Revisits and quickie reviews
14910 Midway, Addison
There are national chains, legendary burger joints, self-proclaimed backyard grilling gurus...and, of course, standby's like Snuffer's.
While few people agree when it comes down to one of those 'this burger is better than that burger' arguments, Snuffer's provides an immutable constant: no matter the location, if you fail to specify "no salt," their aggressively simplistic seasoning will hang around for quite some time, potentially eroding delicate tissues and perhaps launching into work on that first ulcer.
Force them to go easy on the salt, however, and patches of crunchy, acrid, Saturday-tending-the-Weber character emerge. Decent enough, although patties often creep into dried out territory and, of course, bits of finely chopped lettuce spill constantly from the bun...charming to some, a nuisance to others. The big surprise on recent visits to Snuffer's Addison location--aside from the number of times I heard "turkey burger" from nearby tables--were batches of fries approaching that apparently difficult to achieve 'pretty good' category.
I've never been sure why so many of the city's restaurants shortchange their customers by producing dull, flaccid shards of inadequately fried potato. Is blanching really such an expensive and time-consuming process? Snuffer's turned out floppy, yes--but the sugars had time to sizzle and release some flavor...as well as darken into an appealing burnished golden color.
Although on one rather unfortunate occasion the waiter also applied my "no salt" comment to the fries.
Oh, I know the reputation of their cheese fries, but I decided to check on the basics this time around. Snuffer's other heart-stopping fried offering--pickles--presents a crisp, malty crust carrying a flicker of of something cayenne-like in flavor. Paired to a wonderfully confusing (mellow and pungent) garlic dip, they could rank near the top of this...um...gastronomic category--except that the pickle slices themselves wither somewhere along the line. Instead of punching sharply through the crust with fingers of tart brine, they cower in the background.
All in all, Snuffer's Addison is a serviceable restaurant. It falls short, but not by enough to preclude spontaneous revisits. Of course, if you're in desperate need of cheese fries...
