The long line of course is due to the fact that all the orders are made fresh, but they have a surprisingly fast turn around on getting them out to you once you do make it up to the register.
While in line you get an idea of what everyone who’s anyone in the food reviewing business thinks of the Paradise Pup. As they have all left their indelible marks on the walls; food Critics ranging from the Hungry Hound to Drive-ins Diners & Dives have been here. Even a cheaply framed inkjet printed LTH certificate was laughably found buried among the review trophies out on display and mounted on the walls.
One thing was clear, the critics appear to agree; Paradise Pup has some great food, especially great burgers. So what was my take? Well I’ll sum it like this:
“Great burgers, pretty good hot dogs, OK Italian sausage, and “so what” fries & onion rings… “
Paradise Pup is a place that’s about t-h-i-s close to perfection (note that I’m holding my fingers about 1/4” apart).
First of all, they make some the best damn char grilled burgers anywhere, and the hot dogs are pretty good too, in spite of the fact I really thought that they would char grill them, but they don’t. Everything else about the place is solid, tasty and well run. Clearly the burger is the main show here, I ordered the bacon, Merkt’s cheddar burger with grilled onions, and it was divine. Nothing about this burger is less than perfect, and the accolades Paradise Pup has received from the many other food critics is well deserved. I liked the fact that were several ways to order and build your burger, which should be enough to keep me experimenting with the menu on my next several visits.
After ordering, I stood in line looking over the counter watching my order be assembled. The char grill flames eagerly licked my burgers to a perfect caramelized char crust, and yet the inside of the burgers were juicy, tender and delicious. The spicing was light, but there was a flavor that went beyond just the high quality meat. The buns were fresh, the apple wood smoked bacon perfectly intermingled with the Merkt’s cheddar and grilled onions, everything was in just the right proportions.
Shortfalls; really there’s only one big one; they don't use hand cut fries. Talk about about missing an opportunity to go to the next level and attain perfection. And since they have Merkt’s cheese on hand, its really a big miss in my book. Imagine the heart stopping goodness that some Merkt’s cheddar would give to fresh hand cut fries, faa-get-about it!!
They have counters on the inside, but with those lines, no one can really access them to eat during peak hours, so eating is either in your car, or if weather permits, on the picnic benches outside.
I wont let the fries thing stop me from going back, that burger is just way to delicious to stay away! So my advise is this: if you want to go to a solid burger stand with great prices and high quality ingredients, then you can’t miss at this place.
Taste = 9
Experience = 8
Value = 9
Score = 8.7
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