Burger Update #1: Freshness Burger

When you go to try a burger in a shopping mall food court and you see a sign posted below the menu saying that today is the place's last day of operation, you are probably not the only one to immediately lower your expectations. However, today's burger run to the Freshness Burger in Ueda was surprisingly good, and apparently just in the nick of time. The sign on the menu didn't get into details, but thanked its customers for their long time support. While the line was never as long as the bibinba or okonomiyaki places in the same food court, there was a steady flow of customers that clearly felt the need to get their burger on.
As I mentioned, I wasn't expecting this place to be as good as it was. Upon further investigation, I found out this place is a decent sized chain, though this was their only location in Nagano prefecture. So as a chain burger joint in a food court, shutting down for whatever reason, and called Freshness Burger, the last I was expecting was for my burger to actually be fresh. The fact that this burger was very good and fresh is not only a testament to the product, but also to the employees who were still working their butts off. It was by no means mind-blowing or life-changing, but it is definitely a place I'll miss having around. It would have been a good go-to place for a burger run. There's still a Mos Burger in town, which is also a chain and known for fresh ingredients. I'd say Freshness Burger is on the same level as Mos Burger, where it's better than your average fast food, but still not as good as Tommy's. I might have to try and make my own Tommy's here.



A friend from training told me about a Hawaiian burger place that has a few locations around Tokyo. That may not be the next burger update, but hopefully down the road. It's called Kua Aina, and sounds like it's pretty good. The last Hawaiian burger place I went to was in Kyoto, called Very Berry Cafe, and that was delicious too.