Friday, April 20, 2012

Nation's Giant Hamburgers - A Review

For years, Fuddruckers was the Big Burger On Campus in Citrus Heights. Any weekend night would find a line out the door and good luck to you if you planned to eat it there. The economy started to take a bite of their business a few years ago, and, in the last couple of years, new burger joints have been popping up literally within a block of Fuddruckers.

First it was The Habit. I'm totally going to admit that I have a deep love of their Ahi Tuna burger. It is so simple and good, and I can order it with a salad and have a reasonably healthy supper.

Next came Smashburger, which I have yet to try. I've heard differing reports about vegetarian options and the "worthiness" of the food.

Finally - and fairly recently - came Nation's Giant Hamburgers, which we checked out one desperately stormy evening last week.

Nation's salmon ceaser

I ordered the salmon Caesar salad because, dude. It's a salmon Caesar salad. I was underwhelmed at best. First fail: you just don't serve Caesar salad dressing on the side. It really needs to be tossed with the salad so it's even. Chowing on random clumps of Caesar dressing is not the business, nor is forkfulls of dry salad.

Nation's Chilli Food

MonkeySee ordered the Chili Burger with a side of Chili Cheese Fries. He had to request onions, because they weren't served with them. As you can see, the chili cheese fries were topped with two slices of what appears to be American cheese. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but in this increasingly "foodie" culture, this just does not fly.

To quote MonkeySee in regards to his meal: "It's like a middle school dance: They aren't really too close, and both parties were forced together by a third party."

And y'all should know that Monkey is an afficianado of chili topped foods.

Overall, I would say Nation's has a vaguely cafeteria feel to it and not much to distinguish it from the multitude of other burger & sandwich fare in the area. The prices seemed reasonable, until you added in sides and drinks and all of a sudden you could have eaten somewhere less hair-netty.

Maybe I missed out by not ordering breakfast*, but I suspect that I will not be back to find out.

The Verbosery verdict on Nation's Giant Hamburgers is: Decidedly Meh.

If you haven't checked them out, you probably aren't missing much.

*Pro-tip: If you're off gluten and sugar (as I am this month), you probably shouldn't get supper somewhere that specializes in pancakes and pies.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review. I will steer clear of these guys!

Susan said...

you were nicer than I would have been....no "meh" about it. definitely "blech"

Susan said...

oh.....and I still really like the black bean burger at Smashburger!!

Loki's Dad said...

I'm a little behind in blog reading, and I had to wipe a small tear from my eye after reading my beloved Nation's slagged so severely. Nation's is part of the fabric of urban and suburban East Bay, particularly from the Seventies, when life was easier, afros were bigger, and burgers were unapologetically greasy. Nations bacon-cheeseburgers with grilled onions made me and the Winedog who we are today.

Ok, that alone may be a good reason not to feed them to your children, but I digress.

Nations is a place your supposed to go for a big, fat, greasy, cheeseburger, so bad the iceberg lettuce slice squirts out the back when you bit the front end, real fries, and PIE, PIE, PIE!!!!

BTW that ain't just American cheese, its GOVERNMENT cheese.

I think the Salmon Burger and the salads were a weak attempt to put something on the menu to placate the one person in a group who showed up and said "don't they have anything but red meat????" Until now I never knew anybody who ordered that stuff at Nations. Kinda like ordering a burger at a Chinese restaurant; you'll probably get one but... yeesh.

The original Nation's is on Broadway in Oaktown, and its still serving the same burgers it did 40 years ago. Shit, they haven't even updated the background music or the clientele, which is to say you'll see me every once in a while hanging with the homies and the homeless tossing some grease back. You'll also find me at the chicken and waffles joint wondering why I'm in the only white guy in the restaurant, Why don't white people in general understand that waffles and fried chicken are PERFECT together.

On the other hand, have you heard of or been to Souly Vegan? Exactly what it sounds like. Also on Broadway.

Don't get me wrong, I can get all foodie with the best of them, and can tell you which cheese goes perfectly with, get this, PINE SAP, but in a world of chi-chi foo-foo foodie weirdness (black bean burger, Susan, I'm sure you're a lovely person... but ... weren't tofu burgers enough of an offense?) it's nice to know that a few greasy spoons like Nation's stuck to their guns.

I feel better now. I've defended by beloved grease burger. Next I will probably have to defend linguica and eggs.

dolphyngyrl said...

Kibble Giver, I have SO missed your comments! In numbered form:

1. I LOVE that it's government cheese! If they could stick that in the middle of a chewy bagel, I would be very happy.

2. I have nothing against greasy spoons but still don't eat (land)meat. That makes it harder. For me. I would like to go back to try their breakfast fare and their PIE.

3. Have you eaten at Jim Denny's in Sacramento? You should.

4. I would love to know which wine to serve with pine sap, if only because it is unlikely I would ever serve either. I know. I'm lame.

5. I've had the black bean burger and it was... Not as bad as you'd think it would be.

6. I would totally eat linguica and eggs. If it wasn't for the meat thing.