Red Mill Burgers

1613 W Dravus Street Seattle, WA 98119

Red Mill Burgers has 2 locations in Seattle and seemingly a great deal of hype surrounding them.  Some samples:

-“One of the 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die” – The Oprah Show

-Winner, “Best Burger in Seattle” -  Seattle Weekly, 10 years in a row

-Winner, “Best Onion Rings in the U.S.” – GQ Magazine

The Oprah quote alone was enough to make me put it on my list for my trip to Seattle.

I was pretty impressed with their menu board.  I like when restaurants actually show you the different sizes of sides and drinks, and they also included detailed descriptions of exactly what comes on each item.  I always feel like an ass when I request no onion by default and the cashier sassily replies “well, they don’t come with onion” and then I sigh quietly to myself and proceed with the transaction.

The burgers are 1/4 lb. flame-broiled patties.  I went with the deluxe with cheese and a side of onion rings:

Red Mill Deluxe w/ Cheese – American Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickle, Red Onion, Mill Sauce

The wait wasn’t bad given the amount of guests in the building for the lunch rush.  I also had a nice view of their kitchen, specifically a giant tower of bacon.  Please click the image below to view it in full size to truly appreciate the GIANT FUCKING TOWER OF BACON:

..seriously!

My order:

and a shot of the burger itself:

Burger Ratings:

Burger: 7

The burger wasn’t really all that spectacular – the beef patty was basically an after-thought.  I would probably be a lot more into this burger if they were 1/3 lb patties – the 1/4 lb patty is just lost in the giant heap of toppings, bun, and “Mill Sauce”

Side: 8

I didn’t eat the french fries, but they looked pretty good.  I would imagine that they taste pretty good, too.  The onion rings absolutely lived up to the hype – so amazingly crispy and perfect that I ended up eating way more than I intended. Although, onion rings are one of those things that you don’t really remember like you would a great burger or a great slice of pizza.  I feel like I’ve had onion rings just as good as these many times before, but then I forget about it because no one really cares that much about onion rings.  How many onion ring blogs have you ever read?  NONE*.

*Note:  I did research (quick Google search of “onion ring blog”) this, and there seems to be 1 singular blog dedicated to onion rings.  However, the blog features Red Robin and frozen onion rings from Aldi – so they don’t actually count at all.

Environment: 5

The first thing I noticed when walking in was the intense smell of bleach.  I guess it’s cool that they keep this place clean, but it’s not really a scent I would like to be overwhelmed with when I’m about to order food. The seating arrangement was a bit weird for the space – there were a few giant tables with seating for 6, counter seating, and a few booths in the back.

Value: 9

The “deluxe” cheeseburger was $4.39 and a large portion of onion rings was $2.79 – the value for the taste and quality was pretty spectacular. Very reasonably priced with giant portions.

Red Mill Burgers
1613 W Dravus Street Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 284.6363

Tags: bleach scents, onion ring hype, onion rings, red mill burgers, seattle

Listed Under: 7 - Real Good