Friday, August 10, 2007

Road Trip: Rossow's in Ellensburg, WA

The Burger (3 of 10): Bacon Cheese Deluxe. The bacon was real and well-cooked. The patty was pretty thin, and sort of grey-looking. But it was buried under enough lettuce, onion, and some sort of mustard-based sauce (oh yeah, and pickles, but I don't do pickles) that the whole thing tasted pretty good.

Other Stuff (2 of 10): Rossow's has a pretty large menu for a place of this sort. But if the fried shrimp was anything to go on, don't bother.

Sides (5 of 10): Fries were thin and commercial, and just slightly overdone, but they had a nice mix of crunchy exterior and soft interior. Having several options for sauces to put on the fries was a nice touch; too bad the ranch dressing was right out of a bottle. The chocolate milk shake was disappointing, especially after Zak's. It was a real shake, but I suspect vanilla ice cream with too much Hershey's chocolate sauce. On the other hand, Will had a blueberry shake that he really liked -- even if the blueberries got stuck in the straw!

Ambience (2 of 10): Think former gas station, complete with restrooms on the other side of the building. Cinder block walls (recently painted, though!) Walls done up in reproduction Betty Boop posters and one lonely 45 record...sort of low-budget Kidd Valley. Mind you, I suspect most everybody does takeout here.

Service (5 of 10): Customers have a choice of drive-up window or inside counter. Looked like one server was managing both, so the food took a while, but she kept track of everything on our fairly complex order and got it right.

Value (7 of 10): The Bacon Deluxe burger was just over $4. Complete with shakes and sides, the four of us ate for less than $30. Pretty good by Seattle standards.

Overall (3 of 10): Rossow's is essentially a take-out joint with a few tables. Even when you eat in, it comes packed in paper and ready to hit the road. We did eat in, and were surprised how few customers we saw at 6:30 on a Thursday night. But maybe the students from Central Washington University are still on vacation. Rossow's is the sort of place that the college crowd ought to like. As our friend Perry put it, "Not great, not too bad."

Rossow's U-Tote-Em
807 W University Way, Ellensburg
(509) 925-1500

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