96th Street Steakburgers

I love the different toppings you can get on your burger. Options like Hawaiian with a slice of pineapple or Texan with BBQ and jalepenos. I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of their fries. But, I think that's personal preference because my fiance loves them. The chocolate milkshakes taste like blended Count Chocula. The best I've ever had. I don't like eating there because they always have Fox News playing. Just put it on a channel that's neutral.

Not impressed with 96th Street Steakburgers for many reasons:

Their steakburgers: we found them to be dry and overcooked -- NOT a contender for Steak 'n Sheak. These are edible but forgettable. I can almost guarantee you'll wish you went somewhere else. Even with a mustard grilled bun -- flavor was lacking.

Fries: totally awful. I can tolerate a lot of bad fries but these were unsavable. They were bland, not crunchy, and just plain bad. Reminscent of cardboard. These went almost completely uneaten.

The restaurant itself: it's LOUD. I often put up with a loud restaurant if the food can hold my attention...but the only thing to do here was throw away our uneaten portions and get out of here to avoid a head ache.

Not a fan.

I came in hoping for a better, somewhat more sophisticated restaurant than Steak and Shake, which was a mainstay of my high school days. I left disappointed. The burger I got was decent - the blue cheese on it actually had some appreciable flavor, and it all went together quite nicely. That's about where the positive part of my experience ended.

This was probably the loudest restaurant I've ever been in. Something about the acoustics amplified all of the noise in the open floor plan to the point that we couldn't have a conversation without yelling - I would be okay with that in a crowded bar, but it was just unbearable for lunch at 1PM. Throw in a couple of obnoxious screaming kids, lots of flashy signage everywhere, and the somewhat uncomfortable seating, and you can guarantee I will never visit this place again except to go through the drive through.

The fries were a flavorless overcooked mess, but the burger was good enough that I would be wiling to come back. Maybe.