Elevation Burger seeks fast food’s higher ground

Beverly Poppe

The Half the Guilt Burger at Elevation Burger has one beef and one veggie patty.

By Brock Radke (contact)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012 | 5:20 p.m.

Elevation Burger is a fast-food chain with ambition beyond selling you the cheapest possible product. The menu boasts higher quality, healthier ingredients—with an emphasis on free-range, grass-fed beef ground on site—and the messaging touts sustainable practices, energy-efficient kitchen appliances and renewable building materials. These are all good things, but I’m guessing you’re going to be more interested in how good these burgers taste and how much they cost.

You won’t be surprised by either answer. A couple of burgers, an order of fries and a thick, delicious, real-ice-cream milkshake will run about 20 bucks, not bad for a fresh, fast meal. The signature Elevation Burger comes with two beef patties, two slices of your cheese of choice, pickles, lettuce, tomato and that same old orange sauce. It looks and tastes like a fast-food burger hybrid, somewhere between In-N-Out and Wendy’s. If you can taste the difference between grass-fed and grain-fed beef in hamburger form, congratulations. All I got was salt.

There are few options, another In-N-Outish quality, but there are two different styles of veggie burger, plus the truly silly Half the Guilt Burger, with one beef and one veggie patty. Fries are nice and crispy, service is quick and friendly, and the dining room is bland but comfortable. Overall, Elevation provides a pleasantly sterile burger munching experience. Welcome to the future. It’s boring.