Jack’s Coffee Shop(Proudly Taking the Dive Restaurant Concept to Eleven)

Way down on south Hydraulic and 61st street sits a rather suspect looking structure that lacks any visible sign of being a dining establishment save for a  neon “Open” sign and a small banner on the west side of the house bearing the name Jack’s Coffee Shop. For those in know this happens to be a “restaurant”(I use this term quite loosely)  that serves gigantic burgers from 11am to 2 pm Monday through Saturday.

Don’t Worry It’s Safe To Go Inside

Everything about this place is a well calculated assault on your general expectations of what a restaurant should be. First of all, the name really has no bearing as to what goes on inside, as I saw no evidence of Jack nor anything resembling coffee on my visit. Most coffee shops have Wi-Fi and pastries, this one had an old bed frame and exposed electrical outlets. Jack’s has certainly taken the minimalist approach to interior design, which is evidenced by the concrete floor, mismatched furniture, unfinished plywood counter, non-existent light bulbs, and lack of paint. The exposed kitchen

Communal Bowl of Chips

concept leaves nothing to the imagination as everything from the generic hamburger buns to the small flat top grill is in plain sight. And in one corner sits an old bed frame and dresser. While waiting for our food, my party hypothesized as to the reasoning for having such furniture in an eating establishment. Possible explanations include: Covering up a hole in the wall, a prize for the 10,000th customer, or perhaps some type of tax loophole for a multi-purpose room. Anyway, this place is a dive and a damn good one at that. In fact it is probably the diviest dive I have had the pleasure to visit.

Our order was called in about 30 minutes prior to arrival, which is highly recommended as the large meat disks take some time to cook and the grill can only handle a few patties at a time. Don’t worry about forgetting the menu, your choices are hamburger or cheeseburger.  Upon taking a seat, a plastic bowl of communal potato chips were brought out to the table. A plastic tub of pickles and another with pickled jalapenos and carrots were also

Paper Plate Perfection

made available to us. I have to say that the  jalapeno and carrot combination was unexpected, but they proved to be tasty. When our burgers came out, I quickly understood why this place remains open. Before me was one massive cheeseburger and a bun that was woefully undersized to handle such ground beef girth. Our burgers also came with a paper plateful of grilled onions that were shared between the three of us. The only other fixings were generic bottles of ketchup and mustard. Armed only with a plastic fork, my strategy for consuming this burger was to attack the exposed flanks of meat first to get things more manageable before moving onto the bun covered section. Overall the burger was okay. It was

Tubs of Condiments

slightly overcooked and I don’t believe any seasoning was used on the patty. The two cheese slices and excellent grilled onions helped  balance out the meat. For the price this meal is hard to beat. You get copious amounts of chips, a 3/4 pound burger, and a drink all for $6.50. The pop selection varies from day to day, so be prepared to be flexible in case they are out of Pepsi Max.

For those who like to live out on the edge of the dining scene Jack’s is a place to check out. A lunch here is one of the most unique experiences in town. At this point I probably don’t need to mention it,  but they only accept cash.

Bionic Burger (Home of Six Million Dollar and Calorie Burger)

Bionic Burger is right up there with Nu-Way when you talk about iconic burger places in Wichita. They have been in operation for over 30 years and currently have four locations in the area. Luckily for us, the newest location on East 21st near Woodlawn is rather convenient when we are in the mood for a fast and tasty meat disk.

The menus at all four Bionic locations are essentially the same and quite expansive for “just a burger place”. They offer several different burgers, plus a who’s who of classic comfort foods including: a pork sandwich, hot dogs, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, chili, o-rings, etc. Shakes and malts are also available in case you have any room for dessert.

The Epic Burger Combo

The Six Million Calorie Double in All Its Glory

On this visit I was feeling bold and decided to go with the Six Million Dollar Burger along with some of their fresh cut fries. I was under the impression I would be getting a half pound cheese burger with some veggies, instead I unwrapped a monster. Apparently when my sister had placed the order at the drive thru, she had ordered a double, leaving me with the most intimidating 1lb burger I had ever laid eyes on.

The first order of business was to bisect this mass into edible pieces. Once that was accomplished I was able to enjoy this pretty solid burger. The patty, while a bit thin for my liking, was properly seasoned and surprisingly juicy. Plenty of gooey cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes were icing on this protein based cake. Sadly the bun was not quite up to the challenge of supporting all of this deliciousness. After a few bites, it quickly deflated and broke into pieces, no doubt the victim of too much grease and the basic principles of physics. I pride myself in being able to finish just about anything I order at a restaurant, but it was not happening on this day. I doubt whether the bionic man himself would have been able to finish off this bad boy.  Did I mention the burger came with a far too generous serving of delicious fries? These thick-cut, crispy fries were top notch.

For a quick burger you can’t go wrong with Bionic Burger. Their large portions and tasty food is tough competition for any fast food joint in town.

http://www.bionic-burger.com/

Oasis Lounge- Wichita KS

Sometimes you just get the craving for a greasy burger and fries. That craving led us to the somewhat divey Oasis Lounge recently. The Oasis has been around for quite a while, located on Maple just west of West St. Anyone in the know will tell you that Oasis is known for their burgers. In fact, according to several internet posts the Oasis was named one of the top 10 burger places in the US by USA Today in 1989. So for all of you USA Today back issue aficionados, get into your attic and start digging for the 1989 box. The big question is does the burger still hold up after 20+ years?

I enjoy doing my homework before trying out a new place. My reconnaissance usually consists of trolling various restaurant websites like yelp.com and tripadvisor. After gathering my intel I was prepared for a grimy, dimly lit dive bar with a clientele ready to pounce on unsuspecting outsiders.  To compensate for the presumed atmosphere we strode confidently into the Oasis , making sure not to make much eye contact with the barmaids, lest they discover our charade. Quickly enough I realized that we had nothing to fear. The front door was wide open allowing warm sunlight into this shrine of ground beefiness. And they even had flat screen TVs (Although I believe they were the first model of flat screen ever made by Vizio)! The bar itself is fairly large with several pool tables and the token Keno game in the corner. The crowd seemed rather tame, despite the regular pounding back rum and cokes at 1pm on a Saturday that kept giving me a rather unsober eye.

Their menu contained no surprises, just your typical bar food, except for the fried cauliflower. All three of us decided on what every freedom loving carnivore would, the cheeseburger and fries. Much to my surprise the Oasis even had seasonal beers on tap. Yes you couldn’t get PBR on tap, but Sam Adam’s Oktoberfest was available. I think something like that automatically gets your dive bar status revoked. After a few minutes of building anticipation our meat disks were served to us. I was immediately impressed with the girth of my burger remarking, “There is a good inch and a half [of meat] between the buns”. Although the bun was not the best, the thick patty and melted cheese made up for its short comings. While it is not the best burger I have had, it certainly is a good option for the price. For $6 dollars you got a 1/3 lb burger and fries, which is a solid value in this day and age. Speaking of fries, they were a disappointment. Although hand cut and thick, they were undercooked and lacked much crispness. I’m hoping it was just an off batch, because it really doesn’t take much to make a good fry.

So as it turns out the Oasis is not a sketchy place, in fact its a decent little hang out that happens to serve good burgers.  When I go back I will probably skip the fries and maybe substitute another of their fried creations, hoping they turn out better. The next time you get a craving for a good greasy burger why not take a break from Freddy’s and Five Guys  and try the Oasis.