Al's Burger Shack

Clean restaurant and nice outside sitting area. I had the classic burger, rosemary crinkle fries and sweet tea. It was ok. I had my burger cooked well. Not much seasoning on burger. The fries were nice and crunchy with very little salt but just enough rosemary. I'm a southern country girl so I like my tea to be sweet. The tea was not sweet at all.

The lines outside Al's are worth the wait. Unbeatable food and service quality for the amount of traffic this restaurant gets. You can't to wrong with the Bo-bo burger or the chicken sandwich. The fries are also great - a small is enough to share for two, and a large is enough for a family.

For a gourmet burger joint, this place looks the part. The burger I ordered is the Al's classic. The beef was cooked medium just the way I ordered it. The fixings are plentiful and generously served. Shredded lettuce, two thick slices of tomato, pickles, red onion. All in a potato bun. It should have been delicious but regrettably, it was just OK. The beef was tasty but the rest of the sandwich just didn't add much to the flavor experience . Too bad, it really does look good.

I ordered it with crinkle cut fries that are just slightly darker golden and a little overdone, again just the way I like them. However that's where the praise has to end. The fries must be cooked in a very light and tasteless oil that gave me the impression that I was eating crispy air. The best fries I have ever tasted were fried in lard. Even the McDonald's fries of the '70s and' 80 back when they were fried in beef tallow tasted better to me.

Service was quick and friendly.

Anyway, not a bad burger joint, just not a great burger joint.

A very good burger place. The only problem is the size of the burger - the cost is a bit high compared to that. I would suggest you to get the chicken burger or the beef burger - it's really awesome. The burgers are one of the best in Chapel Hill. You would get free refills for drinks which is a bonus for the summer!

It's hard not to have unreasonably high expectations when a place comes as highly recommended as Al's. At the end of the day it's a freshly made hamburger. Though they do offer plenty of options outside the beef realm, which makes it easier to appease to many palettes. The fries where the most memorable to me. Love a good crinkle cut. The rosemary is a unique touch too.