Jr's
Burger Flavor: 3
Creativity (selection): 1
French Fries: 2
Juiciness: 4
Bun: 4
Atmosphere: 2
(prob. better in summer)
Service: 2
I recently visited Jr's in Long Branch, NJ. It's located on
Brighton Avenue, right off of scenic Ocean Avenue. This place is your typical greasy spoon/dive...obviously a hot spot in the summer, being so close to the shore, but pretty quiet on this particular fall afternoon. There is no table service, although they do bring your food over once you've ordered at the counter. I assume this may be different on a busy summer day.
Jr's is all about the slider (which we're VERY familiar with by now in this blog). For $4.50 you get two, pint-size, yet piled-high burgers. Not a bad deal. I hadn't eaten all day and neither had my date, so we each had our own order of twin sliders with bacon and cheese. Despite our ferocious appetites, we easily could have split an order of sliders, along with the fries we split and been satisfied. Don't let their petite size fool you. These sliders are definitely filling, with their small-circumference, yet hearty buns and one-inch-plus patties. The taste was good and definitely something I would go back for. Jr's also does not seem to overcook... no juiciness was left to burn on the grill.
Two high-school age girls worked the counter with high-school attitudes. They were kind of short with us, not quick to answer any questions, and hardly smiling. You don't really go to a dive like this for exceptional service, though. The food came in about 18-20 minutes, which I thought was kind of long, especially since we were the only customers at the time.
Along with our double sliders, we ventured the Krazer fries. THESE ARE RIDICULOUS!! Definitely only get these if you are splitting a slider order. These fries are a meal in themselves, even for a big-eater such as myself. The fries at Jr's are of the crinkle-cut kind and not particularly crispy, that is if you can find a naked fry in this dish to really tell. Krazer fries are smothered, and I mean
smothered, in canned nacho cheese, bits of hamburger, and lots of bacon. An artery's worst nightmare, indeed. I would have liked these fries a lot more if there had been less cheese.
Nacho cheese has a powerful flavor and needs to be controlled in any dish. There was so much cheese it even managed to overpower the bacon. Those who know me know NOT to overpower my bacon. ;-)
There are not too many choices on Jr's menu, as far as the burgers go, but there are quite a few yummy looking appetizers to choose from. The walls at Jr's display professional pics of what seems to be apps they take pride in. In the corner of the dining area is one old-school
Street Fighter arcade game, truly completing the atmosphere at Jr's.
Whole-wheat buns available.
Review at a glance: Dive. Summer spot. Sliders that are a mouth-full. Plastic trays & burger baskets. Nacho cheese overload. No website. Be Guile while waiting for food. Krazer=never again. Solid flavor burgers.
And the overall rating is...
2.5-patty Prize!
Pretty good. Definitely not worth a special trip,
but if you're in the area, check it out.
