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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Burgers Burger joint of the week: Ed & Kay's Restaurant

Posted by Kat Robinson on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 9:02 AM

Kat Robinson
IT'S A BURGER: Trust me.

Man, that’s an amazing burger. Wait, what? Looks like an order of cheese fries with some green onions on top? You are correct, sir. Sorta.

But this is indeed a burger. A Pony Burger, to be exact.

Kat Robinson

Ed and Kay’s is probably best known for its Mile-High Pies with their mountainous amounts of meringue. It’s a great place for breakfast (the fried potatoes can’t be beat) and a good place to grab some home cooking for lunch. But yes, Ed and Kay’s does burgers.

In fact, the menu has an actual Burger Corner, which pointedly shows that Hamburgers ($4.65, $6.15 for a double) come with mustard and Cheeseburgers ($4.80, $6.60 for a double) come with mayo. The Pony Burger is listed there as $7.15... “Hamburger Patty on a bed of toasted bread, covered with fries, topped with our special cheese sauce, all this topped with green onions.”

I’ve been eyeballing that listing for well over a year now, meaning to go and give it a shot. But it’s hard to resist the chicken fried steak, which is my usual plate there. This last visit I figured it was finally time to give it a shot.

Kat Robinson

Now, I have to point out — on the menu, the photo for cheese fries and for the Pony Burger are identical. I had assumed it was a mistake. Oh, no. The Pony Burger looks exactly like that. It comes out and smells so strong and cheesy and onion-y and you just sit and look at it for a moment and figure out where you can grab a fry without dirtying your hands. There’s no evidence that there’s a burger under there anywhere.

But there is. Under the fries there’s a half pound patty on the bottom half of a bun, and it’s a nicely salted and peppered one, too. You have to eat it with a fork, or the old men sitting at the table across from you will give you looks like “who raised you?” and you’ll feel like a barbarian.

Is it a good burger? You betcha. I had assumed I’d be wanting chili with it but the cheese and onions do their job. I was unable to finish it. Too much food, too many fries.

Thing is, it’s not the most outrageous burger on the menu. There’s the Horseshoe Burger ($8.15) on the regular menu — which is the same thing as a Pony Burger but with two patties instead of one. And on the special menu (which changes monthly) I found the Heart Attack Burger ($7.15, $8.15 for a double) — similar to the Pony Burger but the cheese sauce is replaced with cream gravy. Huh.

You’ll find Ed and Kay’s Restaurant on the Interstate 30 access road as you head west out of town. It’s open at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday, staying open until 7ish most nights but closing at 2 p.m. on Sunday. (501) 315-3663.

Tags: burger, Ed & Kay's, Benton, Pony Burger

        
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Comments (8)

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You call that glop "cheese"? Cheese SAUCE, maybe? Plasticky nacho cheese with little real milk content is more like it -- and it's no endorsement of any eating establishment. Another Americanized bastardization of real food you'll never find across the pond.

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Posted by Big Fun on 11/10/2011 at 2:59 PM

That is the most unappetizing looking food I have ever seen. I can't imagine ordering anything that comes covered in a cheese sauce that looks like it came from a can. And we wonder what is wrong with our health? I am not a "health food nut" by any stretch of the imagination but let's keep it real. By that I mean real food not artificial cheese sauce.

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Posted by luv2eat on 11/10/2011 at 4:07 PM

I must be honest here and say that it does not look very good at all so I believe I'll pass on this one....

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Posted by bkarabinus on 11/10/2011 at 4:10 PM

What luv2eat said. In spades.

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Posted by William D. Lindsey on 11/10/2011 at 4:37 PM

Pretty sure that color yellow doesn't occur in nature...

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Posted by Mordy on 11/10/2011 at 6:59 PM

I will tell you from personal experience, the food is GOOD!

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Posted by Pat Lynch on 11/10/2011 at 10:15 PM

Maybe it's just this one dish. I just prefer real cheese.

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Posted by luv2eat on 11/11/2011 at 11:02 AM

I would be all over that whatever kind of cheese they're using!! However,I haven't ordered Veggie Nachos from Buffalo Grill since they started using cheese spread vs regular cheddar.

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Posted by AllenK on 11/13/2011 at 4:48 PM

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