The Best Cheeseburger In Jenks
By: Dillan Cox
As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Well, Gandhi, I’d like to add one more thing to this list. Have you ever had a really good cheeseburger? I mean a really good cheeseburger. Do you even know where to find one? As someone who has eaten at least two cheeseburgers a week for as long as I can remember, I am more than ready for the extensive research that will go into this subject. To my fellow peers, I will search high and low for the best cheeseburger in Jenks… you have my word.
To begin this quest, we need to ask one question: what makes a cheeseburger delicious? Is it the melty cheese, gently draped over a juicy beef patty? Is it the tangy ketchup or the thinly diced onions? What about the refreshing tomatoes or the crisp lettuce? Or is it the toasted exterior and soft interior of the bun that ties all of the ingredients together? The answer is yes; that’s about it.
Now, onto the rating. I have chosen four restaurants to review, all located on Main Street in Jenks, right next door to our beloved high school. For each restaurant, I will be ordering just their classic cheeseburger with no sides and no substitutions. I will be rating each burger based on the taste, freshness, harmony of ingredients, presentation, and the price of just the burger, giving each place a rating out of 25.
Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili:
We started off strong with Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili, which featured a classic cheeseburger topped with American cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles, raw onions, and mustard.
Taste - 5/5: The burger patty was seasoned to perfection, the tomatoes added a refreshing, almost sweet flavor, and the mustard and pickles balanced everything out with their tangy tastes.
Freshness - 5/5: The lettuce and tomato kept their crispness throughout consumption, and the bun never grew mushy.
Harmony of Ingredients - 4/5: All ingredients were balanced except for the patty, which was unexpectedly thick.
Presentation - 1.5/5: The bun looked very dry, there was a good portion of exposed patty beneath the cheese, and lots of lettuce was falling out. I expected more.
Price - 5/5: The price of a 1/5 lb. cheeseburger is $6.25 before tax. For the taste and quality I received, I would say that’s a bargain.
Final Score - 21.5/25: Overall, I give Ron’s Burgers and Chili a rather impressive score.
McDonald's:
Next up, I visited a classic fast-food restaurant that everyone knows and loves: McDonald’s. I ordered a regular cheeseburger, which included American cheese, ketchup, and diced onions.
Taste - 3/5: The McDonald's burger had its regular greasy taste; however, I happen to like that greasy McDonald's taste. The bun, cheese, ketchup, and onions, however, were nothing special.
Freshness - 2/5: I didn’t get a feeling that this burger was hot off the grill, to say the least. The very small amount of cheese was already cooled and waxy, and the bun was no longer warm and fluffy.
Harmony - 2/5: The burger was extremely dry, lacking the usual drip of ketchup and mustard. The cheese was missing on half the patty, and the bun was "buns."
Presentation - 1/5: My meal looked extremely unappealing. The cheese was falling off the burger on one side, and the whole thing looked almost smashed. In my photo, I even tried to capture the “good side” of the burger, but it was no use.
Price - 4/5: Very cheap, very nice. I paid $2.99 for this meal. I’m lovin' it, ba da ba ba ba. However, the quality definitely reflected the price.
Final Score - 12/25: Boy, am I disappointed.
Sonic:
Continuing on with the fast-food cheeseburgers, I gave Sonic a review as well. The standard Sonic cheeseburger is equipped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mustard, mayo, and pickles.
Taste - 3/5: Sonic delivered a very standard burger. The patty was grilled well, and the lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mustard definitely didn’t bring my rating down. However, nothing about this burger stuck out to me. The flavor wasn’t jaw-dropping; it was just good.
Freshness - 4/5: The quality of Sonic's ingredients exceeded my expectations. I was met with crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and pickles that crunched when you bit into them. If this rating were based on freshness alone, it might have just won.
Harmony - 1.5/5: There is one thing I can’t stand on a burger, and that is onions. Now, for the sake of my article, I vowed to make no substitutions on my orders, but man, I wish I hadn’t on this one. The onions on this burger were insanely overpowering—not just the taste, but the smell too. However, everything else worked very well together, which is why I have given a 1.5/5.
Presentation - 4/5: The photo I took didn’t do this burger justice. All toppings were spread evenly, there wasn't much falling out, and the ingredients looked colorful and fresh.
Price - 5/5: Paying $5.29 for this burger is something I would do again and again. I would even pay $6.29... if I got no onions on it.
Final Score - 17/25: Not the worst burger I’ve seen, but those onions really dragged them down.
District Burger:
Last but not least, I visited District Burger, a nicer, sit-down burger joint. Their cheeseburger had nothing but cheese, a patty, and a bun.
Taste - 4/5: While the burger was quite plain-looking, it’s safe to say that the patty itself makes up for the lack of variety. The patty had an almost smoky flavor to it, like it was fresh off the grill on the 4th of July. This patty was America.
Freshness - 5/5: This burger was delivered to me still warm, the bun still soft, and the cheese still melty. Either my Dasher was feeling extra nice that day, or District Burger produced one fresh burger. It wouldn’t have been better if it had been served to me right there in the restaurant.
Harmony - 3/5: There wasn’t much to rate in this category. The patty and cheese went fine together, but I think some mustard or ketchup would have gone a long way in tying the whole burger together.
Presentation - 2/5: The only thing that stuck out to me was the bun. However, I definitely wasn’t dying to take a bite based on the sight of it.
Price - 2/5: While this burger did give off fancier vibes than its listed competitors, it definitely wasn’t worth the $8.68 I paid. Not only was this burger overpriced for what I received, but it was the cheapest burger on the menu by about $10. Talk about an upcharge.
Final Score - 16/25: Let’s lower those prices, and then we can talk about a raise.
It’s safe to say that Main Street, Jenks, did not disappoint with its burgers. I tried to include cheaper fast-food places while also mentioning the nicer sit-down spots. You would have thought the more expensive spots would deliver better results, but no. I have to say that Ron’s ($6.25) was the winner. I, however, highly recommend all spots for a quick lunch, as they all offer pickup options. Now, go get yourself a cheeseburger… You deserve it.
