5234 Portage RoadSo…I think we’ve established burgers, wings, pizza as my go-to food choices.
I guess that means when a new place opens and puts one of those foods in their name, I have to try it.
I was at the K-Wings hockey game Saturday afternoon. The ECHL was trying something different and started some of the Saturday games at 4:30 instead of the usual 7:00. That meant I the game got over around 7:00 and I could still grab something to eat on my way home.
I had been planning this for a while. There was a new burger place in Portage and I hadn’t found time to get to it yet. It’s not very far out of the way home when leaving Wings Event Center so I finally got my chance.
Lee’s Burgers and Malts opened up on Portage Road and Byrd Road just south of the I-94 interchange back in January. The space they took was Turbo Chicken’s old space next to Pizza King and On the Wings. The restaurant is owned by a family that owns several Subway’s in the area.
The restaurant underwent a renovation after Turbo Chicken moved out. The new space looks kind of familiar with a large order counter connected to the kitchen.
Unlike Turbo Chicken, Lee’s has used the rest of the space to add some seating. There’s not much but there are a handful of two tops plus rail seating overlooking the parking lot.
Obviously with “burger” in the name, I had to order the burger but they also have ribs, fried chicken, and fish.
I ordered the Lee’s Double Bacon Cheesburger which comes with fries and a can of pop. I tried to add on an extra side of tots for J and L but they were out of tots so that didn’t happen. The cost was a little over $12.
It took about ten minutes for my meal to come up. The lady working the counter asked if I wanted to go or was going to eat there. I grabbed it to go and headed home to eat.
I started with the fries when I got in the door. They were pretty crispy, battered frozen restaurant fries. These aren’t usually my favorite because they’re pretty bland but I was at home so I threw some seasoning salt on them. The thing that is good about these fries is they’re usually pretty crispy and these were and there were a lot of them. I almost filled up on fries before I even got to the burger.
Lee’s Double Bacon Cheeseburger is two patties with American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions and house sauce. I asked for the onions to be left off but when I grabbed a fry, I accidently grabbed something limp and slimy on the burger. I thought at first it was the lettuce but quickly realized it was caramelized onions. Fortunately, I caught it before I took a bite. There was a huge pile of onions underneath the patty that I just scrapped off and moved on. Like I alluded to earlier, if you put the name of the food in your store name, it better be good. This burger was good. The two beef patties were cooked so they were a little crispy around the edges but the patties were still juicy and had a salty bite to the them. The bacon was nice and crispy and the cheese was melted in to the meat. The “house sauce” was kind of a spicy mayo but it didn’t dominate the flavor. The bun was a nice dense roll that held up all of the layers of the sandwich.
Lee’s Burgers and Malts is the kind of burger shop I really like. It’s quick. It’s simple. It’s delicious. There’s not a dozen different burger creations you can choose from. It’s just simple, tasty burgers that won’t break the bank.