Two double-meat burgers at Elevation Burger on Hillcrest
Elevation Burger isn’t in our neighborhood, but it’s close, particularly if you don’t mind driving a couple of minutes past NorthPark Center. It opened Saturday just up Hillcrest (west side) at Northwest Highway, so my wife and I stopped by Sunday afternoon as snow was drifting down from the sky. Considering the place had just opened, and considering the weather was scary (for Texas drivers, anyway), it was pretty busy, with probably 30 people eating there during our lunch.
The restaurant literally brags that everything in its food is both fresh and organic (or “real” as in describing the cheddar cheese). The starter burger (3.2 ounces of organic, free range beef) is $3,99; another 3.2-ounce patty between the bun slices will set you back another $2. You can request the typical condiments (lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup, etc., but curiously enough — as my wife pointed out — no mushrooms and the cheese available is the “real” cheddar) on the burger. For $2.49, you can order enough french fries for two people (no smaller orders), and they also offer shakes, sodas (from one of those multi-beverage, computer-display dispensers, and some bottled drinks.
The burgers tasted fresh, and the double is about right — a single would have been kind of skimpy, as the person behind the counter pointed out, unless you were also ordering fries and a shake. The fries were small-diameter cut, a cross between soft and crunchy, and they reminded me of those served at Mighty Fine burgers in Austin, except Mighty Fine uses sea salt and Elevation serves up the regular salt.
I’m no restaurant ambiance specialist, but the place seemed a little sterile — the tables (basically 2-seaters both low and high) were kind of jammed together and there just didn’t seem to be a lot of atmosphere. Quite a few groups brought young children, and the place is great for them — there’s really nothing to break or soil, outside of the stained concrete floors, so parents can enter without trepidation. Outside, there’s a pretty large patio spot on the north side of the facility facing Hillcrest, which I imagine will be a hopping spot when the weather becomes nicer.
Honestly, I like Varsity Grill better. Still, we liked the food at Elevation Burger, it was typically priced for mid-ranger burgers around here, and we’ll be back.
