Short Order, Short Temper

In the age of $5.00 gallons of gas, how can you get bent out of shape over a $14.00 burger? I am not particularly fond of Nancy Silverton, but I consider Pizza Mozza to be a worthy endeavor, so I was happy to walk by here last night and give it a try. The place was not very crowded and I found the servers to be most friendly and helpful. I ordered the Backyard Burger and found it to be juicy and flavorful with plenty of salt, a nice side of ketchup unlike that half-wit at Father's Office, and spicy mayo (not Siracha, sadly). The bacon was wonderful but not overpowering. The burger arrived perfectly Medium Rare, and the only complaint that I could muster is that the uniformly melted Comte is rather flavorless. This burger was outstanding, but allegedly so are the burgers of many other places in this great metropolitan area. With that in mind, it will be quite some time before I return to this place, but I most definitely will return one day. My wife got the chick pea patty which was considerably more flavorful than the burger. It had fresh, homemade harrissa and a very nice yogurt based sauce on top of two of the most flavorful, crispy falafel patties I have encountered. I do have to declare that it was strange eating this concoction inside of a bun and would have much preferred a pita but it was surprisingly good. She also ordered a very small root beer float. I mean it was so small it looked like it came in a Dixie Cup. And it carried a price tag of $5.00. Finally, the deep fried baked potato pieces are perfect in every way. I am kicking myself for not ordering the sour cream and bacon dip available for an extra $2.00. I came here again the other day and ordered the backyard burger and the regular fries. The burger was very nice and similar to a burger that I would cook at my house but without all the hassle. It was cooked the way I ordered it, and the bun almost held up until the end. I get a burger about once a month, and this one was certainly a treat. The fries were not cold, but rapidly getting there as I was seated upstairs. The ranch dressing was top notch. My wife got a grilled mushroom burger. I suspect she might be a comuniss, because anyone who orders a mushroom burger must hate America. Corn on the cob with cojita and tomatillo salsa was very good. When I got the check, I asked the guy if he could kindly get me a validation, and even though I had just shelled out $20.00 for my burger and fries, he refused and directed me to get it downstairs. When I got downstairs, the guy I asked refused to give me a validation. Maybe he was new or something, and I finally did get my validation, but it raised my blood pressure, made me want to smash things, eat a can of spinach, and run amok.