Boomer’s not what it used to be

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Dining Duo are a couple of foodies who enjoy eating out and sampling the local cuisine in the Mid-South. To ensure the reviews are unbiased and that the duo remain anonymous, their identities are masked behind their favorite comic book heroes.

Boomer’s in Horn Lake has long been a go-to place for burgers, milk shakes, and banana splits since 1988. But after our recent visit, it appears Boomer’s isn’t what it once was - and we hope it was just a bad day for the cook.

Live Wire is the guilty party who suggested we try Boomer’s this week. For years, the super villain said Boomer’s was always a great place to grab a burger on the way home. Joker didn’t put up any resistance because like Live Wire, he’s been going there since high school, and said it is normally really good.Glancing over the menu, Boomer’s looked to me like an old timey burger joint, which was just fine by me. 

Unfortunately, this outing proved to be one of our worst ever.

Live Wire is the queen of the patty melt ($6.30). If it’s on the menu, she’s going to order one. And having eaten one at Boomer’s before, Live Wire was sure she couldn’t go wrong, which wasn’t the case the last time when she ordered a patty melt from The Dip in Hernando. The super villain knew something was off the minute she unwrapped it. You could tell that it was overcooked. The bread was pretty charred and the patty itself was burned and looked like a flattened hockey puck. And, it was completely smothered in mustard. “This is nasty,” she said. “It is burnt to a crisp. I ate part of it, but it is barely edible.” Her order of onion rings ($4.75) were also soggy and a major disappointment. “I know I would never serve something that burnt,” Live Wire said. “It makes me not want to go back.” Live Wire gives Boomer’s one POW, something never seen before in this history of Dining Duo - although The Bar-B-Q Shop in Memphis came close!

Joker wasn’t amused either with his turkey melt ($6.90). All of the ingredients were fine, but Joker thought it was overly greasy. “It was just dripping in grease,” the Clown Prince of Crime said. “I’ve had this here in the past and it was always really good. But all jokes aside, this needs improvement.” His small order of fries ($2.25) only had about a dozen crinkle fries in the bag, which was also too greasy for his liking. “I’m willing to try Boomer’s again just to see if the cook had a bad day. But this just wasn’t good at all.” His assessment was only 2 POWs with the comment that “it needs a lot of improvement.”

My experience with Boomer’s wasn’t nearly as bad as my colleague’s. As the burger lover in the group, I ordered a large double burger ($6.60) and a large fries ($4.50). I thought the burger had a good taste. It kind of reminded me of the burgers at Happy Daze in Nesbit. I expected the burger patties to be much thicker though. These were more Burger King size hamburger patties. They were a bit on the thin side and, like Live Wire’s patty melt, it was definitely on the well done side. I was disappointed that it only had one piece of cheese on it. The bun was toasted just right, but I also have to agree with Joker that things were pretty greasy overall, though not quite as greasy as Dixie Queen. The crinkle fries were okay, though not my favorite fries. I prefer mine hand cut. Would I go back to Boomer’s if I were in the mood for a burger? Well, probably not. If I do go back, it will be to try a shake or a frozen treat. I would give Boomer’s maybe 3 POWs. 

Boomer’s should have been a no-brainer slam dunk 4 POW kind of lunch. Instead, it was a dud. We give Boomer’s 2 1/2 POWs.

2 1/2 out of 5 POWs

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