Saturday night, I had the opportunity to go to a VIP event at the Blazing Onion Burger Company's newest location at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington. it's located where the old Ruby's Diner was until recently. Invites were applied for via an email address posted to the company's Twitter and Facebook profiles, and I was one of the lucky few to receive one.
Myself, Heather, and Alexis arrived at approximately 6:00 PM, and honestly, I expected chaos. I'd eaten at the restaurant's Mill Creek location once before, about two and a half years ago, and definitely loved the food and the beer selection. Being a pre-opening/employee training event, I expected a fair number of hiccups, and am pleased to report that I was blown away.
As I say, we arrived around 6:00, which was the time on Heather's ticket. Mine was set for 7:30. However, when we contacted the company about this, their CEO, Dave Jones, wrote back and told us to simply come at whichever time was convenient for us. This was great as we were seeing a movie, and when you have a 6-year-old with you, earliest is often best.
After arriving, we looked over the menu. No braille, so Heather did have to read it to me, but as they're not a national chain, I somewhat expected this. We went to the counter and placed our order. When you do this, you're given a choice of paying then or keeping your tab open. We elected to keep it open as I figured we might want dessert, and new I'd be sampling the draft beer list. Quite a few local and international micros to choose from. This makes for a very happy customer.
After ordering, we were given a device which, if I understood right, would light up and let us know when a table was ready. We were guided to our table, and my beer arrived within a few minutes. Heather and Lex had soft drinks, which are self-serve.
The soft drink fountain is awesome...However, for a blind person such as myself, totally inoperable. But for the sighted, and especially for the kids, it's probably the coolest pop machine in the world. It's all touchscreen-operated. When you press on, say, Coke, Heather explained that about 8 varieties of Coke then pop up in the submenu, and you select the one with which you'd like to fill your cup. Her only complaint was that the restaurant doesn't serve regular, unsweetened ice tea...Pretty much her drink of choice everywhere we go.
I'd ordered an appetizer of jalapeno poppers...One of my favorites. This is where my first, and really only, complaint of the night comes in. The poppers arrived, and each was cold in the middle. I discovered this after eating the first one. So, I asked for a box, and decided I'd bring them home. They offered to heat them further, but in my experience, that would be the second the meal would come out, so I don't mind a snack with the ballgame at home.
This leads me to one of their other innovations. On each table, there are a couple electronic items. Not entirely sure how to describe them, but essentially, there's a machine on the table with a couple buttons on it...You press one when you want service. Say, another beer or to order dessert. In the top of this machine is a slot. They insert what amounts to a small sign into it. When your order is ready to come to your table and is on its way, from what was described to me, it lights up so a server knows where to bring it. Back to the service button, however...I rarely had to use it. Other than actual bars, I've never seen a waitstaff so attentive. The second my beer was about to be empty, someone was right there to clear the glass and ask if I'd like a refill. I think the only times I had to press the button were to order dessert and to ask for the bill.
The food was superb. I had their Anaheim Chilli Burger, and got the regular and sweet potato fries mixture as my side. Lex had a grilled cheese sandwich with fruit, and was in heaven. Heather had a bacon cheeseburger, but instead of beef, elected to have it with a Wild Boar patty. They give you choices...For each burger, you can have the regular ground beef, or chicken, Turkey, or veggie. Those are at no charge. Then, they offer angus, buffalo, and wild boar. I may be missing a couple, but if I am, you'll simply be in for a nice surprise when you get there.
Dessert was a peanutbutter pie for me, a giant cookie for Lex, and I honestly can't remember what Heather had. All I know is, we left very full, and intend to come back...Possibly Tuesday, opening night. Hey, the sign says burgers are buy one/get one if you say you want the Angus beef. I'm not passing that up.
The staff was excellent. Attentive, friendly, and very helpful. The only things that I can say that would make this place even better would be the option of a beer larger than a pint, and possibly more things for the kids...Say, a kids' menu or coloring books, and crayons automatically supplied when you see a family has a small child with them. Don't get me wrong; as soon as my daughter asked for crayons, they were brought. So this isn't too big a deal, but would be nice.
As far as price and quality, I'd put the prices at similar to or slightly less than Red Robin. I'd put the quality several steps ahead of Red Robin, at least on their burgers. They have several entrees, and I've not yet tried those.
Lynnwood, you're blessed to have this new burger place in town. Take advantage of it. I know I will.
For more information, visit the company's website, www.blazingonion.com.
