Burger vs Burger

It was very nice not to have to get out early this morning.  I leisurely sipped my coffee and even played with Peanut.  While I did my regular morning chores, Gene cleaned the truck on the inside.  It was pretty dirty from dirt and sand sticking to be bottoms of our shoes during the past few rainy days.  We made a quick run to Wal-Mart and Trader Joe’s to replenish the food stores before lunch.

You may recall our trip to Sno Flake Burger one day last week.  There was also another burger place we wanted to try before leaving the area--In-n-Out Burgers.  We did that yesterday after our hike.  The more miles we hike before the burger, the less guilty we feel about eating it.  We now feel qualified to compare these two burger places.

Sno Flake is a small, independently owned store in South Lake Tahoe.  I think originally they may have been an ice cream parlor; they now serve a variety of burgers as well as ice cream.  This was an old fashioned charbroiled quarter hamburger.  It filled up all the space on the regular white bread bun and could be served with whatever you wanted in the line condiments and relishes.  I got lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and mayo.  Gene had the same plus cheese.  The burger was excellent.  I also ordered french fries.  They were excellent, also--crispy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside.  The burgers were a little pricey at $4.99.  With cokes and the order of fries our lunch was almost $20.

There were signs everywhere proclaiming Sno Flake to be the winner of the milkshake  award since 2006.  Shakes were $5.  If we weren’t comparing hamburgers, I might have had the shake instead for my lunch.

Sno Flake was a great old building filled with signs a few decades old.  We really liked this place.

In-n-Out Burgers is a chain in the southwest.  We had never been to one, but they have been highly recommended to us.  We had to give it a try.  The building is typical of almost all chain fast food restaurants.  The one we were in here in Carson City is red and white on the inside.  I suppose they are all the same.  It is strictly a burger and fries place.  They don’t sell any other food items.  You have three choices--double-double burger, cheese burger, and regular hamburger.  A double-double burger is double the meat and double the cheese.  The burgers come with any or all lettuce, tomato, onions.  Gene got the double-double and a chocolate shake.  I ordered the #2 which was a cheese burger, fries and drink combo.  The burgers were very good for a fast food place.  I had to take some of the lettuce and onions off mine.  The burgers came with 1000 island dressing instead of mayo and Gene commented that his burger reminded him of a Big Mac without the extra slice of bread.  My french fries were hot, but not so crispy on the outside and a little tough.  These were not frozen fries; we could see staff putting whole potatoes into the slicer.  Gene liked his shake, but felt it could be a bit more chocolaty.  Prices were reasonable.  Gene’s double-double was $3.99 and my combo was about $4.50.  The shake was less than $2.

Gene and I both agree--we preferred the Sno Flake burger and the fries were definitely a cut above. We only had the one shake, so we can’t compare, but the one at sno flake looked mighty tasty.