JOSH: Hires is one of the most popular places in the valley, that’s for sure. The Midvale location is great. You have these terrific views of the Wasatch Range...gorgeous. I thought it was a good, solid burger. Perhaps a little overpriced. I got the Western H. C: I had the Big H. The “classic” burger. It was ¼ pound patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and their proprietary fry sauce. Mine was OK too, it was fine. It was….fine.
J: It was OK.
C: The highlights of my burger were that the meat patty was good, not overcooked, the meat flavor was strong--
J: Yours was a little undercooked. C: Ha. It was a little undercooked. A little pink. Not like, dangerously overcooked. Very fresh. I like it that way. I was wondering if they were all like that but yours was just barely pink in the middle. You could really taste the meat. It wasn’t burned out. J: Fresh. A little thin, a little wide. C: Lettuce was really good. Fresh, crisp, beads of moisture...How was the Western H? It didn’t have lettuce. J: Nope, just patty, bacon, cheese, bun. Bacon was really good. Thick cut, solid. C: What did you think of the bun?
J: I didn’t love it.
C: It was a little doughy and squishy and bland. But the king of the burger is the meat. And if the meat is good, everything else can still work. I thought the meat was pretty nice.
J: It was a good burger. A little bit forgettable.
C: I feel the same way. If you want a good burger, it’s a fine option. You can feel good about it being a local spot. But it didn’t blow me away. It was just a good job.
J: I enjoyed it. But Hires gets a lot of hype, maybe it’s because of the history, or because it’s a local spot...I don’t buy into it too much. But I didn’t hate it either. It was good.
C: We're saying the word "good" too much.
J: We are.
C: "Good" is a swear word now. Don't say it. Fries? J: First off, the fry sauce is bad. C: You don’t--you didn’t like the fry sauce. J: Perhaps the worst fry sauce in the valley.
C: That’s harsh criticism.
J: The fries themselves were g**d. Medium size, soft, deep gold. They were a bit undersalted. Stay away from the fry sauce.
C: I thought it was alright on the burger. Gave it some moisture. I thought the fries were fine, too. You can tell they’re quality ingredients, prepared carefully. They were pretty typical diner-style. Medium thickness, not too crisp. Sometimes you get a variety and the smaller ones will be crisp. These were mostly uniform. If you want to salt them up, that works. Fluffy potato inside, I like that.
J: Like the burgers, simple and inoffensive.
C: You got the root beer float.
J: Yeah, they’re famous for it; it’s kind of their specialty dessert. It complemented the burger well. It wasn’t normal ice cream in the float. It was custard or soft serve. C: My shake was the same. It was soft serve. It was just a cup of soft serve. J: Was it just like a vanilla Frosty from Wendy’s? C: Well, no, because...Frosties are a little melty. The Hires shake was very thick and fluffy. I liked it alright but it was thick soft serve in a cup. It had a slight added flavor that was creamier or sweeter than plain ice cream. It didn’t behave like a shake or feel like a shake. It was g**d, because ice cream is g**d, but it wasn’t a curated item that I would be particularly proud of. Weird because the rest of the restaurant follows a kind of traditional drive-in style, so you would expect an ice cream milkshake.
J: Summary of Hires: It’s a g**d place! The ambiance was excellent, which is a big deal.
C: I had a g**d time there. They did everything pretty well, but nothing was special. It was a basic experience but the quality was g**d.
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