This coming weekend my wife and my 7-months old daugther will be at a birthday party that my wife is throwing for one of her friends. I, as usual, will be the chauffeur. But this time, for once, I am not invited (YAY!).
Well, before I get into trouble when my wife reads this I have to say that's not true, I was actually invited but the party is more of a ladies and babies get together event and I am not ready to get in touch with my feminine side just yet. So, I will be by myself with a couple of hours of bachelor time and I am free to do whatever I want to do (Double YAY!).
Now, what can I do to kill a couple of hours during lunch time? LUNCH of course! I remember my wife's friend lives near this burger joint that I personally believe serves one of the best, if not THE BEST burger in town until someone can prove to me otherwise.
A few years back my wife started working for a private school to help with our financial situation as at that time I was unemployed. In the morning I usually drove my wife to work and on the way there we always drove by this small burger joint called the “Road Runner – Le hamburger du gourmet!!” (Road Runner – The gourmet’s Hamburger). To me it looked like a hole-in-the wall type of restaurant and I used to drive my wife up the wall every time we drove by the place by saying "Beep,beep!" (Yeah...I'm goofy like that).
Unbeknownst to me at that time that it is the infamous burger joint of Geneva and that one day I’d be hooked, and ignoring the pain, I would return there again and again and again…
Inspired by the American desert bird, the founders named their restaurant the “Road Runner”. Their motto was and still is, to offer first quality products to their customers, hamburgers made with care and presented in a personalized way according to the customers’ desire with over 20 possibilities. They are proud to declare that their biggest satisfaction after all these years is to have loyal and satisfied customers which in turn give them the best advertisement by word of mouth.
Apparently the restaurant has been around for over a quarter of a century in Geneva. According to them back when they just started, only the Americans living in Geneva and students from the International school which is situated just across the road were their customers. In my humble and honest opinion, for a single burger joint to continue that long in the land of cheese, chocolate and Rolex, solely surviving on word of mouth and loyal customers their burgers must be exceptionally good!
I can’t remember when my wife and I went to try the infamous Road Runner burger. I just remember that we got tired of our usual everyday worldwide spread burger joint that serves thin dry beef patty dressed up in so called special sauce and they try to sell it by using fancy names and surprisingly people will flock to try their new invention which, if stripped from all of its fancy disguises it is nothing but a cardboard tasting burger.
So, we decided to tryout the Road Runner. Boy! I can tell you one thing, that was one very wrong decision that was sooo right! Like I said before we were hooked! We went there for lunch and when we arrived we were quite surprised that the place was busy and it was nearing closing time. The cash register was situated right in front of the entrance and the cashier was the one who took the orders. So it was blocked by people queuing in line waiting for the cashier to take their orders. Luckily the queue moved quite fast. After only 10 minutes of patience it was our turn. The menu on the wall listed about a dozen of different types of burgers in two options, small and large. We ordered a couple of small Mexicoburgers with fries and a couple of drinks. I mentioned earlier that we returned again and again, ignoring the pain. Well, the pain comes when I reach for my wallet and hand over a handful of Swiss francs. I have to admit, the price is leaning more towards the higher end…but don’t go ahead of me, let me finish…
Our orders arrived with the burgers and fries in a couple of small wicker basket. The guy who brought our food told me that I could get ketchup, mayo, and whatever else that you normally put in a burger on the counter beside the cash register. I thanked him and asked my wife if she wanted anything and she said no. As I looked down to observe my food, I, Dendy the food lover and the lover of big portion was a bit disappointed. In my eyes, the burgers that I ordered would barely tickle my taste buds.
“Where’s the rest of it?” I asked my wife.
“Dendy, there’s plenty for you in that basket. Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach!” she replied.
So, I slowly reached for my fries and ate a couple. “ Hmm…nothing special, I’m starting to regret coming here…” I thought to myself.
Then I reached for my Mexicoburger and slowly took a bite. BAM!!! The moment my teeth tore into the buns, and the patty the aroma of perfectly grilled beef patty hit my olfaction with full force, and I’m not talking about those beef patties cooked on the hot iron cooking surface that you usually see in fast food joints or dinners, this beef patty was cooked on a real grill thus giving it its distinct aroma.
When I started to chew, the patty was perfectly cooked, juicy and tender, mixed with the taste of the salsa, cream cheese and the crunch provided by the tortilla chips slipped between the buns and the patty I started to realize, this is no ordinary burger!
I heard my wife groan; I looked up and saw her chewing on her Mexicoburger, her eyes closed. “This is not bad at all…” I said. All I heard was another groan as a reply. We sat there in silence for the rest of the very short meal. I knew I was supposed to enjoy it, chewing slowly, but I just could not resist the urge to take another bite, and another, and another. When we were done my wife made a small comment, “This tastes like the gourmet burgers in the States…” and I nodded in silence still enjoying the remaining debris in my mouth of what once was the Mexicoburger.
“Den! Stop spacing out!” my wife said in a stern voice snapping me back to the real world and I found myself following my wife walking towards the exit .
“Next time, I’m ordering a large.” I said to her as we exit the restaurant.
“Yup…you better” she said.
Bigger burger comes with bigger pain. But I’ll bear the pain…it’s worth every penny!
Road Runner
route de Chêne 63
1208 Geneva
SWITZERLAND
Phone: 022 735 64 20
Fax: 022 752 49 72
Web: http://www.roadrunner-restaurant.ch/
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