(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

When it's Wednesday, it's Wimpy Wednesday, and when it's Wimpy Wednesday, Churchill's is filled to its brim. It sorta makes sense, particularly seeing the bacon cheddar burger is going for $7; $5 off its regular price.

Personally, I'm not sure I'd go with the burger for anymore than the cheaper price. I would get it again for $7, mind you, as it's a perfectly good burger, but $12 seems a bit steep to me.

Churchill's take on the burger is a slight twist to the basics: the bacon and cheese are both expected, of course, with the aioli and the chipotle sauce adding just a bit of something... I wouldn't say unexpected, as it's not particularly original, but it sets it apart from your standard bacon-cheese, at least.

Really, there is no need for a burger to be amazingly original, anyway. A hamburger is kind of fairly basic by definition.

And let's re-emphasize that this is a good burger; just not stellar. The «spicy mustard aioli» gets kind of lost in the mix, and adds little more than calories. More present is the chipotle, with its slightly sweet smoke; a definite step up from ketchup.

For the cheddar I guess Tillamook is sort of a baseline choice, but hey, it's still a good cheese. 

Most importantly, the burger itself holds its own. The patties aren't cooked to order during Wimpy Wednesday, but they come out in a perfectly medium doneness. 

Overall, then, this is a good burger. Not a great burger, but one that's worth $7. The jury is still out on the quality of the buns, but I thought they had a decent subtle sweetness to them, at least. The accompanying fries weren't bad either.

Shelling out $12 for it seems a bit excessive -- it lacks that certain I don't know what to be worth that price. But, if you can find a spot on a Wednesday, it's well worth a try. The official Burger Chase tasting board could easily agree on that.

Photo courtesy of the Great Burger Chase’s official photography studio, Erick Doxey Photography.

So, let's see what's happening, just for fun…

First, Cafe 11 is set to open in Liberty Lake; more specifically in Barlows's old space. The license is for liquor, beer, and wine, so hey! Party in Liberty Lake.

Wisconsinburger is set to open next week, or so we've been told. Its somewhat bizarre location will be 916 S Hatch.

EJ's is moving closer to re-opening as… something else. Again, this is an all-in license, and we'll be interested to see how the public house style incarnation will work.

The Chocolate Apothecary is applying for a beer and wine license, which makes perfect sense, as far as chocolate pairing goes.

Finally, you already know about the Saranac expansion -- we mentioned Black Label Brewing moving in there a few months ago -- into the old Merlyn's building. Spokane Journal of Business brings word that Santé's Jeremy Hansen is negotiating for a bakery space, which is all kinds of exciting.

Sharo Nikfar -- you know him from Persian Hour on KYRS -- is also looking to open a Mediterranean eatery and a gelato shop. Add all of this up, is and the location is looking more than a little exciting. 

Spokane Journal of Business has more details.

Yes, the Great Burger Chase kicked off quickly, with a classically trained tasting panel scrutinizing two of Manito's burgers just a few days ago. The «Chef's Burger» and the «Tap House Burger» were to be vetted, and vetted they were.

As far as burgers go, these aren't cheap thrills, with the latter clocking in at $14; the former at $15. Once upon a time you could upgrade the patties to the grass-fed variety, but we were not offered that luxury. It makes me wonder if it's now just part of the package by default. Or that the upgrade simply isn't an option anymore. Seeing that it's not mentioned on the menu, it seems sort of unlikely that the server forgot about it, at least.

Either way, I can live with the higher prices. Quality ingredients don't come cheap, and there's a bit more to these burgers than there is to your common garden variety.

One thing is that they actually nail the doneness. Ordering my «Chef's» medium-rare, I didn't really have hopes of it coming out perfectly cooked, yet that's exactly what happened. Impressive.

I'm a fan of eggs on almost everything, and having one on the burger, yolk running all over it, is something I also approve of.

The aioli adds a little bit of a zesty zing to the palette, and goes well with the Jack cheese. Really, all in all, the toppings are about as good as one can expect.

Perhaps most importantly, though, is the bun, which is exactly what it should be here. Flavorful; one that you could eat by itself. Far off from the baseline Franz's standard so many go by. 

As you've probably figured by now, we're talking some good burgers here. Manito has it down pretty dang well. It's not a cheap thrill, but it's a thrill nonetheless, and I can't see a situation where Manito wouldn't finish this chase way close to the top.

Photo courtesy of the Great Burger Chase's official photography studio, Erick Doxey Photography.

Our bizarre fascination with Taco Bell continues, and really, how couldn't it, now that they finally feature a full breakfast menu. Exciting, or what?

It is, of course, all here. Anything you could have hoped and prayed for: Breakfast burritos; grilled tacos; wraps… It's pretty much identical to the regular Taco Bell menu, just modified to include eggs and sausage and bacon.

The star of the show, though, is a bit different: The waffle taco. No, really. Here we have what is just a piece of pure unadulterated genius. Somewhere, deep inside the Yum! Brands offices, one poor marketer, one tasked with the impossible task of coming up with an original Taco Bell menu item, suddenly had the (presumably acid-fueled) epiphany: a «taco» wrapped in a waffle!

And what a treat it is!

I can only assume the breakfast sausage, cheese, and eggs are wrapped in an Eggo. How is that even vaguely taco related? I don't know! All I can tell you is that it tastes like something I would have expected from McDonald's breakfast menu, and I assume that was Taco Bell's one and only goal.

In other words, it's just awful, even by Taco Bell's standards.

As for the Crunchwrap, it at least tastes like something Taco Bell would usually produce. You know, just with the addition of eggs and what tasted somewhat like a hash brown patty thrown in for good measure.

Long story short, there aren't any surprises here. It's Taco Bell. The only real difference is that this might actually be one step below the true and tried formula. 

That, of course, does nothing to quell our fascination with the place. What will they come up with next? We can hardly wait to find out!