Nonla Burger (Oshtemo Township)
1700 S. Drake Road, Suite AI can never get enough of burger places.
One of my favorite burger places in town has been Nonla Burger since they opened in a very tiny building on the corner of South Burdick and Alcott Streets a little over two years ago.
I don’t get there nearly as much as I want to because parking is a pretty big issue at this building. It’s really small…but it’s also a really cool spot.
I’m not the only one that wanted more Nonla Burger and they realized that.
Nonla Burger now has a second location in Oshtemo Township. The burger restaurant is in the Corner @ Drake Shopping Center on the corner of Drake Road and Century Avenue.
The restaurant is still pretty small but in comparison to the South Burdick location, it’s huge.
Nonla Burger uses counter ordering which is right in front of you when you walk in. It’s kind of down a small hallway. This allows more people to get in the building to que for the order line. We drove by a few times when they first open and there was still a pretty long long out the door.
This trip was actually the second time we ate this location. The first weekend they were open, we stopped by but the line was super long….so we hit the drive thru. That’s dangerous….a Nonla Burger drive thru….I don’t even have to get out of my car. There were only three cars in front of us that night and we got our orders super quick. I didn’t blog that night because I wanted to see inside first.
I was picking up lunch for J as well as myself. There isn’t a kids menu so it’s a place that we will end up having to make a stop for the adults and a stop for the kids.
I ordered #1 N.B. Double Meal for myself and #4 Crispy Chicken Sando Meal for J. I also added on an additional cup of Nonla Sauce for J. The cost was right around $25 with tip.
I took a seat along the windows where they have some single chairs set up to wait. The dining room was packed and people were kind of hovering waiting for one to open up. The decor is interesting with one wall just filled with retro Life Magazine covers and the other with kind of an abstract painting on a blue background. The tables and chairs also have a retro feel with the white metal chairs that look like they came right out of a kitchen in the 70’s
It only took a few minutes for someone to come out of the kitchen and call my name. Juggling the two Coke’s was a little bit of a challenge but I made it to the car without spilling anything.
I ordered the N.B. Double and that’s pretty much what it sounds like. Two 7 oz burger patties with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, and Nonla Spread. I left the Nonla spread off. It’s sort of a fry sauce (mayo/ketchup) with some spices. The burger patties are thin patties cooked with no pink in the middle but still super juicy. The burger was recently voted “Best Burger” in Kalamazoo in MLive’s “Michigan’s Best” series and they have a pretty solid claim to that title. It’s a deliciously simple burger that does all the basic things right.
J always gets the Crispy Chicken Sando. This “generous size” fried chicken comes with pickled vegetables and Nonla spread. The chicken is perfectly fried golden brown and crispy but still very juicy in the middle. The simple dressing of the pickled veggies and the Nonla spread really let the chicken shine on this sandwich.
We both got fries with our meals and they’re just as good as you want from a really good burger joint. The fresh cut fries are so crispy but still light and airy in the middle. There is a dusting of salt that just highlights all of the goodness contained in these little paper boats of fried potatoes.
The fries go really good with the Nonla Spread but unfortunately, they forgot the side of sauce I asked for. J grabbed a left over Chick-Fil-A sauce we had in the fridge instead…but she really wanted the Nonla Spread.
I am so excited Nonla Burger opened their second location in this strip mall near Costco….which is fairly close to my house. We will eat there often. The drive thru all but assures that.
SW Michigan Dining 