Craving a burger and shake, my husband and I made our way to Hires a few weeks back. It was a Saturday at dinnertime during this COVID pandemic, and pretty packed. They have customers placing/waiting on orders park in the spots attached to the building, and then request vehicles move to a space along the perimeter if you are staying to eat. We saw several parties hanging out in camp chairs: a cute idea, and kids in particular, seemed to be enjoying that, while still maintaining social distancing. Oh, and there is a large menu displayed outdoors on the back of the building, but we could not see it from where we were, so I'd peep one online prior to your arrival.
The carhops were on fire: greeting us within less than a minute of parking, and incredibly patient with the older couple next to use who waited about ten seconds before yelling and flagging someone over with a "Oh, I just wasn't sure you saw us!" (insert eyeroll here). They were still sweet as pie! We waited 10-15 minutes for our order, which seemed reasonable.
My lettuce wrapped Avocado H burger was tasty and satisfying. The meat is good quality, avocado fresh, and the fry sauce is a nice addition, without being glopped willy nilly and overwhelming the whole thing. I do wish they offered it over a salad (I asked - they don't - but if you want a good one Lucky 13'll do it for ya!), but I'm appreciative of the option to do away with a bun regardless. Especially as they are pretty meh squishy white bread style, which is not to my taste. With that said, my husband, who does not have a strong opinion about bread (except that carbs=good), had the bacon ranch burger, and liked it well enough. We shared an order of fries: fine and hot, but not on par with my crispiness standards.
A variety of shakes, malts, and sundaes are available. He chose a (boring!) vanilla milkshake while I went with raspberry hot fudge. I figured they would drizzle hot fudge on top, but it was mixed in. It gave my shake a lil' note of something beyond raspberry, but it was negligible. The true berry flavor and bits of fruit were lovely, though.
The thing with milkshakes is this: They are good, until they are not, which is about 5 minutes after receiving one. They melt too quickly, then it is just liquid ice cream, and I don't want that. This is no fault of Hires, they were just the impetus to reminding me of my feelings toward traditional shakes (now the thick shakes favored by most Utah eateries...that's a whole other thing!). I would probably skip dessert on a future visit, but if my sweet tooth is on, I'd opt for a sundae instead.
Overall, the experience was decent to pretty good, but the price too high for what we received (over $30 for two, and not even full meals). It is the classic case of "could have made it at home better and for less." If you can't or don't want to make this yourself, however, it is a fair option. read more