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| The 1/2 Pound Cheeseburger at Grumpy's in Ketchum, Sun Valley, Idaho |
Grumpy’s in Ketchum, Idaho’s Sun Valley is a place everyone told me I had to go. I had been to Sun Valley many times over the last 22 years, but for some reason had never heard of Grumpy’s. Why didn’t I hear about it before? “Sorry We’re Open” proclaims their website. The people working at Grumpy’s were not grumpy, as advertised but were very pleasant, calling those in our party “honey” and “sweetheart”.
Grumpy’s location has a classic burger joint lived-in feel, pleasantly dilapidated. Beer cans line the wall. Lots of memorabilia litters the walls. Graffiti, wall carvings and mementos abound. Most of the seating on this sunny day was outdoors.
I ordered the 1/2 lb burger ($7.75 added) and added ham by suggestion of the woman at the counter, since they did not offer bacon. I added fries ($1.50). Everyone else got the 1/4 pound burger. We grabbed our seats outside under an umbrella. A golden retriever who seemed to know its way around came over and greeted us. Within a short time a young man emerged from the restaurant and yelled “Scott” and brought us our burgers.
The burger and fries shared a basket lined with white paper. The sesame bun, lightly toasted, surrounded the burger patty along with shredded lettuce, onion slices, pickles, special sauce and american cheese. The burger patty itself was charcoal-broiled, charred crispy on the outside and cooked medium on the inside. A very smokey flavor masked the meat flavor. The patty was not very juicy and was relatively unremarkable so maybe the smokey taste was a relief. By comparison the 1/4-pound burgers were cooked clear through and grey in the middle. Get the 1/2 pound burger and eat half of it.
The thin fries were your typical frozen, industrial style fries, slightly under-coooked and not that hot.
Overall, I was unimpressed with Grumpy’s but it was a pleasant place to have a family burger on a beautiful day in Ketchum.
Burger 2.5 spatulas out of 5
Fies 2 spatulas
Grumpy’s
860 Warm Springs Rd.
Ketchum, ID 83340
http://www.grumpyssunvalley.com
