Burger Studio - Phoenix, Arizona [Group Stop]

It was about 12:25 in the afternoon when we rolled into the strip mall on the northwest corner of Mountain View & 7th Street. The strip mall houses (among other things) a tax preparer, a tanning salon, an animal clinic as well as our destination; Burger Studio. We stepped through the door and were greeted by a very modern interior; stainless steel, bright orange and purple walls, an over-sized lava lamp and a wonderful aroma.

After perusing the large menu board that is mounted on the wall; which is oddly enough, not directly in front of you, but on the wall to your left as you enter, we ordered a round of Studio Burgers. Upon the recommendation of the cashier, we also ordered one of their signature burgers, the Studio Caprese Burger. The menu proclaimed to us that these are 1/2 pound 100% Steer beef burgers, which sounded very promising.

The burgers arrived very quickly and were served on large, paper-lined, white platters along with a pickle spear. The bun was not your standard hamburger bun. The buttered and grilled bun looked sort of like a kaiser roll, but was very soft and light, despite its very thick appearance. (We later spoke to the chef who described it as a kind of "cross between a regular hamburger bun and a ciabatta roll".) As mentioned, the bun looked very thick, but was soft enough to be pressed down and turned out to be the perfect amount of bread for this burger.

The patty, which was neither too thick or too thin, had a really great flavor and was large enough to fit on the bun perfectly. If there were any seasonings used on the meat, they were not detectable. This was not a greasy patty at all and the beef seemed to be a bit leaner than most burgers, which caused some members to say that they would have liked it to be just little bit juicier.

You can choose your own cheese at the Burger Studio, which we liked and the burgers are served without condiments so you get to, or have to (depending on how you look at it) put those on yourself. They have the standards like ketchup, mayo and mustard as well as a selection of hot sauces. The produce was very fresh; the tomatoes were bright red and firm, not mushy.

The overall taste was very good; the Studio Burger's different components compliment one another very well, which gives one unified flavor. We found the 1/2 pound patty to be very sufficient and filling and while we all finished the burger, not all of us were able to finish the fries.

If you are ever in the area, you would do yourself a favor by stopping in at Burger Studio for one their standard burgers.

Final Score: 7.75

Side Notes

Burger Studio offers a variety of sides, including fried zucchini, sweet potato fries and nachos. We all opted for the wedge fries and we heartily enjoyed them. The very liberal portion is served with a generous side of ranch.

Signature Spotlight

As we plan to do at each stop, we also ordered one of Burger Studio's signature burgers to share. The Studio Caprese Burger comes with mozzarella, basil, tomato, pesto, a balsamic reduction sauce and "spring mix". This burger is more of a trendy, gourmet type of sandwich and was not met with much enthusiasm from the team. While the bun and patty were the same as the Studio Burger, the Caprese was (in our opinion) a barrage of different flavors that just didn't seem to fit together; although you may feel differently.

NOTE: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger.