by Pa Rock
Eager Eater
I understand that there is a television reality show called Wahlburgers that is run by three of the Walhberg brothers: Mark, Donnie, and Paul, but I have never seen it. I have, however, experienced a meal in one of their forty-nine US Wahlburgers' restaurants - and that is what I am writing about in this space today.
Olive had to be at The Culture House in Olathe, Kansas, early yesterday evening in preparation for the big opening night of "High School Musical." (Both the play and my granddaughter's performance were exceptional, btw. ) The venue was theatre-in-the-round and had room for an audience of around two hundred - with every seat taken! They have two performances today and will close out with a Sunday matinee. All of the shows are sold out!
Great work, Olive! Pa Rock is truly proud of you!
So Tim, Sully, and I left the young actress with her thespian friends and went off in search of a meal. It turns out that one of the forty-nine US Wahlburgers is located just a few blocks from The Culture House, and I wanted to go there to see what all of the buzz was about. Erin arrived later and joined us.
The buzz proved to be about really good food served in a friendly atmosphere.
Wahlburgers is a nice restaurant/bar with a focus on burgers. It was founded in 2011 by Chef Paul Wahlberg and his actor brothers, Mark and Donnie, with a restaurant in their home state of Massachusetts. That lone restaurant was the genesis for a chain and quickly spread to other locations. Today, in addition to the forty-nine US locations, there are also two Wahlburgers in Canada, one in Germany, and one in Sydney, Australia.
The food was reasonably priced by today's standards, plus we arrived during happy hour which resulted in Tim's draft beer and our "starter" of cheese curds being half-price. Sully, who is five, didn't care for his lemonade, so the waiter quickly exchanged it for an iced tea. I had the tea also and it was really good - got all of the synapses in my tired old brain firing in advance of a superb night at the theatre!
(I took the liberty of pocketing one of their paper menus for use as a reference while writing about the experience.)
Sully's meal, from the kids menu, a pair of cheeseburger sliders and French fries, was free! All kid meals, in fact, are free at Wahlburgers - or at least they were last night at the Wahlburgers in Olathe, Kansas! And Sully, who knows a thing or two about cheeseburgers, liked the ones he had for dinner last night - a lot!
Tim, who wasn't hungry, enjoyed his beer and snacked from the cheese curd appetizers, but I, who am always hungry, had a wonderful Crispy Chicken Ranch sandwich and a side of thin, crispy onion rings (970 calories, including the onion rings) ($13.49). I always try to avoid too much spicy with my evening meal for reasons older people understand all too well!
All of the burgers on the menu, and there were several, looked too enormous for me to tackle by myself - or even hold properly!
A couple of other items appealed to my sense of curiosity, and should we go back I will definitely explore some more options. One item that looked especially good was the "Grown-up Grilled Cheese," which is made with Swiss cheese, white cheddar cheese, "government" cheese, and tomato and bacon onion jam served between thick-cut bread and grilled with Asiago cheese (730 calories) ($12.49) - along with one complementary side.
Another offering that caught my eye was the "PBJ Burger," which includes two 1/4 pound burger patties, creamy peanut butter, bacon onion jam, and government cheese (1240 calories) ($13.99) along with one side. The standard sides include French fries, thin crispy onion rings, tater tots, sweet potato tots, and Brussels sprouts and kale slaw. Several other more interesting sides are available at an additional cost.
The place was crowded and a bit on the loud side because everyone was obviously having a good time - and it was happy hour!
Wahlburgers is definitely someplace that I would enjoy visiting again!
And then we drove back to The Culture House and enjoyed "High School Musical" with all of those other fine people who came to watch my granddaughter perform!
It was a night to remember in Olathe, Kansas!
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