Hamburgers are a staple of fast food restaurants and college students’ diets everywhere. Quick, cheap and tasty, they are an easy fix for taste buds and hungry stomachs alike. However, in downtown Raleigh, hamburgers have taken a gourmet turn and gone beyond the standard patty and bun.
Chuck’s, which opened in September, is from the mind and kitchen of Ashley Christensen, who is also behind Poole’s Diner, Beasley’s Chicken and Honey and Fox Liquor Bar.
“The idea behind Chuck’s is pretty simple,” Derek Ryoti, general manager of Chuck’s, Beasley’s Chicken and Honey and Fox Liquor Bar said. “It is to serve a great burger to Raleigh. [Christensen] felt that burgers are a food that a whole lot of people can connect with, and that there was an opportunity for this type of restaurant to thrive in Raleigh.”
However, these are not your typical burgers. Instead, they have names like Spirit Animal, The Dirty South and Bradley-Time, with toppings that include bacon-onion jam, crushed avocado, smoked pork shoulder, chili, cream cheese and roasted poblano chilis, to name a few.
The Dirty South currently reigns as the most popular burger, coming topped with smoked pork shoulder and anson, Mills Sea Island red pea chili, crispy tobacco onions, roasted tomato slaw, Ashe Co. Mtn. cheddar and yellow mustard.
In addition to their specialty burgers, Chuck’s also offers diners the opportunity to create their own custom burger.
Katy Campbell, sophomore in sports management, took advantage of that opportunity when she met up with a friend for lunch at Chuck’s.
“I love a good burger,” Campbell said, “so when a good friend told me about Chuck’s, I thought I’d try it out. I ordered a custom cheeseburger and Belgian-style pommes frites (french fries) with ketchup and roasted garlic aioli. The burger was a good size (I got the little version) and [it] was pretty tasty, but the fries were the best part. They were crunchy, fresh and a little salty. The roasted garlic aioli was original and delicious.”
The wide variety of homemade dipping sauces is one thing that separates Chuck’s from other burger joints. Beyond classic Heinz ketchup, there’s espelette aioli, green peppercorn-dijon, roasted garlic aioli, sweet chili sauce, malt vinegar aioli, a concoction called ‘the comeback sauce’ and beef booster mayo.
Chuck’s focuses on using high quality, ground-in house beef for its burgers and local ingredients. While beef burgers are the main attraction, there are also salads, veggie burgers and chili cheese fries.
“Another specialty at Chuck’s are the milkshakes and floats,” Ryoti said. “The pastry team uses homemade, house spun ice cream to create a variety of milkshakes and floats, and we have a special relationship with Aviator Brewery in Holly Springs that produces a great local root beer, which we serve on tap. It is outstanding on its own or with some vanilla ice cream.”
Chuck’s will continue to provide creative, delicious burgers to the Raleigh area, hoping to break the boundaries of average American food.
“I think there is definitely a market for creatively-topped burgers,” Loretta Stinson, senior in business administration, said. “I remember that there was this one restaurant that served a burger with peanut butter, and apparently it was their best selling burger. I think people like the idea of spicing up a classic American meal with innovative toppings.”
