Main Street Cafe, Keller

I dropped by the Main Street Cafe in Keller today for a quick lunch on my way to an eye doctor's appointment.

The menu is full of choices, but I honed in on the burger selection first thing, like I always do. I noticed the burgers were 1/2 lb and were served up with tomato, lettuce and pickles. No mention of onions, which I didn't realize until I had started eating the burger. I ordered it up, sans tomatoes, with mustard instead of mayo and decided to leave the fries that accompanied it instead of spending the extra ^$1.00 for onion rings.

First things first, this burger is 'flame broiled' like they do at Burger King. I am not a fan of the charbroiled/flame broiled burgers, they just taste too fake to me. Now, toss me a burger on a real charcoal or propane grill and that's a different story.

I normally ask if they are grilled or flame broiled and if the latter, I pass. Today, I didn't. And, that was my undoing.

When Kimberley, my waitress, brought out the open-faced plate, she noted there didn't appear to be any mustard on the bun. I lifted the patty and discovered a small dime-size patch of mustard (and mayo that I didn't order) underneath. She fetched a squirt bottle of French's Yellow Mustard and I proceeded to add some of the mustard to try and tone down the 'flame broiled' taste.

Since I was pressed for time to make my appointment and I couldn't dare send the burger back because I don't like flame broiled, I went to work on it. As soon as I added the mustard, I noticed the majority of the lettuce on the burger was the white, thick, sometimes hard outer 'leaves' that are most closely attached to the stem. I tossed that aside, leaving just a small bit of lettuce.

With no tomatoes because of the salmonella scare, the burger was basically meat, a few pickles, a sprig of slightly green iceberg lettuce and bread with a thin slice of swiss on top. As I bit into it, the taste of the flame-broiled patty was quite strong. I opened the bun and tossed on some House Recipe ketchup. That made things much more palatable.

The bun was fresh, but was not toasted. The fries were crispy on the outside, but still were soft inside, making for a nice difference in textures. The fries were a saving grace to an otherwise disappointing burger experience.

Will I go back again? Sure, but it won't be for a burger.

As for the Texas Burger Stop's rating, here goes:

• Patty Size and Style: medium thick, hand formed
  
• Cooking style: appears to be flame broiled/char broiled
  
• Char: some char from the flame broiling
  
• Bun: soft, fresh and untoasted
  
• Vegetables: 'hamburger' dill pickles, disappointing iceberg lettuce
  
• Napkins needs: one napkin should do
  
• Special attributes: their menu is rather extensive. Their 'hot brown' seemed to be in favor by others around me
  
• Ownership: appears to be locally owned, non chain