EZ's Brick Oven and Grill

EZ's Brick Oven and Grill

Bitters location
Mid July

For a Sunday night dinner we were looking for something quick with a broad menu.  One of my co-workers, Vaidehi, announced her intention to come along to one of these outings to give a veggie burger rating - we even made a 1-5 broccoli florets scale for her.  Unfortunately, the quality of the ingredients in EZ's veggie patty fell below her standards, so we will have to wait for another edition for a veggie burger review.

Service and Setting

Standard counter operation. Looks a little bit like The Max from saved by the Bell with neon details throughout.  There are lots of paintings of fish that look like the Ballast Point brewery labels that are pretty serene.  Plenty of crayons and coloring sheets for the little ones.  Service was fine.

Menu

A diverse menu with burgers, pizza, salads, and pasta.  They had several burger meat options including beef, bison, turkey, and veggie.  They will swap any patty into of their burger constructions.  Unfortunately, they were out of bison.  Also, for a half pound burger they didn't ask how we wanted it cooked.

Beverage

A bit of a weak beer selection in bottles and cans.  Pepsi products in the soda fountain.

Patty
We went with the poblano burger and the bean burger with beef as they were out of bison.  Again, we weren't asked how we wanted the burger cooked; they both came out medium-well.  As you can see in the photo, the bun and the wax paper are totally dry.  The burger didn't really drip at all, indicating a sub-standard level of juiciness.  It managed to not be dry at least.  Flavor was rather bland.  It had that burnt grease flavor of the griddle.

Dress and Bun

The menu default for both of the burgers was a gluten-free wheat bun.  It was awful.  You have heard me rant about wheat buns in the past, and why they have no place in burgerland, but I guess I'll just have to do it again.  A wheat bun does not turn something that is inherently unhealthy into something that is good for you.  Hamburgers are meant to be eaten on occasion, and when you do decide to have a "naughty" meal, don't mess it up by putting it on a wheat bun.  My wife had the classic burger, and said the white bun wasn't much better.  Otherwise, toppings were fine. Geoff doesn't like Fritos on burgers.  I thought the beans were fine, but keeping in the theme of things, were low on flavor.  The poblano peppers were just ok as well.

Sides

We got the sampler basket. Excellent sauce options ranging from Thai chili oil to Lea and Perrins Worcestershire.  I thought the sweet potato fries were a little too thin.  The onion rings and curly fries were good.

Geoff's take: It has the flavor of backyard cookout with a bunch of grilled frozen patties and the cheapest buns in the grocery store.

The Verdict

It is a fun restaurant with nice things to look at and a large menu.  But being a burger blog, Geoff and I couldn't get over the dry and flavorless patty, mediocre toppings and an awful bun.  Unfortunately, we have to give both burgers we tried 2 spurs.  In fact, we were so poorly satiated, we needed something else to salvage the night.  We left and walked immediately over to Max and Louie's and split a third hamburger.