kenny's burger joint

just went there today with my wife and daughter for wife's birthday lunch. what a mistake! the service was fine. the food is terrible! wife and daughter both had the bacon & egg burger, i had the bud's queso burger and we shared an order of kenny's loadedcheesefries. the queso burger was so smothered in queso you couldn't even try to touch it. so, i use knife and fork to try it...awful. can't taste anything but soggy bun and queso. no hint of the burger meat, sauteed onions or anything else. so i try theirs. fail. tasted like a burger king breakfast sandwich. again, no hint of the burger or other flavors, just bacon, egg and bernaise sauce. here's a tip on burger 101 - the burger is the main attraction, the toppings are for complimentary flavors and textures. i can't believe a place supposedly one of the best burger places in dfw serves up this overbearing poorly executed excuse for a burger. to top it off, they can't even getcheesefries right for god's sake! you might even think they used the queso for this, but noooo!. grocery store shredded cheddar that was melted on top but underneath all the shreddedcheesewas still cold and fully in tact, crumbly and hard. all in all i had 2 bites of burger, 2 bites ofcheesefries and quit. i don't send food back because i know what happens to your food when you do, so i just left a comment card and left - and will never go back! don't buy the hype! there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of burger places way more deserving of your patronage. shame on the local foodie bloggers for not outing this place as the overhyped marketing mainstay it is. maybe at one time this place had it together, but for 3 people to spend $50 for lunch (we had water!) on 3 burgers and split an order ofcheesefries is tantamount to pure thievery!


update - corporate lied

well, a few days after posting the review i was contacted by a representative of kenny's. they expressed all of the expected concern/remorse expected from a social media and marketing damage control representative. they said they would review their recipes and procedures. they also offered to send me a voucher/coupon/gift card and invited me to come back and give them another chance to offer up a better experience. all i had to do was respond with my mailing address, which i did. guess what - 30 days later, what i don't have? anything at all from kenny's! so, not only was the initial experience awful, but the follow up experience turned out to be a big fat lie to placate me! i don't know who is responsible for running their customer relations and response people, but corporate hq has now made things worse by making a promise and then failing to deliver. i am really wondering at this point if anyone is at the wheel at kenny's, or the whole thing is set to autopilot, heading full speed into oncoming traffic. kenny's has broken yet another cardinal rule of retail; never make a promise that you don't keep! all they have done is compound an issue in the restaurant with another failure to deliver by corporate. it appears their issues are deeper than first experienced, and much more need to be done to get this organization to the level of service the purport to aim to deliver. let's see if someone wants to take ownership for these issues, step up, and do something about it. any takers on those odds?

joint:  kennys burger joint main fare (burger): the zed's straight up burger is offered with a 1/2 pound patty, so jack and i split one.  we select white american cheese.  burgers comes with pickles, lettuce, and tomato and mayo.  we request mustard, no mayo please.  when our server asks how we'd like it cooked, we ask for medium. the meat is cooked on a wood-fired grill, and comes cooked perfectly to order.   the beef was seasoned enough to bring out the flavor, but was not too salty.  this burger is tender, moist, and juicy... and the flavor from the wood fire come bursting through, making this a great burger! the veggies were all wonderfully fresh. the ciabatta bread is a unique touch, but being a burger traditonalist, it seems a bit distracting from the whole burger experience.  a real burger should be served on a real bun... not some fancy italian bread. other fare (everything else): we order the loadedcheesefries with jalapenos on the side.  this is an impressive basket ofcheesefries, and the flavors are very good.  however, thecheesehardens quickly and makes the basket very difficult to eat. the onion rings are out. stand. ing!  the batter is crispy and has some black pepper spice, and the large onions are sweet and tender.  this is the way an onion ring should be made - next time we'll be getting an entire order of these! the sweet potato fries are fresh and simple.  they are cut fairly thin, which makes them a little more crispy than they might have otherwise been.  straightforward and quite good. the strawberry shake had a knock-out of fresh stawberry flavor.  they must use some sort of stawberry puree and mix the shake like you would a smoothie.  it was topped with fresh whipped cream and was excellent. atmosphere: kenny's burger joint is really a misnomer... this is not a "joint".  rather, it is a modern burger restaurant that takes their business seriously.  as a modern restaurant, the ventilation system keeps diners from smelling any of those won

not worth the wait.. first off we waited in a tiny, crowded space for 40ish minutes which wouldn't be bad if the food was good. i order the juicy lucy and it was anything but. one bun one as hard as a rock and one was really soggy. there was a thin slab of meat with barely any cheese. i mean if you call something "juicy" at least put enoughcheeseso i can tell that it's even there. other than the non-juicy burger it was okay. definitely not worth the wait though, that's for sure.

wooooahhh! burger will blow your mind!. seriously. this is the best burger i've ever had (juicy lucy). not very expensive either. great place for kiddos, and has a great happy hour with high end beer. my favorite place . dude,cheesefries are amazeballs!

the bluecheeseburger was damn good.

the menu is pretty simple: a goodly array of pub-type appetizers (ie., fried pickles, bacon-wrapped jalapeños, loadedcheesefries), salads (caesar, greek, asian, & wedge), ribs-by-the-bone, sandwiches, and burgers. we had some of the best onion rings i’ve ever had and pulled-pork bbq nachos as starters. awesome.

best mushroom burger i've ever had. that burger was absolutely amazing. the ooey gooey briecheesemade this burger an all time favorite. you can't put the burger down, not just because it tastes damn good, but because you can't wipe your hands every two minutes.

better food and service @ snuffers. the vodka "adult shakes" were tempting and after a good review from friends, we had to try kenny's bj.

upon arrival we were packed into a small area in front of the hostess where we had to stand with several other groups of folks waiting for a table for 15 minutes - no where to sit!
no matter how we shuffled we were always in someones way as they were leaving or being escorted to a table.
once sat down, the waitress quickly approached the table to ask for our drink orders but that was one of the few times we would see her and her insincere face. she took forever to refill our drinks and didnt aim to please.

after deciding on the bacon & egg burger and a "jucy lucy" with a side of baconcheesefries, we sat at our table amongst a very loud crowded room of closely packed tables and booths.
the food took forever to come out and once it managed to make it to the table it was far from impressive.

the jucy lucy was overcooked and not juicy as its name would suggest - the whitecheesewas tasty but it didn't ooze cheese. there was a nice aroma that i've never had in a burger before but that was the extent of my enjoyment.
the baconcheesefries were even more disappointing. the ratio of fries andcheeseto bacon was incomparable and thecheesewas not gooey but more of a slab of semi gooeycheeseplaced over a ton of fries.
my husband, who ordered the bacon and egg burger, enjoyed the brown gravy that we asked for alongside the fries but complains that the burger he could have made himself at home.

overall our experience was a poor one, and will not be returning to kenny's bj.
for the same price, tastier burgers &cheesefries and excellent service, we will stick to snuffers.

don't get it.. i don't get the popularity of this place. i have eaten there twice, once for the fried pickles which were good and the second time for a meal. the place was packed. the cocktails were way overpriced. the burger, black and blue, was so small for the $7.49 price. it was more like a jr. burger from a fast food restaurant. the bluecheeseoverwhelmed anything else in that burger. i had to scrape half thecheeseoff just to taste meat and bun. i was very disappointed.

kenny's is good.. my wife and went to kenny's on a recommendation. it was a wednesday for lunch. kenny's was doing a really good lunch business and the place was pretty full. we had to wait about 5 minutes for a table. the place was not too loud and there weren't too many children (it was during the christmas/new year holidays). it's upscale for a burger joint. my wife ordered the chilicheeseburger (open-faced) and onion rings. i ordered the bacon burger. the burgers were quite good. neither was cooked to specification however. also, mine was sent back as it had mayo on it and i ordered it without and there were no pickles as my simple order that the waitress wrote down specified. two strikes really. the o-rings were texas-sized. i mean, not rings at all. there were 5 of them to a 5-dollar order. they were like "half baseball" size and shape. pretty good though! bottom line: i don't know that we will be back. sure, we realize that the area where kenny's is exclusive and high-rent, and they use good quality beef and such, but two burgers, o-rings, and two iced teas for $29 (and then tip of course)? that's just too much for reason. plus bj's has a superior burger anyway. on a side note, be advised of the "el jefe grande" super-size burger. it's an "eat this 7-pounder in an hour" contest burger. youtube the attempts (and recent winner) for entertainment. ciao!

back for more.... i got an invite to meet some friends at kenny's this morning and, well, how could i turn down a chance at a return trip? no way in hell i would miss it.

our bunch of eager beavers arrived right after the doors opened - kind of a burger brunch, if you will. once we were all seated, i perused the menu and vowed to try something different - well, a different burger anyhow. this time i opted for the bacon cheeseburger, medium rare of course, with a side of fries to accessorize things.

once again, kenny's nearly brought tears to my eyes. when my burger came, it was perfectly juicy (bloody) - the bottom bun taking the brunt of the punishment. the patty was topped with a big handful of crispy crumbled bacon, and smothered in melted cheddar cheese. dear god this has to be illegal in some states. after i got everything properly assembled and mashed down, the first bite reminded me how awesome this place is. yes, i made a bit of mess (how did i get burger juice on my lap?), but it's nothing a little oxyclean can't handle. hell, they were cheap shorts anyway.

the newbies that were in our group sounded mightily impressed with these burgers, as they should've been. "fantastic" and "outstanding" could be heard faintly from mouths full of burger goodness.

anyhow, i don't know if it's kosher to post multiple reviews of one place, but dammit this place is good. fantastic. outstanding.


-----11 jul, 2010-----

good lord this is a damn good burger!. i love a good burger, and i tend to be picky about it. i'm not ashamed to say it. i love sleazy goodness (keller's) as much as i love gourmet perfection (father's office in santa monica). kenny's has honestly nailed gourmet perfection to the ass of sleazy goodness. pin the tail on the donkey, if you will.

the frisco strip-mall location belies the goodness that lies inside. walk right in, sit right down, and you're treated to a clean eatery that's very nice, and offers no frills except for framed movie quotes on the walls. nice... a full bar is available, and flat screen tvs are present, but not distracting. if you wanna watch sports, you gotta go to the bar. fair enough.

the menu is shockingly simple (yet comprehensive), with an assortment of sides/appetizers, burgers, ribs, and salads. but it only fills one side of one page. period. lots of burgers to choose from, including turkey and tuna, but beef is where it's at. right?

to get things started, we ordered the bacon-wrapped jalapenos. holy sweet jesus. first off, these bad boys are huge, and oh-so fresh. somehow they manage to stuff them full of jackcheesewithout completely splitting them in two. then they wrap them in bacon and grill 'em till the bacon is mostly crispy. these things are obscenely good. the peppers are sweet and spicy, the bacon is smoky, thecheeseis suitably messy, and the dipping sauces (ranch and bbq) are damn-near perfect.

oh yeah... we ordered burgers too...

the burger selection ranges from plain-jane to starship-phantasm, so i went mid-line with the mushroom burger. this burger makes me want to cry for joy, hoot my vuvuzela, dance a jig, then go back and collect the whole rest of the burger lineup. first off, the patty was cooked to perfection exactly as i ordered it - medium rare. no fuss, no muss, no excuses, just pink and juicy and messy and bloody goodness - i ain't skeered. in fact, when i ordered "medium rare," the waiter actually gave a knowing nod and a subtle wooderson "all right, all right, all riiiight." so right there that's four thumbs up. moving on... the mushroom burger is topped with (you guessed it) very fresh sauteed mushrooms - earthy and rich and yummy. cheese? yes... melty, runny, buttery, rich brie cheese! hell yes! and to think i actually toyed with the idea of the chili-cheese burger. pffft. on top of that was the usual complement of unusually fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. by the time i was done with my burger, i had cheesy-juicy goodness running down to my elbows. if i could've licked my forearms clean, i damn sure would have.

alas, we come to the one shortcoming of kenny's... their sorry-ass napkins. but, you know, that's it. i can't think of any other reason to bitch. i will definitely repeat the drive to the great white north to delve deeper into their burger menu.

re-reading this, i realize there may be too many superlatives here, but i was quite moved by kenny's burgers. i'm putting it in my pantheon of great american burgers. yes, it was my first outing, but i can't think of one single reason not to return. not to name names, but kenny's stomps twisted root like a sack of helpless kittens...

next time i'm bringing a roll of brawny paper towels. problem solved.

first time visit but it won't be the last. i had an excellent rueben sandwich and greatcheesefries. one of my dining companions had the steak bomb sandwich and the other had a guacamole burger. both were also very good according to them.

best burgers ever. boy am l glad they are just down the road from our bank of america campus in plano. l first noticed this place a couple of weeks ago and on my way to work . l finally tried their food today and it was a while ago but l think of my burger and l'm still smiling. l had a bluecheeseburger with all the trimmings, the meat was juicy, the ciabatta bread fresh, the sauce delicious, lettuce, tomatoes all fresh and sweet. so l got the burger and a salad both for $10.80 which in my book is a great price for the awesome combo.
lol, my friend , oh gosh, had their bbq burger with fries, she is the pickiest person ever but she ate every morsel and would close her eyes with each bite, that's how good it was. she enjoyed it so much she had a tiny piece left and she took her time eating it.
onto the stuff, they are the friendliest ever, l walked in exactly 15 minutes after l called in our order and the bartender greeted me by name, offered us some refreshments while we were waiting as well, a ++ in my book, that goes for any establishment that has the same courtesy for their customers.
all in all, l'm impressed, beyond impressed actually. had a few people at work taste our burgers and they were impressed and guess what!! we now have a new lunch spot that is just down the road from work.
love you kenny's.