You know in the Peanuts cartoons when one of them was angry or frustrated, they'd have those squiggly black lines hanging over their head as the walked down the street? I had those squiggly lines as I walked in to Junior Colombian Burger, because the Pioneers Western Kitchen that they bought out and replaced was one of my favorite lunch spots in the area. So I came in to JCB already annoyed with them, my inner monologue mumbling about how I'm not going to enjoy this place, I just knew it.
"There's no menus to hold while you're waiting in line?" I thought to myself, "And why would you have glossy TV screens showing the overhead menu when they're facing a bright window? I can't see a thing on those menus because of the glare! This place is stupid." My squiggles were squiggling furiously.
So I made up my mind to try a combo meal after much moving my head around like an idiot trying to read around the glare spots on the screen, and I was given one of those vibrating flashy things that you normally get when you're waiting for a table. "That's stupid," said my brain, sulking. I went to a table.
Then the flashy thing went off. And did it ever go off. Loud, obnoxious beeping followed every few seconds with an equally loud verbal warning that my food was ready, repeated in both English and Spanish. Everyone in the restaurant knew when my food was ready, it was crazy. My squiggles had reached a fever pitch as I got up to get my food.
After getting a bunch of sauces to try from the collection of half a dozen or so available, I opened up the burger and tried it out.
Dammit. This is really pretty good.
The patties (I had ordered a double) were surprisingly tender and juicy, and the bun was one of those silky soft types that's strong and holds up nicely but doesn't have any of those dry, crumby properties that the hamburger buns at most fast food joints have. The sauces work together nicely (and can, of course, be enhanced with any of the sauces available by the counter) and the crumbled potato chips at a little texture and saltiness to the mix. For around $10, I got this double cheeseburger and a good sized thing of fries. The fries may not have been life-altering, but they were good and they operated nicely as vessels for some of those sauces. I was stuffed and couldn't even finish the fries.
This was my first experience at a Junior Colombian Burger, and I was definitely happy with the food. I may save one thin wisp of an "angry squiggle" for my beloved Pioneers, but I'll be back here again for sure.
*** Update *** On my second visit to JCB, I noticed that they had placed menus in front of the counter that you can take to look at while you wait to order. Also, when I was there they were in the middle of installing something on the window to reduce the glare on the menu screens. read more