By Mary Ellen Psaltis
Anytime is a good time for a culinary adventure trip. A sunny summer day is even better. My destination? Burger Claim, which is a neighbor of the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. You can’t wear your wet swimsuits but you can get baskets of fast fun.
We have no kids to pile into the car for a trip south on I-5, so I invited my mom and her husband to come along. The drive from downtown Olympia was a quick 22 minutes, barely enough time for my mom and I to get involved in conversation. Take Exit 88 and head towards the Great Wolf Lodge. There’s lots of parking.
After we scoured the menu, our order was quickly taken, and we easily found a place to land. Totally family friendly, the Burger Claim has longer than average booth seats so even a group of six adults would not be squished.
As the name suggests, you really can make a claim for a burger. In the mood for a modest quarter pounder? Perhaps a half-pounder or for the really big bite – there’s the one pound shaft burger – yes, four patties stacked up taller than your mouth can open!
The burgers, made on site, are much more like ones from home than the typical previously frozen hockey pucks served at other fast food outlets. My mom liked the veggies underneath her bun: tomato, lettuce, and pickles. The caramelized onions, shiny and golden, (free addition) were asked to be served on the side and arrived in a small tub. To my giddy delight, there were enough to eat with a fork. I love onions. Jalapenos are also added at no additional cost.
Fresh cut fries or shoestring style can be eaten salted or covered with chili. For the southerners at heart order sweet potato fries. Each table has a monster container of catsup right at the table to pump into your basket of fries. Burger Claim also has a special fry sauce – try it. I appreciated the helpful woman behind the counter who explained all the sauces we could enjoy.
We shared an order of onion rings. (I like all kinds of onions.) They were crisp but too breaded for my liking. Nevertheless, by the end of the meal all had disappeared.
One of the specials that day was a Mexican Fiesta style salad – a giant box of crisp lettuce, black beans, chicken, recognizable avocado. The chipotle dressing was zippy and good enough to take home rather than throw away.
Sam, my mother’s 93-year old husband, relished his amply sized California Chicken Burger topped with Swiss cheese, avocado and dried tomatoes. He declared it to be ‘tasty.’ He smiled; it’s not his usual lunch.
The kid’s menu offers smaller versions of the regular menu and can include apple slices. There’s a so-called Mother Lode menu of family style value options such the Klondike Gold Strike – 6 burgers, 6 fries and 6 drinks, or larger orders of chicken strips or fish and chips. You can call ahead and pick up at the drive through. Ask for gluten-free buns, if your diet requires. Lamb burgers were available the day we arrived, so be sure to check for specials not on the regular menu.
I might be tempted with breakfast – perhaps en route to Portland or other regions south. There are flapjacks (that’s a fun synonym for pancakes), chicken fried steak or mounds of fried potatoes with ham, cheese and scrambled eggs. Of course, there’s a breakfast sandwich, and custom espresso drinks are available all day. Remember the milkshakes. Fun comes in glasses, too.
Among the four of us we had a ¼ pound burger, California Chicken Sandwich, big Mexican style salad, fries, onion rings and 3 drinks. The bill was just under $40 including a tip. My mom summed it up quite succinctly, “It’s not your ordinary hamburger place.” Quite a compliment from one who rarely makes room for fried anything.
You, too, can strike it rich in taste at Burger Claim.
Eat Well – Be Well
