I came to High Street Burger full, and I left hungry.

I’ve always been a cheeseburger enthusiast; one summer, I gained at least 15 percent of my body weight because I refused to eat anything but McDonald’s. And this other time, I ate McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All time high. Eventually love handles taught me that burgers ought not be abused, and I’ve since slowed my consumption. Still, there’s something about a great burger that instills in me a sense that everything is OK and that the heart of life is good. Cheeseburger, take the wheel.

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So I went to High Street Burger — in the hole-in-the-wall that once housed Liberry — yesterday fresh off a post-breakfast nap, even though I was the furthest thing from hungry. A dear friend, Allegra Gordon ’14, accompanied me on the journey to test the joint out. Excitement ran high.

Walking into High Street Burger, I already knew I’d be ordering my personal trinity: a cheeseburger (none of that fancy shit, I just wanted a damn burger), fries (plain, or maybe curly — it depends) and a strawberry milkshake. But I was wrong. High Street Burger does not sell fries. And while they do offer five options for milkshakes, strawberry is not among them. My heart sank, and I just ordered a plain cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake.

The burger itself was middling at best. Allegra and I determined that High Street Burger had invested in the wrong areas; the bun was sturdy, the cheese was fancy (some sorta aged cheddar), but the meat itself tasted cheap and flavorless. Aged cheddar is for crackers; if you’re gonna spend money on your burger, you have to spend it on the meat itself. The meat is the core of the burger experience, and High Street Burger failed to provide a succulent and tasty patty. As for the milkshake, it was more foam and froth than thick, vanilla goodness. It wasn’t bad per se, but it tasted like a McDonald’s shake. Not very interesting.

But perhaps I had given them an unfair shake. I didn’t really order anything interesting, so that night I returned with the elder Gordon (Chloe Gordon ’11) to sample the restaurant’s extensive hot dog menu. Deciding to West Coast represent (now put your hands up) I went with a Seattle Dog smothered in cream cheese, sauerkraut and onions. I know from experience that the Seattle Dog is nothing if not dank, so I had high hopes that High Street Burger could soon redeem itself. Overall, the hot dog was fine — the cream cheese is a great touch. I left much more satisfied after round two.

I’m not quite ready to pass judgment on High Street Burger. I straight up don’t get why they would serve baked potatoes instead of french fries, though come the cold winter months it could be a brilliant move that offers more staying power. While the enemy Froyo World will struggle to draw in customers when it’s negative degrees outside, High Street Burger could flourish.

But not gonna lie, Chloe and I went to Froyo World afterwards to cleanse our palates.