Wahlburgers is a moderately sized chain based in Massachusetts, run by the Wahlberg brothers: Paul, Donnie, and Mark. Yes, the later two are actors. And yes they had a reality TV show about it. They have mostly casual sit down restaurants, bar and burger focused, but also have
airport locations, like the one I visited at Logan Airport, inside security, Terminal C, and in the Toronto Pearson Airport, Terminal 1, US side. I haven't been to one of the formal restaurants yet.
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| Menu. |
Wahlburgers is a
burger place, yes, but there are a ton of other options, many of which really appealed to me. I'l admit that I was even tempted to get a burger. Regular burgers are angus blend of brisket, short rib, and chunk, and come simple or as elaborately designed Specialty Burgers, with fun toppings, and even better sauces and spreads. And also, they serve the Impossible Burger! Gluten-free diners should be happen as well, as they do have gluten-free buns available, and even make gluten-free croutons for the salads.
Speaking of salads, another big section of the menu is Wahlbowls, basically, salads, but, you can basically get a burger made into a chopped salad, lettuce, pickles, cheese, and all. They have more standard salads as well (Cobb, Caesar, Arugula, etc), and even all the bowls sounded pretty good, again, fun toppings and housemade dressings.
I was also eying the fancy sloppy joe (finished with crispy onions, Wahl sauce, and cheese sauce? Yes!), or the panko crusted fried Haddock sandwich (balsamic tartar sauce!), and basically all the sides ... crispy onion rings! Sweet potato tots! Skin on fries! Imagine these with the amazing sauces?! Yes! They also are known for the macaroni salad, their grandmother's famous recipe.
The menu is rounded with with shakes, frappes, and
ice cream. Oh yes.
Visit #1, August 2018, Boston Logan Airport
Wahlburgers broke my heart.
And not in the way you likely expect. They broke my heart by being essentially closed.
I was really excited to get a chance to check out Wahlburgers when I arrived in Boston, and had looked up closing times of everything in the airport before my arrival. "30 minutes before last departure" was the stated closing time, so I then looked that up, and saw that our 8:30pm arrival would be fine. Or so I thought. We were delayed, not arriving until 9:30pm, but I still thought it would be fine. It was not.
So, after a long flight, I kinda wanted it all. Fried and salty rings and tots. All the dipping sauces. My first Boston fried haddock of the trip. That macaroni salad.
I had a plan. I'd pick one side, and settled on sweet potato tots, with a reasonable # of sauces on the side ... I'd limit myself to 3 (trying hard to not just ask for all of them ... I think they make like 15 total, all house made!). I'd get a Wahlbowl with the fried haddock, and ask for the dressing to be on the side, the crispy onion strings to be on the side (see what I did there? I didn't pick just one side, lol), and add tartar sauce on the side (yup, I picked a 4th sauce, shh). And I'd get a small macaroni salad. I'd devour half the tots, the onion strings topping, and the fried fish on the spot, trying out all the dipping sauces. I'd bring the salad home for later, and it would keep fine a few hours since not dressed. I'd keep the macaroni salad for the next day, along with the rest of the tots to reheat in the toaster oven. And I'd have all my sauces to keep using if I loved them.
Such a good plan, right?
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| Full Service Restaurant. |
The airport location has a full service restaurant on one side, and a quick takeout option on the other.
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| To Go Counter. |
I eagerly rushed up to the ordering window for the
takeout area, and my heart sank when I saw the reduced menu posted there (from what I had seen online), as it was missing the panko crusted haddock and the Wahlbowl I wanted to order. I hoped it was still an option, as I wasn't able to go sit in the sit down restaurant because I did actually have checked bags, and I didn't want them abandoned in baggage claim.
But I never got to find out, because, as we walked up, the cashier said, "Because it is so late, we only have the top two burgers, fries, and tots." I asked if the full restaurant would have more, and she said no. Kitchen was basically closed. Fryers shut down. Doh. I pressed on, "What about macaroni salad?" They would have that right, since it doesn't require prep? NO. Only the two burgers, only the two sides. "So, uh, no onion strings?" NO. "And no salads at all?" NO.
Well, ok then. I was heartbroken, hastily ordered just the sweet potato tots and sauces, and asked my travel companion to text me when the food was ready, as I was going to frantically find somewhere else that was open to get more (side note: uh, everywhere was basically shut down. Very slim pickings at 9:30pm at Logan Terminal C!)
Our next visit to terminal was when we departed a week later to return to San Francisco, and I was determined to get that macaroni salad, just to take on the flight with me. I was happy they were open, it was mid-day, and ... yup, they were out of it. What?! At 2:45pm? Boo, hiss.
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| Sweet Potato Tots (and 1 regular tot!) |
So, the tots.
They were ... ok. Clearly not freshly fried, which makes sense, given the fryer was shut down. Soft and a bit soggy. Lukewarm. But I loved the sweet potato flavor, and the texture was good. It was pretty clear that if they were fresh, they would be fairly amazing, creamy sweet potato inside, crispy, very fried (in a good way), very salty (in a good way) exterior. Perfect thing for dealing with post-flight blahs, right?
And they were awesome with my assorted sauces.
I also stole a regular tot from my companion, who went for a burger and regular tots. He said the burger was a bit of a disaster and really poorly made. Clearly the kitchen was ready to be done. The tot was fine, also not very crispy but it was clear that it normally is, and it was funny to see it side by side with my sweet potato tots, as it was double the size of the sweet tots! Crispy, very fried, and satisfying enough.
I did save half my portion, and brought them home to heat up later in a toaster oven. Best. Move. Ever.
They were insanely good reheated. The toaster oven crisped up the exterior, the inside was soooo creamy, and I just adored the flavor to these, even without sauce (although, better with of course).
I really want to try these fresh sometime.
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| Caesar Salad - Croutons + Chicken. $10.30. |
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"Fresh romaine, housemade croutons & Parmesan cheese served with housemade Caesar dressing."
On our next visit, my
gluten-free companion ordered the Caesar salad, but had to leave off the housemade croutons. He added chicken on top to make it an entree. I certainly would have gone for the crispy fried haddock instead, but, alas, gluten on that.
It was ... Caesar salad. Crispy enough romaine, nicely sized chunks. A shake of grated Parmesan on top, no shredded cheese. The Caesar dressing was fine, creamy, but not remarkable. I generally prefer a stronger anchovy or garlic taste, something more interesting.
I didn't try the chicken, but it looked decently prepared, herbed and grilled.
Overall, fine, boring, not something I would have ordered. I was glad I got to try the Caesar though?
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| Visit 1: Wahl Sauce, Mustard Sauce, Balsamic Tartar Sauce. |
Wahlburgers makes all their own sauces, and there are lots of choices. Mostly designed for the burgers and salads, but, who doesn't want fun sauces for dipping fries and tots?
Offerings include common things like bbq and buffalo sauce, creamy options like chipotle mayo, mustard sauce (that is actually mayo based), honey-garlic mayo, balsamic tartar sauce, and several cheese sauces, and even fun things like a orange-cranberry sauce for the Thanksgiving turkey burger or housemade salsa for the Fiesta Burger.
My first visit, I tried to pick only 3 to be reasonable. I obviously had to try the Wahl sauce, as it is their signature sauce after all. I also really wanted to try the tartar sauce, even though I wasn't getting the haddock. And I wanted something aioli like. I really did want to try the buffalo sauce too, and really, any of them, but, I had to be a normal person right? So three it was.
The three I got wasn't quite the three I ordered, but turned out to be fine, perhaps better, options.
Starting with the signature Wahl sauce, the orange one. Fairly classic "special sauce", creamy, tangy, a bit of texture, likely great on a burger. It was a better pairing for the regular tot, probably good with fries too. A secret recipe of course. Solid. I saved what I had left and used it with tomatoes and fresh green beans as a dip, and both were good pairings.
Next, the yellow one, which ended up being the "Mustard Sauce", a mustard-y mayo spread. I was intending to get the honey-garlic mayo, but, oops. This was a good sauce though, creamy, not too harsh or dijon-y from the mustard, and, well, honey mustard and sweet potato fries is a classic pairing, so creamy mustard sauce and sweet potato tots was in the same vein. It was the best of the trio with the sweet potato tots, so, thank you for that, server. I do still wish I had been able to try the honey-garlic mayo, as I was going for the honey and sweet potato pairing ... next time.
Interestingly, I got it another visit too, and found it far more mustard forward. I wanted it in a McDonald's burger, but not with my onion rings (which is what I got it to pair with).
The final one was the balsamic tartar sauce, an odd pick perhaps, but I really wanted to try it even if I wasn't trying the haddock. It was a good tartar sauce, creamy, and like the Wahl sauce had texture from some bits in it. I didn't really taste balsamic, but, it was still good tartar sauce. Fine with the tots. I brought it home to use with fish sticks or something, but never ended up getting them, and instead just used it on a wrap as a spread. When I got it another time, I used it with onion rings, and it worked well for those too.
I'd gladly eat any of these sauces again.
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| Visit #2: Buffalo Sauce. |
Another visit, another chance to try some more sauces!
The buffalo sauce was ... well, buffalo sauce. Not sure what I expected, I think I expected a creamy sauce since so many other sauces they offer are creamy. Or something that reminded me of Frank's, as I love Frank's. This was ... just buffalo sauce? Fine, but not interesting.
The Wahl dressing is different from the "Wahl sauce", as it is thinner, and intended for a salad rather than a burger.
The flavor isn't nearly as intense in the "special sauce" direction, and it seems to be more acidic. Kinda tangy. Likely quite fitting for the Wahlbowl it is designed to go with (burger one), but I was trying to use it with another salad since I didn't like the dressing that came with, and it wasn't a good match.
Visit #2, April 2019, Toronto Pearson Airport
My next visit was when traveling through Toronto, where I was excited to finally get to try the macaroni salad, although I was quite full at the time. I waited until just before boarding, to grab it to bring on board, and had a bag of ice with me to keep it chilled. I was prepared.
I may have also ordered some sauces, saying, "I'd also like to get a couple sauces,", and the cashier enthusiastically said, "The Wahlsauce right? What others?". Heh, she got me. No strange reaction to ordering the sauces, and she was excited I was doing so. She said she loves them and stocks up too, they do make them in house every day, even in the airport location.
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| From Scratch Alma's Macaroni. Side. $4.95. |
Finally! I was able to get the macaroni.
I opted for the side size, for $4.95, although a "full size" portion is also available for $7.95. It was a generous size, so I think the full must be *very* large.
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| Alma's Macaroni. $4.95. |
"Elbow macaroni, red onion, sweet peppers, celery, parsley & mom’s favorite mayo."
I'll admit, this definitely didn't look like particularly interesting macaroni salad. And far less creamy than I was expecting, given the mayo ingredient.
And ... it wasn't particularly exciting. Not sure why this gets such recognition ... I think I have liked grocery store macaroni far more.
It wasn't bad, the pasta wasn't mushy, but ... it just wasn't interesting. I also don't really care for bell peppers, and there were what seemed like a far too generous portion of both red and green peppers. Very lightly dressed.
No real reason to get this, sadly. Maybe I need to add some Wahlsauce to it next time ...
