5th Street Burgers & Fries
3023 Oakland DriveI can not even begin to explain to you how happy I was that our most recent figure skating competition was in Kalamazoo.
It seems like we’ve been on the road all spring/summer and it all comes down to two final competitions. Both at Wings Event Center. Last Chance for Solo Dance in The Valley and the National Solo Dance Final in the Arena.
Saturday was a pretty long day at the rink. B started the day with one segment of his pattern dance then L had three separate segments throughout the day. It wasn’t until almost 6:00 that we were wrapping up for the night. The kids weren’t quite ready to leave yet when I was leaving so I left ahead of everyone else and stopped on my way home to get something to eat.
The Northbound ramp to US-131 from westbound I-94 has been closed for a while and it’s really inconvenient. I usually go all the way up to 9th Street and backtrack on Stadium to get home but this time, I hopped off on Oakland Drive. It was a Saturday so it wasn’t super backed up like it can be on weeknights and there is a burger spot that I’ve been wanting to stop at.
I headed towards the Oakwood Plaza to find the new 5th Street Burgers and Fries. The restaurant is in the spot that used to be Treat Street and then Schultz’s Treat Street before closing last year. The business has roots in the Phoenix, AZ area. There is a store in Tuscon and in Mesa. One of the owners is from Kalamazoo and he moved home. He brought the business with him and opened up a few weeks ago in a restaurant space he visited as a kid.
The restaurant is kind of in to Oakwood Plaza a bit but it’s easy to spot from Oakland Drive. There has been a giant billboard up near the Rich gas station for a few months pointing you in the right direction.
There has been a pretty extensive renovation of the space after it was scooped up by the burger shop. If you spent any amount of time in Treat Street, this building will look nothing like that space to you.
Immediately to your left as you walk in is the order counter. It’s kind of cut into the wall and it’s a little bit of a small space. The menu board is on a couple of TV screens behind the counter. It’s all burgers. If you don’t like beef, they do have a veggie patty option but that’s pretty much it. No salads. No chicken. Just burgers and fries.
The rest of the space is the dining room. The place has been gutted and repainted a very bold blue with yellow accents and a black drop panel ceiling. The room also has grey tile floors so it actually feels a little dark. There are large windows on two sides that let in a lot of natural light though so it doesn’t feel as dark as the colors in the room.
I put in an order for a Bacon Cheddar Burger and an order of fries. The cost was just under $19. I took a seat in the dining room to wait and it took around 10 minutes for my name to be called and a bag of food handed over the counter.
When I got home, I went for the fries first. These were really good, really crispy skin on fries. They have the hand cut taste to them which always earns bonus points with me. A good burger deserves and equally as good fry. So many places skip this step and just throw frozen fries in. These are not frozen fries. They’re delicious and almost a meal by themself.
The Bacon Cheddar Burger is a smash patty with cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and red onions served on a brioche bun. If I had ordered this online, I probably would have added a second patty but the cashier didn’t ask me and I didn’t realize it was an option at the time. I didn’t really look at the menu before I went which is odd for me. The sandwich was still really delicious though. It’s a nice juicy burger patty with those tasty crispy bits around the edges. The single patty was enough for me with the fries so it’s probably a good thing I didn’t know you could add a patty anyway. The cheese was melted in to the crevices of the fresh beef and the bacon was super crispy.
Kalamazoo has had a go at some burger joints like this in the past (The Real Deal and Sliders come to mind right away) but people always seem to think burgers should cost as much as they used to at McDonalds. I’ve seen some complaints about this place already and I truly don’t get it. Restaurant food isn’t cheap. I don’t think spending $18 on a fresh burger and fresh cut fries is really all that bad. 5th Street Burgers and Fries delivered on a simple, classic, yet tasty meal and I, for one, am happy to have a burger joint like this back in Kalamazoo.
