RV Food Finds: Twisted Root Burger Co. in Dallas, Texas

In March 2014, we stopped in the Dallas, TX area for a week. Brittany’s brother Adam was gettin’ hitched.

As you can imagine, the week leading up to the wedding was filled with activity. One of those was a “Ladies Lunch” and apparently I wasn’t invited. Really? Reverse discrimination I tell you!

No matter. Time to do the manly thing and find some burgers in Dallas, Texas.

Twisted Root Burger Co.

There are few things in life I love more than a good burger joint. For me, the criteria is simple.

1. The burgers need to be amazing.
2. No franchises or corporations.
3. Cool atmosphere.

Twisted Root Burger joint meets two out of three, and I needed some place close to the “Ladies Lunch” to get my food on.

(For those curious which of my criterion they didn’t meet: Twisted Root Burger Co. is franchising out. I prefer mom & pop and one-of-a-kind joints, but after my experience at Twisted Root Burger Co., I won’t hold the whole franchising thing against them too much.)

As of this writing, Twisted Root Burger Co. has 10 locations. I went to the “SMU” location which is in the Shelby Building (as in Shelby Mustang), located at 5609 SMU Blvd. Dallas, TX 75206.

The Experience at Twisted Root Burger Co. 

You ever get that feeling that you know you’re in for a treat? I mean, at a place you’ve never been before? Well, that’s exactly the feeling you get when walking up to the Twisted Root Burger Co. – SMU location.

They’ve got an awesome patio out front that leads into a dive bar area. In keeping with the location in the Shelby Building, it looks like a garage. The bar has all kinds of vintage auto memorabilia and the walls are covered with more cool stuff.

But to order food you need to step into “The Office.” That is the countertop in front of the kitchen, which sits in a separate room adjacent to the dining area.

The menu sits on a massive chalkboard behind and above the counter. You can choose from all sorts of exotic meat for your burger. They have the traditional beef, but you can also choose from boar, venison, elk, kangaroo, bison, and I think even ostrich. Not sure about the ostrich. My eyes had glazed over after I read that they serve bison.

Brittany and I love bison, but the majestic animal, not the food on the plate kind. ~wipes a tear~ In any event, the choices are pretty extensive.

Being a purist, I went with the traditional bacon cheeseburger and fries. For the drink, I was tempted by a sign which read “Watermelon Sweet Iced Tea.” When placing my order, I asked how the tea was. Without hesitating, the man behind the counter looked me square in the eyes, put his hand on the counter authoritatively and said, “Trust it.”

My order rang up to less than $12.00 and I was handed a ticket which read, “The Dark Knight.” The guy smiled at me and handed me my cup for the watermelon sweet tea.

I sat down to wait for my name to be called. Bette Davis, Walker Texas Ranger, and Tony Stark were still ahead of me. My order didn’t take long at all. Total wait time was less than 5 minutes.

The Food at Twisted Root Burger Co.

You have to go back into “The Office” to pick up your burger. It’s pretty funny because when they call out your “name,” most of the other patrons all look to see who it is. I caught myself doing the same, looking to see who had been given Bette Davis and Tony Stark. I resisted when they called out Walker Texas Ranger. I would have only been disappointed not to see Chuck.

I’m sure I wasn’t terribly impressive as the Dark Knight, but no matter. I was there to eat.

There was a pickle bar which boasted good ole dill, bread and butter, sweet and spicy and atomic pickles. The tables themselves had ketchup, mustard and some other sauces which I didn’t pay much attention to. I was ready to get down to business.

It wasn’t lost on me that playing over the speakers, as I loaded the good ole dill pickles onto my burger, were 80’s rappers The Fat Boys, singing “All You Can Eat.”

How was the burger? Slammin’!

The burger patty was cooked medium well, the bun lightly buttered and toasted, the cheese gooey and melted, the bacon crisp and the garnish fresh. What more can I say? The fries were natural cut, crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. Everything was fantastic. The watermelon iced tea was so good that I ended up having three cups.

It should be noted that they have a full bar too and specialize in milkshakes of the adult variety. I’ve heard they serve a Grasshopper Milkshake that is out of this world.

If you are ever in the Dallas, Texas area and looking for a great burger joint, I highly recommend this one!

Throw me down some comments and let me know what you think. Got any questions…just ask!