Burger review: Red Hot & Blue in Fort Worth

This was an average burger at an average place. Nothing terrible or bad – just nothing exciting or spectacular.

Photo by Matthew Hudson

Cheeseburger at Red Hot & Blue in Fort Worth

In the category of good food just not good burgers, we get Red Hot & Blue just off Hulen Street not too far from TCU. This is a BBQ joint, and if that is your hankering, then you would do fine here -- especially if you like yours Memphis style. But we are a burger site on quest for the best burger in Fort Worth, so that is what we sampled today.

Enter this place and be seated by a hostess and then get full service. The decor is connected to the place’s Memphis roots, with guitars and record albums scattered about and a brick interior decor. Like so many Bennigan's of times gone by, the first few places had kitschy items and real antiques and then the rest got “renderings” and “models” for the decor. This feels the same way. (We can say that because we have been in the original, which has a real “joint” feel back east and real autographed instruments and labels on the walls.

This is not much of a burger menu -- just two choices and one is stacked with pulled pork. As usual, we opted for the basic cheeseburger. It comes prepared medium well (unless you request otherwise) and the portion is a 1/2 lb of beef. While listed as freshly ground, not sure we believed it.

Among your cheese choices were cheddar and not cheddar (the waitress could not remember the other type – which with two whole choices to recall, we can understand her bewilderment). The burger was served on a plate laced with white tissue and served open-faced. It comes topped with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion.

The burger was hot and cooked right, but the juice factor was average. The flavor of the meat was a little unique, as you could pick up the wisp of hickory smoke from the grill where they prepare the barbecue. The smoky flavor was a nice touch, but the overall flavor was rather “run of the mill.” The bun was a “from the bag” white and slightly toasted. It brought nothing to the party except to keep the beef off of your hands while you eat.

The burger comes with seasoned home-style fries, which were OK, but MMH was not impressed. (Think Ore-Ida.) But you can also get a side of potato salad – which is awesome. In fact, if you decide to try this place, do order the potato salad versus the fries; you will be glad you did.

They serve fountain Diet Coke, fresh lemonade (the specialty), and iced tea served in miniature pitchers which had a very unique appearance and feel, but were cumbersome to drink out of.

All in all, this was an average burger at an average place. Nothing terrible or bad – just nothing exciting or spectacular. We were not disappointed at all, but we were not impressed either. Perhaps we are getting too critical in our reviews after 26 burger joints!