2 Doors Down bottomless fries burger - 17/25

After what felt like a thousand hours on the grassplains of South Dakota and Nebraska, I was jonesing for a decent burger.

A quick survey of the locals (including a pair who specialise in car repairs due to damage caused by frequent hail in these parts, yes really) uncovered 2 Doors Down, a dedicated burger diner/restaurant a short walk from my motel in the centre of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Their vibe is cool, fresh and genuine and they set out their stall early with a claim to have been "Flippin' great burgers since 2009".

Just like Gourmet Burger Kitchen back in the UK, you order from a blackboard menu at the front, take a number flag and from then on it's table service all the way. There's a few key differences though, the standard drinks fountain (soft drinks, coke, lemonade etc) is bottomless but, potato lovers, so are the fries. Whenever a member of staff wanders by they latch onto an empty looking vessel, spirit it away and return with more of the same. It's a gimmick, but a great one.

Following my previous experience at The Bird in Jackson where statements of intent translate to incredible results, the signs here were promising. The 2 Doors Down website is also a great example of how to do a restaurant website too, personality, simple, clean, consistent - it doesn't have to be complicated folks.

I've waxed long on the troubles and travesties of what passes for fries in this land so it was with a big smile I discovered the bottomless fries would be well cooked, hot, golden, chunky steak fries. I know they're not strictly a fry in the sense that they could be considered too thick, but restaurant owners, thickness adds more room for potato flavour and fluff to come through. Which is A Goood Thing.

Burgers are ground and made on site and mine had good flavour and chunky texture. I opted for a double Teryiaki burger (Pineapple, Teryiaki sauce). They're relatively thin patties, a classic diner-style burger like Ford's or the Cherry Cricket as opposed to the almost-as-thick-as-a-steak style. I can't help wondering if 2 Doors Down offered a thicker burger, how much more juice and flavour would come through and how much closer to corresponding greatness they could come. Either way, these guys are burger players.

Presented in-a-basket style the sweet glaze and pineapple worked well together and importantly didn't overwhelm the beef itself. Add in a good seeded bun that just held together in the face of pineapple and teryiaki juice and was perfectly sized, it all added up to a well above average diner burger.

And the bottomless fries? All true.

And so we score; remember, 0 is for not present, 1 is merely functional, 2 is adequate, 3 is good, 4 is really good and 5 is OMG-can't-talk-eating.

KBI-1 : Quality of Burger	4 / 5
(Beefiness, quality of cooking, not getting lost in the extras)
KBI-2 : Distinguishing Features	3 / 5
(i.e. The 'headline' variation e.g. Bacon, Chilli, BBQ)
KBI-3 : Ability of Bun to Maintain Order	3 / 5
(size, freshness, flavour, keeping it all together)
KBI-4 : Condiment Enhancement	3 / 5
(variety, suitability of extras)
KBI-5 : Fries Counterpoint	4 / 5
(portion size, crispness, potato-ey ness)
KBI-6 : Other Supporting Actors	n/a
(quality of side orders)
Total Score	17/25

So 2 Doors Down nudges into third place, just squeezing out Ford's on the strength of their fries. An object lesson in how paying attention to the sizzle (good supporting action from fries and bun) as well as the sausage (homemade, well cooked burgers) can make the difference when it counts at the finishing line.