#8, W&M Bar-B-Q Burger, Waialae

W&M Bar-B-Q Burger

Waialae

Category: Fast Food / Takeout Burger

Menu Item: Royal Hamburger

Price: $3.60 + $1.95 Fries

Burger Size: Unknown

Bun: White

Cheese: American

Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, and 1 topping (Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Mustard or Relish)

Description:

Star Advertiser readers voted W & M Bar-B-Q Burgers as having the best hamburgers on the island in 2010. Since it beat out two of my favorite places, Teddy's and Kua 'Aina, I had high expectations going into this review. W & M is located on Waialae Avenue between City Mill and Chaminade. The building has the feel of an old local drive-in with one window to take orders and one to pick up orders. Don't expect to find parking easily though, as they only have six or seven parking stalls in the lot. The limited parking does not discourage people from eating here though and there is always a decent line out front. I felt kinda dumb standing there while people would just walk to the front to grab their phone orders. Also, it's strictly a take-out place unless you plan on standing outside and eating at the counter.

The "Royal Hamuburger" with Fries

For this review, I ordered the "Royal Hamburger" which is a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onions and your choice of mayo, ketchup, mustard or relish. It comes on a plain white bun, but the burger patty is what makes it unique. According to a piece of paper posted on the front window, their burger patties are soaked in barbecue sauce, then fried, then dipped in sauce again, then served. However, being totally honest, it just tasted like a teri-burger that you could buy frozen from any grocery store. In fact you could probably just buy some frozen teri-patties, lettuce, tomato, onion, sliced cheese, and plain hamburger buns and grill this burger yourself. It'd be cheaper and probably taste better too. The fries aren't anything special either, but it's $1.95 for the equivalent of a McDonald's small fries which only costs a dollar. When you add a drink to your meal for another $1.75, your total comes out to around $7.50, and for that price you might as well just go to a fast food place and cruise through the drive through for a faster, cheaper, more filling meal.

Small, pricey, disappointing...

Verdict:

Honestly, I have no idea what makes people think that this is the best burger place on the island. Their burgers taste like something you could grill in your backyard yourself for a much cheaper cost. Maybe it's the convenience of being able to purchase that homemade teri-burger that makes people love this place, or that the locals have just grown up eating here, so it's naturally a classic. I don't know. It's not the worst burger ever, just not anything special in my opinion and definitely not better than Teddy's or Kua 'Aina. Considering the price, amount of food, and the wait, I think I'd rather hit up the McDonald's up the street. Try it for yourself though and see if it lives up to its "Best Hamburger" title. Cause to me, it's far from it.

Grade: D

W&M Bar-B-Q Burger
3104 Waialae Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96816
Wed-Fri 10AM-430PM, Sat-Sun 9AM-430, Mon-Tues Closed
808-734-3350