Dining out: B & D Burgers

MIDVALE — Like anybody else who eats out, I have my favorites. Favorite Italian, favorite Thai, favorite Chinese, favorite pizza, favorite burgers. There's comfort in knowing (1) I'm going to get a known quantity, and (2) I'm going to get something good.

But as I drive around town, I can't help but notice the little locally owned places I've never visited, and I wonder if they're as good as my favorites. So, the other night as we drove homeward with a carful of raucous, hungry kids, we pulled into the drive-thru of the south-valley B&D Burgers to see if this well-loved joint could become a new favorite for us.

Chances are good, as it turns out. This B&D, spun off a northerly location near the University of Utah, is no-frills and all-substance, with a small, clean red-vinyl-booth-filled dining space and simply great burgers and shakes.

If you can, check out B&D's daily specials before you head over. The Tuesday quarter-pound burger for 99 cents is best-known, but there are sweet daily deals on everything from chicken gyros to corn dogs.

On the other hand, if you just show up on a Tuesday for that burger for a buck, you can't possibly go wrong. Everything about it screams from-scratch, from the chewy, meaty, well-seared patty to the soft, fresh, locally made bun. Eating chain burgers all the time, with their bland texture and dry, sponge-like buns, makes it easy to forget that this kind of burger exists. Two of our girls got one as part of their kids' meals, and I could tell they felt grown up eating this kind of "real" burger.

My husband also had one, jazzed up with a mound of juicy, salty pastrami, cheese and the usual other fixings. A burger this good doesn't really need the help, but boy, did it taste good, though it was too rich for me to eat more than a bite.

Luckily, I'd ordered the lamb gyro, so I didn't have to (I might add that my husband didn't need help, dispatching his meal with alacrity). I just love gyros, and this one had nice details, such as a fresh, lightly toasted pita, tangy cucumber sauce and mounds and mounds of brown-seared lamb tossed with fresh-cut onions. I wished for a little more sauce and maybe a couple more tomato slices than the one I had, but those are minor quibbles.

With our meals, we each had an order of fries, which added up to loads and loads (and loads) of fries. A haystack of fries. A mountain of fries (two big white paper bags' worth), and on top of them, five generous-size pots of thick, creamy, light-pink fry sauce. It was enough fry sauce to dip each and every fry . . . if we'd been able to eat them all. Which we weren't. Not for lack of trying, though: They're thick, crispy and floury-tender within.

For dessert, we, of course, had shakes. B&D has very good shakes, and they'll make you one in any combination you want. I don't know what anyone could possibly want that's not on this menu — aside from the usual favorites, it includes such intriguing combinations as orange-pineapple, raspberry malt and peanut butter-Oreo — but if you could think of it, they'll make it for you.

We went with a rich, creamy cookies-and-cream shake, with crushed Oreos well distributed throughout, and (my favorite) the mint chocolate chip, strong minty-green with tiny, smooth dark-chocolate morsels that crunched delightfully as I ate.

Burgers and sandwiches $1.59-$4.89, sides 30 cents-$2.69, combos $5.29-$6.49, daily specials 89 cents-$4.99, kids' menu $1.59-$3.79, shakes $2.59-$3.79.

B & D Burgers

Rating: ***

Where: 7793 S. State, Midvale

Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Closed Sunday

Payment: Major credit cards accepted

Phone: 255-5900

Wheelchair access: Easy

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Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret Morning News.

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E-mail: skratz@desnews.com