Taystee’s Burgers (Ann Arbor)
2689 Ann Arbor-Saline RoadThere are always so many places I want to eat when I go to Ann Arbor. I love Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger. I haven’t eaten at Zingerman’s Deli in years. Plus, there’s all sorts of other new and unique places in this quintessential college town.
That’s not usually how meals work at skating competitions though…and I get it. L likes to go to lunch with her friends and everyone is one different schedules so sometimes, fast or fast casual food is the only way to go.
We were in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago for the Margaret Faulkner Springtime Invitational at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. L was skating on Thursday and Sunday. J, L, and I went over for her Thursday skates leaving B with Nana and Grandpa.
She skated at 10 AM, Noon, and 6:00 PM….so we had a really big gap and some time to kill.
L and the girls she skates with at 6:00 wanted to go to lunch together. The other girl’s mom was up for pretty much anything. She threw out the Potbelly Sandwich we just ate at not too long ago on Ann Arbor-Saline Road but the girls decided Moe’s Southwest Grill on their own.
I was fine with that. I like Moe’s and we lost the one that was near our home on Stadium Drive.
On our drive over there, I remembered I saw a burger place that looked really good. I wasn’t going to try to change anyone’s mind but I asked J if I could drop them off at Moe’s and go get myself a burger. No one really wants to have lunch with Dad anyway. The girls could still get what they wanted and I could grab something I wanted.
I dropped J and L off at Moe’s then headed back towards the highway to the Shell gas station on the corner of Ann Arbor-Saline Road and Eisenhower Parkway on the Southwest side of Ann Arbor. In that building is a quick service burger joint called Taystee’s Burgers. It’s it’s own space. It’s not part of the Shell station, but it’s in the same parking lot. They have four locations in the Detroit area but I had never heard of them before. I did a quick Google search to see what they were doing and the burgers looked liked something I needed to try.
The restaurant is set up like any other fast food place…but I would call this more fast casual than fast food. You order at a cash register and counter that looks like fast food but the food is made to order and not sitting under a heat lamp. The menu is quite large and it’s hanging pretty high over the order counter so I grabbed one off the counter and stepped off to the side. I had a lot to look at and didn’t want to rush it for once.
I ordered myself the Taystee’s Volcano burger and a regular order of fries with salt and pepper seasoning. The cost was right around $15.
I took a seat in the small dining area while I waited. I assume most business is carry-out or delivery but they do have few tables with the Taystee’s Burgers logo on it if you’re passing through and want to sit down and eat. I probably should have done that but I opted to eat on the hood of my car in the Moe’s parking like I was at work or something. I didn’t want to make the ladies wait for me since I went off and did my own thing.
I started in on the fries as soon as I got in the car. They were hand cut fries with a really crispy exterior but soft middle. I didn’t really get much of the salt and pepper seasoning. If I wasn’t in a rush, I probably would have tried the loaded fries but these were good on their own. I always like a solid fried potato.
The burger was massive. All burgers are 5 oz. 100 % halal patty. The Taystee Volcano is topped with lettuce, tomato, jalapeno, jalapeno poppers, beef bacon, pepperjack cheese, nacho cheese, Tatystee’s spicy mayo and served on an onion roll. The first order of business was trying to figure out how to get that whole thing in my mouth. It was massive. When I squished it down enough to fit, I popped open the Jalapeno poppers so the cream cheese filling was oozing over the whole the burger. The beef bacon is a unique choice. They don’t use pork bacon at all. The restaurant is 100% halal. The beef bacon has a different texture and crunch to it. It’s beefy which is a good thing though. Between the nacho cheese and the cream cheese from the Jalapeno poppers, I didn’t even really notice the mayo. The burger was not as spicy as I expected it to be but the cheese did their work calming down the spice. This burger was a little over the top but it wasn’t stunt food. It was actually really tasty.
Taystee’s Burgers was a good stop for me. It wouldn’t have been a good stop for the people I was with as they don’t like burgers and there’s not much else on the menu. As long as J is fine with it, I’m always fine going off on my own for meals. I love that L and J bond with the other skaters and their parents. I’m starting to get to know some of them too which is great since we spend so much time waiting at these competitions. You know I’m always on the lookout for places to eat when I travel. I won’t always get to stop at those places but I’m glad I broke away from the group for a few minutes to head back to Taystee’s Burgers for lunch.
SW Michigan Dining 