Zin’s hamburger happy hour

Zin’s hamburger happy hour

Happy Hour Menu still going in February

Review Summary:  I love Zin’s hamburger happy hour 3pm-6pm daily.  Zin knows how to make an excellent burger. You can eat a happy-hour selection of burger’s for half ($5) the price of their regular menu ($9.50-$15.50).  On my budget their regular menu is too pricey for me. I like their sweet potato fries and their shakes are good. If you’re not a huge eater, you can split the fries between two people.  If you’re hungry, don’t split. Carol loved her pie for dessert but the regular shakes are so good, if I’m in a dessert mood, I’d rather spend the extra $2.50 over the $3 happy hour shake and get a yummier shake for $5.50. Maybe the Salted Caramel or Double Chocolate next time.  Zins is not a super-bargain happy-hour place but you’ll get a really tasty burger at a good price.

“The Steak” burger $5, with Nutella Hazelnut Crunch Milkshake $5.50 : burger was on the happy hour menu, the shake wasn’t but I had to try it!

Review: I love Zinburger’s daily happy hour 3pm-6pm with  a selection of hamburgers at $5, sides at $3, and shakes at $3.  Draft beer and wine is half price, well drinks are $4 and some cocktails are $6.  My image shows “summer happy hour” menu but it’s still going on and it’s February now so I don’t think they will get rid of it any time soon.  From 3:30pm-4:30pm, when I’ve gone, it’s usually quiet and people are trickling in.  I scooted in one time at 5:40pm and it was jampacked and noisy.

First thing to note is everything is separate.  Your hamburger does not come with fries automatically.  That being said, I think their $5 hamburger deal is pretty good considering the rest of the time their burgers start at $9.50.  True, it is a truncated list of burgers but they aren’t mini burgers or sliders.  Also if you’re on a diet, you can just skip the sides. Speaking of diets, you can also get a gluten-free bun for an extra $1.

the “Jalapeno Popper” burger with cream cheese, chipotle mayo and a popper$5, (not so ) Crispy Onion Rings $3 and a strawberry shake $3

I’ve gone a few times.  I like “The Steak” burger with onions, mushrooms and A1 sauce.  It’s always been excellent.   I’ve also ordered the “Jalepeno Popper” burger which has one popper, cream cheese, and chipotle mayo.  It’s ok but I would prefer the popper was fried crunchy.  This baby gave a little popper heat but no crunch so I went back to “The Steak”.  No matter the burger, the beef is juicy — Zins makes a great burger.

On the fries… meh.  They weren’t crispy which is what I like.  I’ll order fries and see how the cook likes to make them.  Here it’s not wilted but it’s not standing at attention and there’s no crunch.  I almost felt like it was baked, not fried.  Some people bake potato fries these days because it’s healthier and if done right, they can be crispy too. Most restaurants fry though because it’s a lot faster. The fries at Zin’s were nicely encrusted with salt –not heavy, the grains were larger than regular salt — maybe sea salt, I didn’t check and I’m no salt connoisseur — but it was just the right amount of salty. To be fair, the Southern Arizona Guide loved their Zin fries so it’s probably a matter of taste.  Their fries look a lot crispier than mine.  Oh well.

 

I’ve also tried the crispy onion nest — that wasn’t that crispy either.  My mom was really great at making crispy tempura, chicken and fries so that’s what I favor.  Not everybody loves their fried food crunchy as they have the mistaken notion that the more crispy, the more oil. That’s not quite true — crisp has more to do with the coating and the heat of the oil (it’s the three bears:  too hot and it burns, too cold and it soaks into the food so you need the oil just right).

Fresh Banana Cream Pie

My third try I got the sweet potato fries which I quite like. If you’re curious, the sweet potato fries were not crispy but who expects them to be? The sweet potato fries tasted good plus it is high in carotenoids, Vitamin B6 and C, iron and fiber so I felt virtuous eating it too.  Fried and packed with goodies — my idea of a balanced diet!  (laughing, I’m just kidding. I don’t cook fried food at home so when I eat out I splurge a little on the bad side). I went with Carol twice and both times with her, the one serving of fries was enough for two people factoring in we also both got shakes.

I’ve gotten the strawberry shake twice.  The shake part was always good.  However, the last time the whipped cream was a little funky — had tiny lumpy curd shapes in the cream although it tasted and smelled alright.  Just looked weird is all.  Next time I’ll probably skip the whipped cream which is better for me anyways.  The other times the whipped cream was great so I don’t know what happened.  I also splurged once and got their Nutella Hazelnut Crunch Milkshake at their regular $5.50 price for shakes and it was yummy: like a dessert in a glass.

Jalepeno Popper burger

Speaking of dessert, I never got any but Carol did.  On the regular menu, they have a couple choices:  Banana Cream Pie and Chocolate Cream Pie for $6.  Carol loved her Fresh Banana Cream Pie.

Since I’ve driven everytime I’ve gone, I didn’t try out the half price wines or their $6 cocktails.  They have a selection of beers that even includes the locally made Barrio “Tucson Blonde”. I’m strict on the no drinking and driving rule.  However, I am hoping one of these days to get over there as a passenger.  If I do, I’ll update you on the cocktails.

 

 

Locations:

Zinburger
6390 E. Grant Road
Tucson, Arizona 85715South side of Grant, west of the post office
so just west of where Grant curves into Kolb.
If you see the post office or Target, you’re too far east.
Zinburger
Joesler Village
1865 East River Road Suite 101
Tucson, Arizona 85718

Zinburger also has locations in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Gilbert.

 


 

Amazon : I love windowshopping cookbooks and gadgets so …

 


Pornburger: Hot Buns and Juicy Beefcakes by Mathew Ramsey
Who can resist that title? Laughing. This guy has a sense of humor with burger names like “Bill U Murray Me” and the “Pumpkin Spice Fatte”

Pictek Meat Grinder, Manual Food Grinder with Powerful Suction Base, Hand Meat Grinder Sausage Maker Vegetable Grinder, Heavy Duty with Stainless Steel Blades for Home, Kitchen
Mostly I was looking at this because Carol was talking about the great sausages she used to make by hand. Of course, she gave away her meat grinder ages ago. This looked affordable and maybe I could convince her to show me how to make sausages. However, there were only 9 reviews so I don’t know.

Disclaimer: I have signed up as an Amazon affiliate so I may get a small payment if anyone buys anything by clicking a link. The sheet said 4.5% if it’s a book. I earned $3 in September, $3.41 in October and ninety cents last month so not going to get rich anytime soon, lol but it would be cool if it eventually paid for my blogging. Amazon requires this next quote: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

© 2018 photographs and review by M. LaFreniere, not including photographs from Amazon.

10 Replies to “Zin’s hamburger happy hour”

  1. I’ve been so hungry for a good burger and that steak burger looks fantastic. You can keep the nutella shake though but the strawberry one with the o rings, mmmm.

    1. The strawberry one is great too — plus it’s on sale during happy hour which the nutella remains at regular price. I love, love sales.

  2. Zinburger is one of our favorites, especially for take-out. I find the open-concept seating inside too loud for my tastes. When the weather is comfortable, their patio is great. For the rest of the year, we call in our order and pick up. There’s something incredibly satisfying about bringing home yummy burgers to munch on while catching up with the news of the day. I order their truffle fries too. I don’t even want to think about how bad they are for me, but they are delicious and perfect for splitting.

    1. Have to agree it’s noisy inside when it fills up. That’s a great idea, picking it up to take home, Irene.

  3. juicy burgers sound awfully yummy! Your descriptions made me want to go try this place, though I agree with you, fried foods “should” be crispy – not too hot, not too cold, but just right!

    1. Thank you Tess. I agree on the just right fries. My friend Carol is always in search of the perfect fries — but she loads the dice by telling them to do it extra extra crispy, like close to burnt crispy and gets crispy about 60% of the time. I don’t like to do that the first time I order a fries at a place as I like to see how the cook ordinarily makes it out of curiousity. If you know of a good “just right” crispy fries place, let me know and I’ll tell Carol. She’ll jump on it right away.

  4. I would kill for a shake, or a bun, or even a French fry. My doc put me on the keto diet and I so want a tiny bit of carbohydrate or sugar! Glad I tried out Zinburger before I gave up these foods. It was great, a bit pricey, but yummy.

    1. On their regular menu, Zinburger actually has a bunless burger called “No buns” with cottage cheese. I guess so many people are on no carb diets they put that on the menu. I thought all cheese had carbs though, even cottage cheese but apparently you’re allowed it on keto diets and other no carb diets. My mom used to eat cottage cheese but I never did. It must be hard for you at restaurants, though, as their aren’t a lot of choices I would think if you are on a no-carb or low-carb restriction.

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