The Counter

3 out of 5 Stars

4601 Washington Ave
Houston, TX 77007
(713) 966-6123

If The Counter was a movie, I'd fire the casting director.

The menu features their endless combinations of burgers but the real star here is their PARMESAN FRIES.....O M G.

The setting: a modernized diner; as one yelper put it "a sterile white burger joint"

The plot: building the perfect burger out of an insane variety of ingredients (including brie, eggs, and Russian dressing????)

Climax: once you've picked your patty, bun, cheese and toppings - realizing you want to top it with peanut sauce......ugh, back to the drawing board!

Luckily for my pal and I, there was no time limit on coming up with a final decision for our burgers.....I don't think I've marked so many answers on one paper since the SAT!

Hungry from our workout, my friend and I eventually gave up and ordered from the pre-set options.

An Asian inspired veggie burger "in a bowl" for her, the Mediterranean turkey burger "in a bowl" for me.

Yup, The Counter lets you have a deconstructed burger, bun-less, ultimately in salad form - which works for me given I spent my last hour in Zumba.

Consensus:
My friend really enjoyed her veggie burger made of rice, cranberry and other veggies tossed with pineapple, carrots, lettuce and a gingery sauce.

I found my Mediterranean turkey burger bowl bowl (complete with cucumber, olives, pepperoncini and tzatziki sauce) to be very light but filling, albeit the turkey was rather dry.

Plot holes:
-While The Counter allows up to 4 toppings for an $8 1/3 lb burger....they charge extra for premium toppings. And unless, their sauteed mushrooms are truffles (which I doubt), I'm not impressed.

-The $8 burger does not include fries BUT the $5 parmesan fries that can easily be split 3 ways IS A MUST. Beautiful, golden, skinny fries topped with the perfect amount of parmesan and some sort of garlic concoction is still making me blush. GLORIOUS.

Bottom Line:

The counter will NOT be your favorite burger joint. Let's face it, a burger needs to be greasy. And if I wanted a fancy burger with fancy toppings, I'd head over to Mockingbird Grill or  Washington's Block 7.

As my friend and I fantasized, however, I could definitely kick it at The Counter's patio overlooking Washington and enjoying those insane parmesan fries, maybe a dessert and a beer and be totally content.

-FIN-