Bottom line: the is the MOST American burger joint in Santiago. Yes, music is loud, the place is…read morepretty small and jam-packed, but all of that is worth it if you want a delicious, juicy burger that tastes like home.
We had heard about Honesto Mike's through a friend and decided to check it out before visiting a friend in the hospital. We thought we were arriving early (within 1 hour of opening), but even though we were on gringo time, the place was already packed and we were third on the wait list. As others have pointed out, Beervana next door is also a creation of the same owner and we were told that we could take our receipt next door for a discount on beer. Whoohoo!
The food is amazing. They actually have fried pickles ("frickles") on the menu, though I opted not to order them because our server indicated they are on the sweet side (like everything else in this country, sigh...a croissant is NOT a donut, Chile!). Instead, we got the onion rings and were not disappointed. Even though they use red onions, which is somewhat unusual, the batter is exquisite and we had to ask for extra dipping sauce (it's like tartar sauce) because my husband thinks that onion rings are just a vehicle for getting sauce in his mouth.
When we first sat down, we were greeted and placed our beer orders. Since we had walked a long way, I was very thirsty and ordered a pint glass of whatever was on #19 that day (there's a huge chalkboard that looks like a calendar with each of their beers on tap listed). I was surprised to see the very-USA influence on everything here from the decor, to music, to beer and food. The people next to us were drinking their beers out of Sierra Nevada pint glasses--something I haven't seen in about a year. Definitely made me feel right at home.
The beer was delicious as was everything else. One oddity was that we wanted to order a burger and fries to go so we could take it to our friend at the hospital, but our server told us it was not possible. WHAT!?! We felt terrible because we'd been texting our friend photos of the menu so he could escape having to eat yet another hospital meal during his long-term stay. Our server explained that the burgers are so tall and huge that they do not fit in a to-go box and it's just not their policy (take-out food is a really big thing in Santiago, and I can see how that would be a slippery slope for them). We artfully crafted a simple work-around: We ordered 3 meals and when one of them arrived on the plate, our server immediately took it to the back, broke it down, and boxed it for us. Voilà! When we arrived to our American friend's hospital room, he was overjoyed and pretty much devoured the burger in 30 seconds, just as the nurse came in and jokingly scolded him for eating non-hospital food.
We will DEFINITELY be coming back here again and bringing our friends. It is a shame they don't do takeout, but as other Yelpers have noted, the kitchen is just too tiny. Honestly (get it?), I kind of like that this place is so small and hard to get into. I don't know that I would want them to recreate it elsewhere or expand. It's perfect just the way it is--blasting heavy metal in your face and all.
