Thursday, April 8, 2010

Chuckbox!

Ahhh, the Chuck Box. Located in Tempe Arizona just outside of the gates of ASU. One of my favorite burger joints. Ya know sometimes I really get fed up and tired of going to restaurants that have mini novels for each item on their respective menus. naming everything from the grass the cow ate to it's name and what was its favorite color.Come on now. There's a few places and one in particular in San Diego that even have a cast of credits on the front of it's menu detailing every vendor they have. Ridiculous. I guess it's why I love Asian cuisine and it's eateries. They usually have extensive menu items and family owned with recipes handed down for generations. You would never go into an Asian eatery and have a novel written about each item. It would be an hysterical SNL skit though. I can see it now. Menu item #1. Frog legs in curry. Made with farm raised  hand fed frogs from the Ohio valley, where farmer Gustov massages each frogs legs everyday under the glow of a natural environmentally ecco green lamp prior to lopping off their meaty little legs.The curry made of 43 distinct ingredients of which we will breakdown now.....Anyway, you get the point. I find these establisments extremely pretensous at best. When you go out to eat you should expect the best the place has to offer and not a constant reminder of where, when, how, who, whatever.
But the Chuck Box is in a league all to itself. It's as unrefined and unpretentious as it gets.  None of that pseudo intellectual tripe here. Just good burgers. I was amazed to see this place run by just two college students on the night I went there. from cooking to cashier to busing tables. 
The place has a sign out front that says over 278 sold! hilarious place, but with serious food.

 The burgers are cooked over a mesquite charcoal grill and you step right up to "Juan" as he's grilling and tell him what you juan, and he slaps it on the grill in front of you and you move down the line and get your beer or soda. Just like they do at Pinks hot dogs in LA. Then you travel back around and wait for your burger to be done.

I love fries, but I love onion rings more. The rings at Chuck Box are not the best item on the menu. maybe because I like my rings with Panko crumbs and not a batter base, which the ones here are.
They were cooked to perfection though and very crispy with a nice fresh onion underneath. great beer drinking companions. Next up, the famous Chuckbox burger. For some reason my pix all came out very, very bad. so it's not your eyes. it's mine.

They cooked my burger to exactly how I wanted it. a nice red line through the middle. The taste of the charcoal mixed with the freshness of the beef was outstanding. The mesquite adds just enough smoke to give it that little something extra. The bun had just enough texture and give to it without really adding any flavor at all to the mix. Which was a good thing I thought as you really want to focus on that big beefy mesquitee charcoaly thing.

 Ok so it's by a major college campus and it has a funny spokesman. but it really works and is a very good little dive of a place.
So if you are ever in Tempe Arizona and are in need of a great burger with no frills attached, then the Chuckbox is worth searching out.

 And if you want to volunteer to take pictures. I will buy ya a beer....or two.

Chow

Michael




The Chuckbox
202 E. University Dr.
Tempe, AZ

3 comments:

KirkK said...

Hey Michael - Have you been to Aloha Kitchen in Mesa??? I sued to go there once in a while while doing work in the area.

Michael said...

Hi Kirk, I haven't been. But i'm going back to the area next month, so I will definetly check it out.

Dennis K. said...

OMG, this place totally rocks Michael! I planning a road trip again very soon. Hope to stop by..

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...