Notorious Burgers Opens In Carlsbad

On the Northwest corner of Alga and El Camino Real, we have a new restaurant, Nortorious Burgers. This is the spot that was formerly Joey's Barbeque. For whatever reason, Joey's closed, and Joey reopened the restaurant as an upscale burger lounge. I'm not sure about the details of the closing and reopening, so it's enough to say that the new restaurant is one you will definitely want to try, especially if you live in the neighborhood. The interior of the restaurant has been redone. There are lots of booths, lots of high top tables, and a bar area. The wait staff was very helpful, and service was quite good. Our friends George and Laurie were there right after the opening and told us about it. They thought the food was good, but the prices were high. We had to check it out, so on a freezing night, we braved the elements and went to Notorious Burgers. (are we wimps? that same night my son Phil told me the temp in Denver was 6 degrees) The prices are similar to The Counter, possibly less, because the order of fries is very large, easy to split. There are many burgers to choose from, all around $9 and all so big that we split and were still stuffed. We had a juicy 1/2 pound burger, cheese, grilled onions, bacon, lettuce and tomato. It was huge, messy, and delicious. They slab on their special thousand island style sauce to make it extra messy! We cut it in half, ordered the steak fries which were great, a drink, and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We also ordered a small order of chicken wings wrapped in bacon, served with slightly spicy barbeque sauce and ranch dressing. Ron loves chicken wings, and he thoroughly enjoyed these. They also have a build your own burger, similar to The Counter, where you can have beef, lamb or turkey burger and then add your own additions. I think this is a 1/2 lb. burger and a little more expensive. There are several other appetizers including calamari and lump crab cheese fries (how good does that sound?)

, several salads, and a few different types of fries: sweet potato, waffle and steak fries. All the portions were generous, so even though it was a little expensive for the burger, those of you who like to split will find half a burger plenty. The fries are only $4, and they're really enough for two or three people. Lots of beer and wine will complete your meal. I wish Notorious Burgers lots of success. We need a neighborhood restaurant like that, and this may be the one. It's a great location, and maybe Joey has finally found the food that local Carlsbad residents will flock to. I know we'll be back there soon again.