The Graduate’s Undergrad Burger with Cheese
The Graduate has been in Davis for over 40 years. It’s a sports bar/restaurant/dance hall right across the street from the campus of UC Davis. Seeing how close they are to a college campus the food there doesn’t have to be good there for it to sell well. So, I wasn’t really optimistic about how this burger would rate. Though, I did have a few friends who were adamant that the burgers at the Grad not only weren’t bad but that they were actually good. I had doubts. They came along with me last weekend to check it out. This was my very first visit to the Graduate. I had managed to avoid it, and its dance floor, during my undergrad education and so had no experience with the location until that day.
The Review
Patty (22/35) – Came out medium-rare, that’s good. It is pre-formed, that’s bad. It was made of good beef, that’s good. It had no seasoning other than a little salt, that’s bad.
Cheese (6/25) – I don’t know what it is that burger joints and American cheese. But it consistently shows up on these things despite being terrible (American cheese has two uses: on grilled cheese sammies; and, throwing up and trying to stick it onto the roof in your 3rd period Science class.)
Bun (6/15) – Standard supermarket sesame seed buns. Lightly toasted. Unfit to handle the combination of condiments and drippings from the patty, bottom half got soaked through.
Toppings (14/15) – Fresh. Lettuce, red onion, pickles, tomatoes. Onions and tomatoes had good flavor. Lettuce was a little limp.
Condiments (8/10) – Homemade fry sauce or thousand islands generously slathered on the bun. Zesty and tasty. Not overpowering, compliments the patty very well. No other condiments at the table.
Ambiance (7/*) – Very large space, dark. Definitely a sports bar. Nice if you’re looking to be social. Though it could be bad if there were a lot of people there. The acoustics would make conversations impossible.
Total (63/100) – This is a good burger. It just turns out that in most cheeseburgers the weakest part of the burger is the cheese. This is the case here. The chili cheese fries I had with the burger were really good though, and if they had put the nacho cheese on their burgers it’d be an improvement. The price is definitely good $7.95 and comes with a side.
