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Slater’s 50/50: PB&J burgers, bacon patties and fried pickles
July 24th, 2009, 7:37 am · 45 Comments · posted by Niyaz Pirani
Oh man, I’ve got a serious burger hangover right now.
It’s the kind of food coma that makes everything appear glossier than it really is. It’s the kind of food coma that should come with a pillow.
All of this glorious pain was brought on at the first Food Frenzy Foodie Feast, hosted by the Food Frenzy blog and attended by some of our readers, at Slater’s 50/50, a recently-opened Anaheim Hills burger joint that feels like The Counter, but with more sass and personality.
We all dug in to plates of fried food before getting to the actual burgers, which were praised by some and put down by others. But with deep-fried pickle chips, patties made of half-beef and half-bacon and a bevy of craft beers, this is a place that you’ve got to experience for yourself.
Before breaking down what everybody thought about their meals, I’ll just explain the concept at Slater’s. Essentially, you get a check list of ingredients and build your burger. Highlights on the “Design It!” menu include that 50/50 burger and a spicy fire burger and wacky toppings such as peanut butter and jelly, pesto goat cheese, sardines, fried pickle chips and baconnaise.
There are also Slater’s Signature Burgers, such as the Hawaiian Burger ($9.95) with a 50/50 patty, grilled pineapple, fried egg, American cheese and baconnaise, or the Caprese Burger ($9.45) with a ground beef patty, mozzarella, tomato, olive tapenade and balsamic vinaigrette. Crazy stuff, I know.
Burgers cost between $8.45 and $13.45 (or more) depending on what size you get and how many premium toppings you throw on it. I thought the 1/3 lb. for $8.45 was more than enough food.
In order to give you an overview of the feast, I’ll defer to our readers, who told us about what they ate.
Dan Garion had a 50/50 on a white bun with baconnaise, grilled onions, onion straws, cheddar and relish. He said “the burger was really good but started to get dry at the end. The patty wasn’t too overpowering.”
Dan’s wife, Kelly, went with the signature Thanksgiving Burger, a turkey patty with holiday stuffing, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce and sage mayo on it. She said it was “very good! The cranberry sauce added a wonderful sweet addition to the salty stuffing. A bit messy but still tasty! … All that’s missing is the mashed potatoes.”
Wifeylovesfood (Danielle), went the traditional route and had a 50/50 burger on a whole wheat squaw bun with American cheese, lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mustard. She said “the burger was moist and hefty for 1/3 lb., but after about half way through it became increasingly salty … but still tasty.”
Her husband Trevor also had a 50/50, his on ciabatta, with avocado, grilled onions, mayo and lettuce. He said he was disappointed with his burger, and felt that it was overcooked and a little dry. “(It) reminded me too much of my dad’s backyard burgers which we always told him we loved not to hurt his feelings.”
Julie Scott had her 50/50 slathered with double blue cheese. She said it was “good but very filling” and that “the blue cheese complimented the 50/50 pretty nicely and the wheat bun was very tasty.”
Her husband David had a 50/50 burger with bacon and double American cheese. He said “it was good but not as good as I expected. Not so bacon-y, a little cold.”
Their adorable daughter Rebecca had the sliders and fries. She said “it was very good.”
Jan in FV went Southwest with her 50/50 with pepper jack, green chili, jalapeno, lettuce and tomato. She said “the burger had a nice crispy crust” but the bun was on the dry side. “Overall good burger, nice ambiance, good service.”
Jeff said that “the namesake 50/50 bacon-beef burger threw cold water on my greasy euphoria. In theory, it sounds phenomenal, but in practice, there was little to distinguish the patty in terms of flavor or juiciness. The bacon really didn’t come through much at all. Oh, and the bun was dry.”
Jeff’s Wifey Heather on the other hand was the lone person who spared a pig last night by ordering a veggie burger on squaw with cheddar, tomato, pickles and 1000 Island. She said “The veggie patty is house-made fresh at the restaurant. Great burger!”
Fiance Nadia strove to answer the question: How much bacon is too much bacon? She ordered her 50/50 on on white with lettuce, tomato, pickle, grilled onion, baconnaise and bacon. We both agreed that, well, this much bacon still wasn’t enough bacon. She went overboard with a sprinkle of bacon-flavored salt and learned her lesson. Don’t taunt the bacon gods. They give, and they shall take back.
I was originally going to order the Niyaz burger (just what I’m calling it, with bacon and sunny-side-up egg) but was in the experimental mood and ordered a beef burger on squaw with peanut butter, jelly and bacon on it. I was scared until I took my first bite. The salty beef and bacon went perfectly with the sweet peanut butter and jelly. I even ordered a glass of milk to wash it all down. The burger was juicy and delicious, and I would totally order this one again.
For appetizers, we all dug in to a selection of Slater’s fine fried foods. Pictured is Jeff’s “bowl of deep-fried death” with French fried taters, French fried sweet taters, fried pickle chips, onion strings and artichoke hearts (a bargain at $6.95).
Most loved the sweet potato fries the best, as they came with an addictive pumpkin dip that tasted just like Thanksgiving. The fried pickles were a big hit too, with only Nadia saying she preferred her fried pickles in spear form, like at Lucille’s.
Jeff said “happily, the Pick 5 platter of deep-fried goodies was a just-ridiculous deal. At $6.95, it was ultra-cheap, and at more than a foot tall (see photo), it was so ginormous that our party of 12 merely dented it.
We also had Slater’s Vampire Dip, a sort of fondue pot with garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan and artichokes. This is a must order. It was good with the garlic bread that came with it, and even better on French fries. They should let you order this stuff on the burgers.
Finally, a couple of suggestions. Many said their 50/50 burger was a little dry. I think it may be because the 50/50 is cooked well done. I know it doesn’t go with the name of the restaurant, but maybe a 70 percent beef, 30 percent bacon mixture would yield a juicier burger? I’m sure people won’t mind the name if the product is moister.
Also, toasting the buns would be good. I’ve always thought that a better burger is one where the bun is soft, with just a little bit of crunch to it.
Jeff wanted to add, and I agree that on another positive note, the service at 50/50 was just outstanding. The young staffers were always friendly, were always refilling drinks and were always keeping our overflowing table clean. Very impressive for such a young restaurant.
I’m hoping to do the Foodie Feast at least once every two or three months. Hopefully next time more people will be there. To everybody who did come, thank you! We had a great time!
Slater’s 50/50
6362 E. Santa Ana Canyon Rd
Anaheim
714-685-1103
45 Comments
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That place looks good. Hopefully I can make it to your next gathering!
maybe next time we’ll go somewhere with cupcakes. =)
Holy shamoley! That looks awesome! Forget about the burgers…I’m looking at the “bowl of deep fried death” (genius, by the way) and I want to die that way!
next time you should roll with us edwin.
Next time: MOS DEF!
Damn, you beat me too it. I’m just about to post my blog!
Had a great time. Everything was good, and the company was great!
In fact here is my writeup! http://eatinoc.com/oc-food-reviews/slaters-5050-anaheim-hills/
Thanks a lot guys, we had fun!
Just call me quick-blog-McGraw. Or something equally as awesome.
Oh no, now your secret alter egos are public! What are you going to do!
Wow Niyaz, Great write up! It was awesome meeting everyone and sharing a meal together. I can’t wait to do it again.
We forgot who it was that suggested Slater’s 50/50, but it was an excellent idea. We had a great time and as mentioned, the service was wonderful and the food really good.
I do have to say that the PB&J bruger was outstanding. I was surprised at how much the jelly added to the overall result. Next time, this is the burger I will get. Since we had so much fried stuff to start, I couldn’t finish my burger and took it home. That gave me the chance to sample the meat with a fresh palate a little later. You can taste subtle hints of the bacon. There is a bit of a smokiness that comes out and the saltiness of the bacon serves to season the meat. I didn’t find it overly salty and I really did like the crispy crust that was produced.
Looking forward to next time!
Nadia’s leftovers are in the fridge. I was thinking about stealing a bite too, because I wanted to try the 50/50 with a fresh palate. You’re right though, all that deep-fried goodness totally overwhelmed the tastebuds.
I’m not covering the fair this year, so my deep-fried food stock is low.
Shouldn’t you have been covering the Fair?
what is “the Fair?”
shouldn’t you have come to dinner with us? sucka!
I remember the days when my good friends Niyaz and Jeff ruled the Fair beat. I wonder whatever happened to them? Probably riding a desk somewhere.
Whew. I am also in a post-fried food hangover.
Given some time to think it over, I thought I’d add some thoughts:
Although the odd ball burgers are a fantastic offering, I have to agree the 50/50 patty needs some work. I think I would recommend getting the beef patty instead. (Which tasted surprisingly good with the PB&J - excellent choice sir!) Also post getting the check, it seemed like the burgers were a little overpriced for not coming with some fries or something besides pretty run of the mill potato salad. I could easily see splitting a burger, but the crazy list of possibilities makes it hard for me to imagine ever agreeing with someone on which build to get.
So, my suggestions to Slaters:
Make your sliders available to us non-kids! Those were GOOD, and less of a challenge to get through. Especially if one could customize the sliders like the regular burgers. How awesome would it have been to be able to get a plate of, say, 4 different burgers so you could try out different combos?
The appetizers were full of awesome! I think if I come back here I’d just get those. They are priced well, and crazy good, and stuff you can’t get anywhere else. Just the sort of thing I expect from a place that seems to pride itself on the unusual.
EDIT: Pasta salad, not potato salad.
Oh, and my daughter added this morning that the mac & cheese w/ bacon was her favorite part, although she is also partial to that vampire dip.
Whine, whine, pout, pout, stomp. I was SOOOOO looking forward to joining you all and my planets just got misaligned. (Motherhood is NOT for sissies!)
Looks like you all had such fun. I will move heaven and earth to make it to the next one!
Maybe we should start an informal foodie/dining/cooking club–check out restaurants, swap recipes in person . . . develop and evangelize understanding and appreciation for REAL food? Teach informal cooking classes? Help “wean” low-income families off cans/boxes/mixes and help them see how healthful and inexpensive proper cooking can be? Donate home-baked stuff to a homeless or women’s shelter? We could have fun and do some good . . .
sad we missed you, but it’s all good, we’ll totally have another one by october.
and your idea is a great one. anybody else have any thoughts on it?
That could be really fun and potentially helpful to the community. We used to run our church’s soup kitchen a couple of years ago and that was both fun and rewarding (and hard work - some weekends we were in serious Dinner: Impossible territory).
I have to admit I’m a little skeptical on the inexpensive proper cooking though - that’s always been the first thing to go in our house when the budget has to get cut. When I was actually in full “cook every meal from scratch with fresh ingredients” mode before I joined the corporate ranks, our weekly grocery budget easily went over $300 and that’s for 2 adults, 1 kid, and occasional family meals with my in-laws.
Heck, I couldn’t manage to make my homemade chili a couple weeks ago for less than $50. Maybe I’m too picky about ingredients? (Admittedly $10 of that was for a dark imported ale - maybe I *do* get too fancy.)
Sounds fun to me!
Yay, hubby and I had so much fun last night! Thank you Niyaz and Jeff for being wonderful hosts, and Dan did a great job locating this place for us to enjoy!!!
This morning I was still pondering the 50/50 burger, and I think that I would definitely stick with either chicken, turkey burger or regular beef burger, and THEN if I was in the mood for bacon I would just add it as a topping.
The side items were pretty amazing, especially the ‘bowl of deep fried death.’ I usually don’t like sweet potato fries, but they were so tasty, and when paired with the pumpkin sauce it was like Thanksgiving came early.
Very, very, very fun, loved meeting everyone, can’t wait until next time!
I tried these at the Yelp event before the fair opened! SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! Especially with the free sample of Delirium Tremens I received.
To clarify: I had a sample of the 50/50 burger with pepperjack, fried egg, lettuce, tomato and chipotle mayo. I’m still dreaming about it.
i was suppossed to go to that yelp event but had a rock band party instead. how was it?
Did someone say Rock Band?
It was fun! You should have brought Rock Band to the event. Way to think of others~
This was a death-defying event. What are you doing to your arteries???
I love your blogs Niyaz! You and FF maven are the best. Keep it up!! Oh but seriously PB&J on a burger?????
thanks, umm, crazy lady. i love your comments. and yes, seriously, pb&j on a burger totally works. just be daring, go and try one. order a glass of milk with it like i did too.
you won’t look back.
I concur! I’m sitting here wondering if I’m brave enough to try making this at home……. for the price though, probably best to just drive over to 50/50.
PS, Niyaz - I’m thinking I’m going to be making bacon chocolate chip cookies this weekend………
handle it! here’s the url to the picture on This Is Why You’re Fat. Tell me how they turned out too btw…
http://baconhaikus.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/baconchocolatechipcookies.jpg
that’s what they should look like. chocolaty, bacony, deliciousy.
Jan!
Bacon chocolate chip cookies are delicious. When I made them before I felt they were missing something, so the next time I made them I added cocoa powder so they were chocolate-chocolate chip bacon cookies. I also used maple bacon the 2nd time around. Everything about them was delicious! Have fun with them however you make them.
The sweet potatoe fries were great….the 50/50 was a little dry…went in last Thursday nite and air conditioning was not working properly….however owner was very apologitic and topped off our wine glasses….great service and will be going back…scale of 10…I would give it a nine!!!
Now you are truly evil! I wish I could leave work and go there right now. It looks so good. Sounds like you had a great time.
I tried this place on Sunday. I was very disappointed. The Service was horrible all four of the employees in there were not very helpful. The food was a little over priced. $10bucks for a burger that wasnt that great. We had a party of 4 and the bill came to $50bucks and thats just burgers. Owell. You dont know till you try.
I agree with Lee…a TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT. I live just down the street and have tried to eat there on three separate occasions. TRIED being the key word…..we just could not get past the inattentive and unfriendly hostessing staff. Ended up leaving on all three occasions before we were even seated. Several local friends and neighbors all agree…for the few that actually stayed ate, they weren’t impressed. They felt the burgers were overpriced and WAY overcooked. Red Robin never looked so good.
It’s really too bad because we’ve seen 3 restaurants in the same location fail in the last couple of years. So, as much as we want to support local businesses in this economy, the “three strikes, you’re out” rule applies when it comes to Slaters 50/50.
One additional comment - the ventilation system seems very inadequate….the smell of burnt meat is overwhelming. Beware if you have any respiratory issues!
Maybe I over looked it, but can you provide the address for this place? Thanks!
Where is this located?
Here’s the address/website:
http://www.slaters5050.com/
6362 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd
Anaheim, CA 92807
(714) 685-1103
As a lover and connoisseur of all things burger I have to say these ones look like a massive fail. Too much unnecessary crap overpowering what should be the star of the show, a tasty patty cooked perfectly. I’ll pass.
This place is amazing!! We went there with a few friends and had a great time. Good atmosphere and the burgers are to die for. Check it out.
From a reader via e-mail:
I read your review of Slater’s 50/50 and I would like to tell you that I had the opposite experience.
We live in Anaheim Hills so I was excited to see something like “The Counter” open in our area. There were 4 adults and 2 children in our party and we went in about 5:00 on a weekday when the restaurant was not crowded at all.
I decided to order the exact same thing that I usually order at The Counter so that I could compare the two restaurants. We also ordered the same thing for the children that they usually get.
I ordered a 1/3 beef burger cooked rare on a wheat bun with gruyere cheese, pickles, red relish, grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce and mushrooms.
What I got was a well done hamburger on a dried out bun with a blush of the relish in the middle of the bun. All of the components were there, they just did not taste great.
Everyone else ordered something different, but all said the buns were dried out.
The children got the sliders. At the counter they get two, but here they served them 3. At The Counter they serve them with cheese and pickle slices and fries. At Slater’s I had to pay extra for the pickle slices. Now really, how many pickle slices fit on a slider?
We had to hunt down the wait staff for extra napkins, more water and the check.
Even though it is 5 minutes away from our house we will be making the 25 minute drive to “The Counter”.
After reading this column we visited there last Friday afternoon. No crowd, excellent , friendly, helpful service. They say Friday nights are a real zoo and Saturdays and Sundays can sometimes be very busy as well. Do yourself a favor and drop in sometime other than peak hours.
We opted for the 100% beef burger, not the 50/50, and we agreed that the burger meat was excellent. Juicy and not overdone. The bowl of deep fried death was also excellent and at happy hour prices it was a true bargain. Its a joke to think that two normal people could each eat a loaded burger and then put anything more than a dent in the massive pile of food in that bowl. The beer selection was impressive. I’ll be back again to sample more of their tap offerings (which apparently change regularly) as well as the bottled selections, and to work my way through more of the potential combinations of all the various burger toppings and sauces.
Hmmm….reading back over the reviews and I’m left with one thought: Slaters is VERY inconsisent. I understand people’s taste differ tremendously, but not-so-much with service expectations. With unemployment as high as it is, I can’t imagine it would be difficult finding pleasant staff for every shift.
Wonder if the owners read these reviews/comments? I really hope so. If not, they’ll be gone as quickly as the other restaurants that were there before them.
We eat there all the time and the owner has been there every time. Our service last night was a little slow and he overheard and took care of everything. The burgers can be inconsistent, but feedback is heard there. Hopefully they’ll survive–we don’t have many places to eat up here.
Great burgers - just don’t get the Squaw bread - the Squaw bread kills the burger by overpowering everything else in the sandwich.