Slabtown Cafe and Burgers offered indoor and outdoor seating with a variety of burgers and sides.  Slabtown was a part of Traverse City where lumber mill workers built their houses from leftover slabs of lumber from the mills.  This place is known for their grease factor, which the owners swear by, and the evidence can still be seen on your bag of food.  They serve homemade, hand pattied burgers and fresh cut fries and were rated at number 5 on TripAdvisor’s Top Ten Burger restaurants in America.  According to that report they serve 800 pounds of burger meat a day. There are several indoor tables but also a patio that runs around the house with tables.  The inside is decorated with photos of Slabtown residents and their homes and other historical things.   Music is in the background and the place is very popular.  I was not sold on their burger nor the fries.

The burger had the option of being on a pretzel bun which we took and it was soft and nicely chewy.  We also added tomato and bacon based on the counter guy’s suggestion.  The tomato was pale and tasteless and the bacon added little flavor nor crunch.  The burger did come cut in half, as requested and it had a ton of grilled onions, melted cheese, lettuce and secret sauce.  It was 2 patties but they had little moistness left in the meat and no wow element to the overall product.

The fries were fresh cut but over-browned and still limp.  They were not double fried and thus lost crispness.  The salting technique made many over salted.  They were trashcan filler for me along with the burger.