Just a couple of burgers: Dinner at Haymarket Lazlo’s

Last night, Mr. & Mrs. Wisco decided to take in a Lincoln Stars hockey game. The game was fun, even though the Stars lost.

After the game, Mr. Wisco decided he really wanted a good burger for dinner. Since we were close to downtown, we decided to try the Haymarket Lazlo’s. We have been to Lazlo’s before, but not for quite awhile. We were happy to see from the menu that all items are made from scratch, and that they had a good selection of different burgers. We arrived at about 9:15, and the restaurant was about half full. We were seated immediately in a booth with a window view.

In addition to their food, Lazlo’s is known for their beer (Empyrian Ales), and they currently have two different seasonal brews on tap – a Sweet Stout and a Irish Red. Since we’ve had many of the regular brews, we both decided to try the Irish Red. The Irish Red was very good, and a great complement to a burger. It kept us in the ‘red’ theme after drinking Leinenkugels Red at the Stars game.

We asked for a side of the beer bread (complementary upon request), and it arrived quickly. It’s a white bread, with the sweet flavor of all beer breads. It was toasted and buttered on one side, and a good start to the meal, especially if you’re too hungry to wait for the food to arrive!

At Lazlo’s, all burgers come with your choice of one side dish. The choices include homemade applesauce, french fries, wild rice, mashed potatoes, and several other options. Mr. Wisco ordered a Cheeseburger (medium-rare), which comes with Cheddar cheese. He chose the french fries. Mrs. Wisco ordered a Veggie Burger with a side of applesauce.

The food came out VERY quickly. In fact, we were shocked at how fast it arrived (and a little nervous, as this can sometimes mean that burgers are pre-cooked). Both burgers were cooked on the wood-fired hickory grill, and were excellent. Mr Wisco’s cheeseburger was a perfect medium-rare. He was impressed, as burgers are often slightly overdone. It came with special sauce (mayo-based), lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. The french fries were the iconic crinkle-cut shape, and were cooked to perfection. It was obvious that the oil was fresh. Mrs Wisco’s Veggie burger was fantastic. It’s made from scratch, and the chargrilling was very tasty. It came with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles. The homemade applesauce was excellent. It’s made with thinly sliced whole pieces of apple cooked with cinnamon and sugar. It’s not overly sweet, but has a fresh apple flavor.

The service was good – we were seated quickly, and we were greeted almost immediately by our server. In fact, we had to ask him to come back, since we hadn’t even decided on drinks yet. He came back for our drink orders, and brought the beers out quickly. We were a little surprised when a second server came to our table to take our food order. Then, a third server brought the food out to our table. The first server came out and asked if everything was “fantastic” (this type of verbiage seems over the top to us, and is becoming more commonplace in corporate-style restaurants – while the food is good, it’s not life-changing!). The second server cleared our plates, while the first server delivered and took care of the bill. We don’t know why restaurants are moving to this team-based serving approach, but it seems to take away from the relationship a customer builds with a server. It feels more like an assembly line approach.

The decor is nice – it has a laid-back, comfortable feel to the restaurant. The brick brings the feel of the old Haymarket into the restaurant. We really like Lazlo’s choice of light fixtures. The restrooms are clean and well-stocked.

Our bill for two beers, a Cheeseburger and a Veggie burger came to about $22. So all in all, we thought that the food and beer was both tasty and a good value. The chargrilled burgers are unique, and make it a good choice for a casual meal out.