Hwy 55

What started in a closed restaurant in a Goldsboro, NC shopping mall in 1991 as Andy's Cheesesteaks & Cheeseburgers, has become one of the fastest growing burger chains in the Southeast. Now, under it's new name of Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes and Fries, one has come to the Tri-State.

Located at 4450 Eastgate Blvd, next to the new Jungle Jim's, and on line at http://hwy55burgers.com/, Hwy 55 is a kitschy throwback style of restaurant that evokes the feel of the 1950s. An old '50s style car sits atop the place and as you enter to a friendly greeting from the staff, you see all sorts of memorabilia and pictures on the wall and hear classic '50s rock and roll.

We were seated, our drink orders were taken and we were told our server would be Doris Day. That took a minute to register and Mark explained to Josh who Doris Day was. When the server who sat us returned with out drinks we looked up at her name tag and saw it read Rosemary Clooney. We thanked her and asked her to give her nephew our regards and have him call the next time he's in town.

The menu is rather small but pretty much offers up something for everyone's taste ranging from cheesesteaks and chicken to shrimp and the reason we were there, the burgers. More on those in a bit.

As we were waiting for our food to come out, it being freshly made as we waited, Doris Day brought us a sample of the frozen custard. She told us it, like a lot of their food, was made fresh daily. The custard was rich and creamy and very delicious. Neither of us had room after our burgers for any dessert.

Burgers

The basic burger, the Andy, is a third pound of fresh, never frozen beef. Since we were hungry we each ordered up a double. Mistake as we really had to push ourselves to finish. The burger literally melted in our mouths. The beef was very flavorful and tasted as though it had just been ground that morning. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the cheese. It was so fresh that we were looking around to see if they had cows tucked away somewhere. It was like a slice of American that you could buy next door at Jungle Jim's. This food was never frozen or even stored away for long. In fact, everything from the meat to the cheese, from the condiments to the bun literally melted in our mouths. Without a doubt this was one of the best chain burgers we had ever had. In fact, it might be the best.

On the down side the fries were pretty pedestrian. But with the size and quality of the burger neither of us really cared. 

Going into Hwy 55 neither of us had any idea of what to expect. With the vast majority of the 100 plus locations down in North Carolina, neither of us had ever heard of it. This is the first one in Cincinnati and with this type of quality and such a fun atmosphere we can see it growing and spreading the way it has throughout it's home state. 

If you are a burger fan you owe it to yourself to check this place out. Definitely worth the trip to Eastgate.