RESTAURANT REVIEW: David's Burgers: Here's the beef

It'd be easy to be lazy and say "a burger is just a burger" and move on. Let's pause, though, because that's not true.

There are cheap burgers that cost $3 or less, maybe from a gas station, fast-food restaurant or bought frozen, in bulk, at a grocery store and slapped on a home grill. Then there are the $15, $20 and maybe even $25 burgers -- though, at that price, one expects more than a mere burger.

So, no, a burger is not just a burger. There are degrees of burgerdom, if you will.

Between those cheap, industrialized, fast-food burgers and super-premium, white-tablecloth burgers is a niche filled by fast-casual burgers. These are burgers with fresher ingredients than fast food but served in a setting that falls short of a full table service restaurant with an extensive menu.

This is where diners find David's Burgers, a central Arkansas burger chain with eight locations, including its newest restaurant opened in mid-December in the Little Rock River Market's Ottenheimer Market Hall.

The burgers at David's cost a little more -- a single burger starts at $5.79, cheese and bacon extra, but, having eaten a few David's burgers in the past few weeks at the new River Market location, the burgers from David's are worth that steeper bottom line.

There's not a lot of heft to a burger from David's, but the thin, freshly ground chuck burgers -- pressed down from one-third-pound meatballs on a searing griddle in front of customers and cooked to order -- rely on a good meat-to-fat ratio that highlights the beef flavor while incorporating a pleasing fattiness. With a slight char on the outside, the burgers inside are perfectly juicy, but never too greasy (just slightly so).

Even better, the burgers are not overly seasoned; definitely not too salty, which is a problem I've experienced at other David's locations in the past.

No, the burgers depend on a rich beefiness to define their taste.

Rounding out these flavors are a selection of free toppings, which in the case of my No. 1 Combo ($7.99 for a burger, fries and fountain drink) included piquant onion slices that snapped satisfyingly when bitten and crisp lettuce along with a generous spread of mayonnaise, which offered a creamy companionship to the assembly. (A slice of underwhelming cheddar cheese added 69 cents to the bottom line.)

Now to David's fries, which deserve their own separate mention. In a complex world, the little things done right are sometimes overlooked. Not in the case of David's fries. The fries are freshly cut, fried in canola oil and lightly salted. They are near-perfect fries, and though some might complain of their greasiness, they are, after all, fried in oil. Greasy comes with the territory, plus I'm not a fan of extra crispy fries. It's easy forgetting about the sublime goodness of a fried potato. David's Burgers' fries help one remember.

And these fries? They are all you can eat, if you so desire, with workers delivering fresh fries while diners wait or replenishing fry shortages during a meal, though I noticed the fries that arrived with my combo meals always sufficed.

The River Market David's includes six combos -- all with fries and fountain drink -- on its menu, including a No. 4 Combo that features a single grilled chicken fillet ($7.99 for a single; $9.49 for a double), which I found juicy but a little disappointing in its flavor.

A No. 2 Combo is a double burger ($9.99), while a No. 3 Combo features a hamburger steak ($7.99 for a single; $9.99 for a double). Topped with grilled onions and grilled mushrooms and served on a plate (other David's combos are offered in a basket), the onions and mushrooms provide a texture balance -- if not a flavor offset -- for the hamburger steak, but lacking the accoutrements afforded the burger, the hamburger steak is a little one note.

A No. 5 Combo is a grilled cheese ($5.49 or $4.49 for children 12 and under), and a No. 6 Combo is a kids burger ($6.69 or $5.59 for children 12 and under).

Free toppings at David's include mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and David's Sauce (a slightly sweet yet tangy spread with relish). Extra toppings (with none singularly adding more than 99 cents to a combo price) include American, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses; along with bacon, jalapenos, grilled onions and grilled mushrooms.

That's it for the menu -- minus soft-served ice cream, which I didn't sample.

The Ottenheimer Hall location is in the same spot that Boulevard Bread Co. occupied, and the restaurant layout is basically the same, though a former outdoor patio has been enclosed, adding significantly more seating, which is a combination of two-, four- and six-top booths. There's also stool seating along a line of windows facing President Clinton Avenue.

The ground chuck used in the burgers is displayed in a butcher's case when one enters through the main doors.

The decor is red and white, with large black-and-white photographs of families. (David's was created by David Alan Bubbus, son of well-known Arkansas restaurateur David Bubbus Sr.) The back room's walls feature several photos of a Little Rock gone by and a wall-length panoramic photo of downtown Little Rock shot from north of the Arkansas River. Both dining areas swim in natural light.

This David's -- as is the case at other David's locations I've visited -- also features perhaps some of the nicest restaurant workers one will ever encounter outside of a fine-dining establishment or mom-and-pop country restaurant. The workers are full of "yes, sirs" and "no, sirs" and "Do you need more fries, Mr. Stewart?" (Seriously, you give your name while ordering, and the workers I dealt with always remembered my name while checking on my meal or refilling my drink.)

This politeness is not at all saccharine or syrupy. It seems genuine in an era when niceness is sometimes forced. The cheerful attitude -- and the ingredients -- go a long way in elevating David's Burgers above other fast-casual burger restaurants.

There's not much standing in the way of a David's burger being good. Fresh ingredients, freshly prepared, by fresh-faced workers. There's no need for a multimillion- dollar advertising campaign proclaiming all this. The evidence is apparent in the food at David's Burgers.

This is a case of showing and not telling.

Weekend on 01/26/2017