Elevation Burger / The Elevation Burger – $7.75
Allentown, PA | elevationburger.com
UPDATE: Elevation Burger on Tilghman Street in Allentown has sadly closed.
Falling into the “quality quick-serve” category, Elevation Burger rivals the more recognizable chains such as Five Guys. Built on the same M-T-O (made to order) premise, your customization options are quite extensive, and it’s certainly possible to create a completely different burger experience with each visit. Once you’ve figured out which burger you want, it’s time to select from a choice of toppings, including lettuce, onion, tomato, caramelized onion, pickles, glazed mushrooms, jalepenos, bacon, cheddar, ketchup, mustard, mayo, balsamic dijon, bleu cheese sauce, BBQ sauce, hot pepper relish, and elevation sauce. Being that I like my quick-serve burgers a certain way, I tend to order the same toppings at Elevation Burger as I would at a Five Guys or Jake’s Wayback. Those include: cheese, mayo, mustard, lettuce, raw onion, and pickles.
Elevation Burger separates itself from the quick-serve burger crowd by claiming they care deeply about ingredients. This devotion to quality is emblazoned everywhere, from the menu above the ordering counter, to the paper placemats that come on your burger tray. I’ll admit that this caring approach to sourcing seems to come through in the overall quality of the burger. The cheese alone is absolutely delicious, and there’s a generous amount of it on this burger: two thicker-than-usual slices of 6-month aged cheddar. There’s no brand name associated with this cheddar, so I’m unsure of it’s origin, but it’s wonderfully salty and sharp, and tastes more like something you might find on a restaurant charcuterie plate than a quick-serve burger. Obviously, the cheddar adds a lot to this burger. The patties are cooked nicely, and are wonderfully greasy, but not in an overwhelming, bun-soaking way. Outside of the cheese, the toppings I ordered for my burger are good, but mostly unremarkable and could be interchangeable with any other quick-serve establishment. Everything melds together into exactly what you want from a quick-serve burger: greasy, cheesy goodness. The bun is pretty basic, and mostly serves as a method to get what’s in between, into your mouth.
The fries are good. Not great, but good. A good size, but a tad on the soggy side, they could’ve been a bit crispier. They also could’ve been seasoned more, but I just added some extra salt myself and everything was good in the world.
Final thoughts: I’ve eaten at Elevation Burger quite a few times, and its a great quick-serve burger. I’d probably eat at Elevation more often if I didn’t have to drive past a Five Guys or Jake’s Wayback to get here. Would I change anything about this burger? Not really, it’s great just the way it is.
