KC Food Wars: Burgers Part 2

Tonight our judges were myself, Jessica, Angie and Bree. We planned on going to the next burger stop: Room 39. There is a location on 39th street but we had called ahead and they said they didn't serve the burger for dinner at that location, but we could go to the location in Leawood. The Leawood location was pretty fancy- tablecloths, reservations, the whole nine yards and not your typical burger place. We get seated only to find out they do not offer the contest promotion at dinnertime!

We decided to go ahead and cross Room 39 off the list. If they are not even going to honor their promotion, forget it!

Instead, we drove to the next stop: Nick and Jake's
Location: 135th and Metcalf, Overland Park, KS

Right away, this seemed like a more casual, friendly place, definitely somewhere you would go to get a good burger. (I did notice they had a hockey game on, which is brownie points from me).

So here it is!

This was a classic, 8 oz beef patty on egg bun, served with fries. Toppings included cheese, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and onion.

Overall, it's easy to summarize this burger. Good, but average. Tasty but nothing special. This is a classic burger that you could have at hundreds of restaurants but nothing about it stands apart. It's not memorable.

Angie summed it up best: "I don't see how this could be in the running for the best burger in KC."

Bree agreed, "I'm satisfied with the burger but I wouldn't go out and tell my friends about it."

Nick & Jake's scoring:

(Scoring is from four judges who score each category 1-5, 5 being the best. Scores are added up and totaled. Also, we judged this on its own merit and tried not to base our score on comparisons to our last burger. For example, a score of 5 by a judge would mean there's nothing better out there, a 3 would be average, etc.)

Meat- 12
Toppings- 14
Sides- 12
Bun- 13
Ambiance of restaurant- 12
Overall flavor- 10
Value- 15.5

Grand Total- 88.5 out of 140


Scoring Notes- All judges agreed the cheese was very good but the burger itself didn't have a distinct flavor or seasoning.

It's a nice restaurant with good seating areas and a big bar for watching games. The worst part about it is it's way out in south OP. Why would I ever be out that way? Our server was fine but she didn't know anything about the magazine promotion at first. I liked that the menu explained that Nick and Jake were friends that grew up on either side of State Line Road.

Cost of meal was $8.50. Again, a good burger but not worthy enough to be considered the very best in KC.

We're tacking Burger Spot Number 3 this weekend!

Til next time...Laura