peter Luger's, or the fish at Tour d'Argent.
This all changes when they open near you and the lines aren't as bad.
This is the never seen before Squeeze Inn hot dog. It's a huge all beef hot dog either grilled or deep fried (couldn't really tell) served Chicago style. And boy, it was good! I got one whole bite of this...
And... what? A taco? Yes, a crispy fried taco stuffed with what I think is ribeye. No joke. This is like a high class Jimboy's taco. The meat was nice and juicy. And of course it has the trademark cheese skirt. I almost like the taco more than the burger.
But, of course we got burgers. Mine got smooshed in the bag so it didn't get photographed. This is Actual's Squeeze with cheese, with bacon and avocado. The bacon and avocado are somewhere behind the cheese and top bun. The burger fell over while taking this picture, but it gives you a great view of that majestic Squeeze Inn cheese skirt. OM NOM NOM
The Squeeze Inn is on the corner of Sunrise and Douglas where the Round Table Pizza used to be. Lines aren't bad (yet) and there's plenty of seating.
If you own a burger joint in Roseville, I hope you have some sort of contingency plan.
