by Steven Doyle
I get great food tips each day from people literally all over the world. It is fun hearing people wax on about their favorite pizza, tacos or cheeseburgers. It is this fantastic feedback that keeps me moving each day. Last week I had the good fortune to hear from Mondo Mike, you probably remember Mondo from the morning radio program hosted by Chris Jagger when he was on 105.3FM. Mondo is well known for his burger eating abilities, and has grazed his way through every burger in the DFW area. The man also is a graduate of El Centro’s culinary program.
I recall a conversation with Mondo last year when he told me about a burger restaurant off of Greenville Avenue in Dallas that was so underground that you had to crawl over a fence in a field to enjoy their offerings. That is pretty wacky, but this is Mondo we are talking about. The guy has this amazing energy that will inspire you to crawl fences.
So Mondo sends word that he is willing to share his absolute favorite burger with me, and while we are at it we can sample his favorite chicken wings, too. We invited Jagger, but he claims he is watching his girlish figure, so we went Mondo y Mano.
This Mondo luncheon is pretty clandestine. He had me meet him in Grapevine but wouldn’t tell me the name of his restaurant. He had to show me. I was hungry and obliged.
We ended up at JR’s Grill in Colleyville which is owned by the same gent who owns JRs Steakhouse. I have been to the steakhouse some years back, but not the grill. It is a dimly lit spot that offers heaping platefuls of vittles.
Once inside Mondo raves about the cheese grits and asks for the waiter to bring me a sample. They were pretty good grits; nice and cheesy.
We were there for the burgers and wings, so we ordered a six piece hot wing platter that comes with house-made ranch dressing. The wings were smoky and fat. Mondo likes his wings nekkid, and so do I. These were pretty awesome and I rate them pretty high on my ever increasing wing list. I still like the wings I had over at Ten Bells in Bishop Arts. Those wings are a bit more genteel, if we can use that word when speaking about bar food. But the JR wings are delicious.
We order our burgers and I opt for a bacon addition, if for no other reason it makes for a better photo. Plus I would get to eat bacon, and that doesn’t suck.
The burgers at JR’s are mammoth half pounders. There was a bacon bomb on mine, with about a half dozen strips scattered across my beef patty. As for the burger, it was good. Sending out two slices of real cheddar makes me smile. It was not my absolute favorite, but a good burger. To be superior JR would need to upgrade his bun. That would make that burger scream.
Mr. Mondo likes his burgers cooked over flame, I claim the burger can be seared on a plancha and turn out just fine. Look what Jack is doing over at Maple and Motor with his antique griddle. That’s a fantastic burger without all the fuss of fire.
I need to turn Mondo on to a good burger now. I am thinking about the version at Boulevardier. I saw this burger yesterday while enjoying brunch, and that baby is now on my radar.
