The Counter – 9/2/11 – Closed

Website

Location: 4609 14^th Ave NW

Hours:

Sun-Thurs: 11-9

Fri-Sat: 11-10

On our continuing search for the best burger in Ballard, J and I stopped in at The Counter, one of the newest of Ballard’s burger joints.

The Counter is a national gourmet burger restaurant located in the Ballard Blocks, next to Trader Joe’s. It’s large, open interior is sparse with white walls, metal chairs and tables and a bar along the far wall.

They specialize in burgers with gourmet ingredients. When you order, you’re given the choice between constructing your own burger from a list of meats, cheeses, veggies, sauces and buns or pre-constructed burgers. They also offer various styles of French fries, soda, a full bar and milkshakes.

The Service:

J and I were there for a late lunch so there were very few people in The Counter. Our server was friendly, helpful and the burgers came out pretty quickly.

The Drinks:

Both J and I chose bottles of Ace Apple Cider, a crisp, dry hard cider that is one of our favorites.

The Food:

As an appetizer, I chose the Fried Dill Pickle Chips, thick sliced dill pickles dipped in a corn meal batter then fried with an apricot sauce on the side. I liked the idea of fried slices of dill pickle as opposed to the fried dill spears I’ve had at the People’s Pub but the batter was too thick and a little tough. The molten hot slices kept sliding out of the batter coating and burning our chins. The dipping sauce was nothing special. In fact, I ended up dipping the dill chips in the sauce that came with my burger instead.

French fries come a la carte at The Counter so J ordered the Parmesan Fries, shoestring French fries tossed with Parmesan, rosemary, parsley, and garlic aioli. Fabulous. Amazing. The huge pile of fries were brought to us on a large, hot plate that kept the fries hot for longer than I expected. Tossing the garlic aioli, herbs, and cheese with the still hot fries was a brilliant idea that made sure that each fry was coated with salty, cheesy goodness. We are already planning on returning to The Counter for a drink and these fries sometime in the future.

I chose the Market Select Signature Burger, a 1/3 lb. lamb burger topped with fried pepperocinis, roasted red pepper and feta spread, mixed baby greens, red onion, tomato and tzatziki. A pretty good burger. The delicious lamb patty was so juicy that it squirted juice all over my shoulder with the first bite. The fried pepperocinis were and interesting addition like spicy onion rings. The tzatziki sauce tasted clean and refreshing with notes of dill. While the roasted pepper and feta spread was okay, I thought it could’ve been executed better with a couple of slices of roasted pepper and chunks of feta. The toasted bun wasn’t quite sturdy enough to stay together through the entire meal though. Next time I might choose a heartier bun or go with their “burger in a bowl” option.

J ordered the Counter Burger, a 1/3 lb. beef patty topped with provolone, crispy onion strings, lettuce blend, sautéed mushrooms, and tomato with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. The patty had a good beef flavor that stood up well to all the toppings. J liked the use of the lettuce blend rather than a full lettuce leaf because the blend kept the burger together rather than sliding all over the place.

The Price:

2 Bottles of Ace Cider: 4.25 ea.

Fried Dill Pickle Chips: 4.29

Parmesan Fries: 5.29

Market Select Signature Burger: 11/49

The Counter Burger: 10.79

The Verdict:

The Counter offers a darn good burger. The meat and toppings were fresh and very flavorful. The Parmesan fries alone will bring us back. They were that awesome. The Counter also offers something called “Adult Shakes”, which I assume are milkshakes with liquor in them. I am intrigued by this idea …

J still likes the burger he had at Hamburger Harry’s better but I preferred The Counter’s Greek style burger. We both think King’s Hardware has the best burger in Ballard so far but the best French fries, so far, are at The Counter.