Pop's Burgers and Fries
I was impressed. The wait was longer than I expected because it was so crowded. Once my order was in - my food came out within 7 minutes or so. The fries were awesome - crisp and salted just right. The burger was seasoned well and larger than I expected for the price. I tried a milkshake and I'm glad I did - these are highly recommended!!!
Overall, service was good. You wait, but the food is fresh and hot - it's worth it. I'd go back again.
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Just tried Pop's Burgers and Fries in Southington with my husband and grandchildren. The portions are huge. The kid's burger would have been plenty for me. The milkshakes are great and they are made with real ice cream. If you are looking for a great burger - I recommend that you give them a try.
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re: BiscuitBoy
Possibly? I do know now after looking at my credit card receipt that they are the owners of the TOPS IGA down the street. The charge comes through the same as the one for the grocery store.
Pop's Pizza I believe was started by an ex-Uconn basketball star, or was bought at some point by him. The really tall dude that used to make pizza's. I haven't been to Pop's since I moved out of Cheshire, but I don't think the two places are related in anything but name.
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Science Chick
Mar 5, 2012 01:01 PM
I notice you are new to the boards, so maybe you could give us some idea of how this measures up to other burger places in the area. What is special about the fries compared to McD's? Are they handcut, fresh or frozen? Toppings special in anyway? Softserve or hard for the milkshakes?
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re: Science Chick
Definitely not your McDonald's fast-food burger. Made fresh right in front of you with a huge selection of toppings. Fries are handcut just like Five Guys. They say everything is fresh - nothing frozen and I believe it. Except - for the milkshakes. Homemade with a lot of ice cream - they are very filling. They are also running burgers of the month. I tried their turkey burger and was very impressed - cooked just right. They have a veggie one now, but I haven't tried it yet.
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re: Explore
I work nearby and had been meaning to stop in at some point, but I was always hesitant. From the outside, the place looks like your normal "trying to be a cool burger place but we are located in a shopping plaza and our food probably isn't that good".
This definitely isn't the case.
When I walked in the place was busy for lunch on a Wednesday in the middle of winter, which is a good sign.
Their menu is very short and to the point, which in a place like this I actually prefer. When I go to other burger places and they have 35 items on the menu that try to appeal to every person imaginable, it distracts from the main attraction.
The menu had the basics. Burger, cheeseburger, bacon&cheese burger with each option coming in regular or junior size. Fries, two hotdog offerings, milkshakes and two random items of grill cheese and a salad. I'm assuming the last two are put in place for larger parties where you always get either a kid who will only eat a cheese sandwich and that one person who scoffs at eating a burger and needs a salad. Although I understand the choices of putting them on the menu, they really aren't needed.First off, unless you LOVE fries or you are trying to feed 3 people, order the small. I like fries, but the large felt like 2lbs of fries and I just couldn't finish them if I wanted to have room for the burger. Even a small split between two people would probably be enough. The fries are fresh cut potatoes. If you like McDonald's fries or other fast food places, you probably aren't going to like these. If you like the fries at 5 guys, you'll love these. They didn't get soggy. They were salted enough to get a hint of salt with each bite, but not enough to feel like you are eating a salt shaker. Did I mention even after 10 minutes they didn't get soggy? I hate 5 guys fries for that reason. Once they turn cold, they just taste horribly.
Milkshake was good. Thick enough to be a good shake, thin enough that your jaw doesn't hurt trying to suck it through the straw. I didn't catch how they did the milkshake, but from the sounds from the kitchen they definitely have a mixer going to make them so I'm assuming it's just ice cream and milk that goes into them. I'd suggest you try one, they are pretty tasty.
Now onto the burger. When it came out, I was...confused. The bun caught me off guard. It was square and the burger was round. To top it off, it didn't look like a hamburger bun, it looked more like a square ciabatta bread. I usually hate square buns with a round burger as there is always WAY too much bread, but I gave it a chance. Surprisingly, it works pretty good. The bun isn't what it seems either. It's lightly toasted so it stays together, even with the grilled onions and mushrooms I put on it. It's very light. It's a weird mix between a kaiser roll/miami onion roll minus onion/croissant. It works really well with the burger though, so whatever kind of roll it is, it's tasty.
The burger had a nice "crust" of seasoning on the outside and was cooked without asking to medium rare. They didn't ask so I'm assuming all burgers will come out this way unless otherwise stated.
I don't think it was hand formed, but it definitely wasn't frozen meat. They might use a burger form to make the patties, or they might just be really good at making the burger shape. The kitchen is blocked enough by the counter and the grill that I didn't get to really peak in to see the exacts. The burger probably came in at about 6oz if I had to take a guess. It wasn't a 1/2lber, but it was pretty close. The burger also had a sorta weird mix to it. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it is, but if you take a few bites, you will see what looks like little red roasted pepper strands in the burger mix. They are really subtle, but there is definitely something unique about the actual meat mix, and overall it was a pretty well put together burger.
Toppings are all free and they have a good list of them. They have a station to the left of the counter for Heinz products. They actually have a couple odd ball jars of honey mustard and ranch, which I'm assuming are for the people who like to do weird things with their burgers and even weirder things to their fries!The place is good. I'd suggest a stop even if it's out of your way. I've had a few better burgers down in NYC, but I'd definitely put this up there in the top 5 in CT. Possibly the top 3 simply for the unique burger mix. It definitely stands out and one thing I know about restaurants is if you do something that isn't like everyone else, it's usually a good thing.
Here's the website if you want some more info.
http://popsburgersandfries.com/
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