TL;DR: Bring back the classical feel of the burger shack, Betty's knows how to do it. What you see is what you get, and with the fanbase that it has acquired, you know they are well onto something. That is not at all for show, as the burgers really do feel you up, and the extra sweets they got in store will do wonders on the hottest of days. A good reason exists for why more of these shacks have spread across the land.
So many places around town try to find the next paradigm to shift, or keep on reinventing wheels and such that much of what makes some of the favourite reliable bites tick oft gets forgotten. One of these is the burger, and when success is achieved a boom occurs. Betty's Burgers and Concretes has made its way throughout the country, mostly in various Gold Coast suburbs. Of course, it would gets in way into Brisbane before you knew it.
Arriving back from a quick round-trip to Melbourne, it happened to be an early Sunday afternoon upon touchdown. Going a couple of hours before the plane was to set off, I proposed towards my house mate about getting a bite to eat in between times - much like me always being one that gets willing upon the proposal of food, he was much the same. All the situation had to be was where?
All of this was on the fly, and with the airport in a different part of town than is normally trodden by us two, a cornucopia was laid upon us. Newstead and its surrounds were the location, and driving all around the streets, one thing was leading to another with sussing things out. What decided this place was that I caught it in the corner of my eye, and it had been relatively famous and well-touted. A burger always does well by him, and a couple of rumbling stomachs were present; after looking at the couple of adjacent alternatives, Betty's it was.
The dining area, which is kind of shared with the adjacent competition, has a groovy aesthetic not unlike a beach-side eatery. It is all out in the open, the seating is low-key, and it all gets hard to argue with the comfort after a good through-flow of wind on a hot day. In this part of town, this has an idiosyncratic choice that proves itself to be effective. What it does is add further character.
When it comes to the service, overall it went fine overall. How it works is you go up and order, then pay. Afterwards you are given a buzzer that will go off when the order is ready to collect. The young folk here were pretty chirpy, friendly and knew how to do customer service. It may be a bit of a spoiler here with what was ordered, it goes appropriate to showcase the level of service. As per their name, the two things that are supposedly done well are their burgers and concretes. One of each was ordered by me, and the young lady behind the counter was considerate enough to ask whether I wanted the concrete now or a bit later - I those the latter. Not a big thing, but small numbers do add up in the game and each one I like to point out.
They keep the menu pretty simple here. As per their name, they offer a range of burgers and concretes - that latter one we will get to later. A couple of bites are available on the side to compliment the burgers, and in getting something to drink they have milkshakes, the usual range of sodas, plus various choices for beers, ciders, and wines. Again, it is kept simple for quality's sake.
Their concretes are a perfect option for dessert. How they make these is they take something between ice cream and custard, in terms of texture at least, with a choice between chocolate and vanilla. After that, there is a variety of mix-ins to choose from, and after a couple of minutes being whipped and mixed, it is all available to eat. Like any dessert place with such a load of options for combinations, they have done some of the work themselves to help the indecisive. From what I have heard of the food chain Wendy's, this might be pretty similar to their signature Frosty. Whether that is true or not, I can at least attest the concrete is worth a bite.
Getting onto the burger, it is hard to go past the version of their deluxe. This took the usual burger with the beef patty, the l.o.t. toppings (lettuce onion tomato), cheese, and their special sauce, and added on some bacon and pickles. What first pops with the burgers is the way they are presented. It is a classical sort of look, where half of it protrudes from the paper wrapping, and that catches the sauce as it drips out. This was a delicious burger, with each component being just as good as the last. Event the salad vegetables did not seem to be afterthoughts - they popped out just as much as the cheese and bacon. There was something about the special sauce I could not quite put my finger on; the flavour was tangy, and the texture was fairly smooth. It went well as a bit of a dressing, plus the combination of bacon and cheese never goes wrong on any burger. It all comes down to a lovely patty - which they had here - and a bun which is just right.
My house mate ordered some fries on the side of his burger, and I did manage to nick a few. This was the weak part of the meal, and I meant really weak. They weren't too awful, but a couple of aspects about them from the colour to their texture in part indicated that it was time to change the oil. They had a slightly stale aftertaste which did not do too well with the rest of the meal.
And on it is to the concrete. A lot to chose from, I went with one of their pre-selected options. Almond, Toffee, Marshmallow: if that has not been a chocolate bar already, then some candyman has been snoozing on the job. Nevertheless, with the concerned concrete, they use a chocolate custard base, and mix in an almond toffee, some marshmallow sauce, and salted caramel sauce, with a finish of both whipped cream and cinnamon sugar. .... I hope my dentist didn't just read that.
Whether he did or not, it doesn't change the fact that this was a delicious dessert. Like it was said, the concretes are something between ice cream and custard, with the texture being slightly thick, and the intensity of the chocolate was pretty strong - they make it fairly dark here. Each filling was just as good as the last, the almond-toffee presenting a nutty caramel note to the sweet, the marshmallow being soft as a cloud, then the salted caramel sauce did make a nice touch up to the concoction. Putting the whipped cream and cinnamon sugar merely sweetened the entire deal. By all means, the concretes are worth giving a go.
All up, Betty's has a straightforward sort approach with what they offer. In a lot of ways, it is both a throwback to a simpler time, and also getting on board the business model that has done so many fast food places in America so well: have that model, don't stray too far away from it, therefore more focus can be made on making only a half-dozen item high quality as opposed to dozens decent quality. This does prove to be a reliable model, and it gets a distinction of character by offering a unique dessert. Honestly, this meal could well knock it out of the park with a tad more attention - namely changing the oil for cooking. If only that aspect had been changed, this could have been a knock-out meal; at that same point, benefit of the doubt will be given that it was luck of the draw and they are usually on top it all.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes