I still get to eat a burger, right? – Healthy Dining at Burger Lounge

By Rachael Derr, RD

After arriving at the restaurant, we used Healthy Dining’s mobile app on our phones to decide which Healthy Dining menu items we would be having for dinner. I ordered a Little Lounge Turkey Burger with grilled onions and cheddar cheese, and my husband ordered the Little Lounge Grass-Fed Beef Burger with grilled onions and American cheese, making sure to request no added salt on our burgers. We also shared a half order of the Vegetable Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette on the side.

Skeptical about having a side salad rather than the traditional French fries, my husband was pleasantly surprised. He kept saying, “Wow, this salad is so good—it just has so much going on!” Packed with romaine, spinach, arugula, tomato, corn, cucumber, red onion, jicama and ricotta, this definitely isn’t a boring salad. When our server came to check on us during our meal, my husband even went as far as telling the server how “awesome” the salad was. Apparently, several other people feel the same way, because our server informed us that Burger Lounge recently won the second best salad in San Diego, named by San Diego Magazine readers. The best salad? At a burger place? Believe me, it’s that good! San Diego Magazine readers also named Burger Lounge as “best burger in San Diego 2013,” so don’t worry….the burgers are just as delicious!

My turkey burger was flavorful and moist—not something that is easily achievable with ground turkey. I am partial to a burger that is grilled on a flat-top, which leaves the outside crispy but the inside juicy, like these burgers were.  I also love that they serve their burgers with Thousand Island dressing, which they make in-house; it’s tangy and adds a unique flavor. My husband’s burger had to be mouthwatering because “mmmm” was all he could manage to say while he devoured it.  The atmosphere at Burger Lounge is modern but not overdone. The quirky sayings displayed on the walls and the accents of orange bring a fun and youthful feel to the restaurant.  While we were eating, we couldn’t help but notice the variety of customers that came in. We saw families with their children, couples on dates, college guys dropping in for take-out, and they even have a patio so you can bring your dog out to dinner with you!  

So our Friday night out was a success. We left feeling satisfied and pleased to have enjoyed delicious food that is dietitian-approved!