B & B Junction is on Fairbanks Ave, it took over the original 4-Rivers BBQ location after they moved to their swanky new digs. B & B is a farm to table restaurant which definitely isn’t the norm for fast casual restaurants.

All of their beef is 100% local and grass fed. There is even a chalk board under the menu that tells you what farm different ingredients that might get included in your meal are from.

In case you wondering B & B stands for Burgers and Beers, and if there’s beer there you can pretty much get me to go anywhere. For what at first appears to be your basic burger restaurant they have a really wide selection. In addition to beef burgers they had turkey and bison burgers and some pulled pork and chicken sandwiches to round things out. They have a wide variety that incorporates a lot of house made ingredients and local produce. They also focus on craft beers from local breweries and if you’re at all like me and you can’t decide you can get a flight (sampler) and try what’s on tap.

We went for a late lunch on Saturday afternoon, it was busy and since its a small place parking is a little bit of a challenge but its nothing unmanageable. The cashiers and servers were really friendly. Despite being busy everyone who worked there was smiling and were willing to answer questions about the regular menu and the beer menu.

The #1 Burger with Cheese

This is the burger you’d make on your grill only about a million times better. You get a choice: should your grass fed beef be cooked with pink or no pink? I went pink. I chose American cheese and the burger came topped with a house sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion and a house made pickle. It was one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. I’m not sure my palette is nuanced enough to taste the difference between grass-fed and corn-fed beef but I can appreciate it’s value from a sustainability and responsible agriculture point of view. Plus the burger was really good.

The #4

This burger is a 6 oz patty with wild mushrooms, Gruyere cheese, truffle aioli, tomato and watercress. As previously stated on this blog in another post Gruyere is my cheese soul-mate so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put it in my belly, especially with a little truffle flavor going on too. It was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of pink. I thought the truffle aioli brought a nice flavor to the party with out it overpowering the beef or the cheese.

Sea Salt & Pepper Fries with House Made Catsup

The fries were very crispy and well seasoned. The “side car” portion (for one) was more than enough for me – it is a really generous portion. The house made Catsup was good but I felt like the cinnamon overpowered the other flavors. I’m not saying I would have rather had Heinz and all of its high fructose corn syrup glory or anything – just that the cinnamon was a little strong for my taste.

Fried House-Made Pickles

These were the star of the day for me. The pickles were sliced really thin which I think gave them their great crispness – most of the fried pickles I’ve had have been thick sliced and the breading fell off because of the pickles moisture – these were the first I’ve had that didn’t suffer that fate. They were served with a great tzatziki style dip that was highly addictive – I was going back for the pickles and their dip well past when I was full.

On our next trip I think we’ll give the deviled eggs and the mac and cheese a try. And I’ll definitely leave room for some of the delicious looking sweets that they keep in a case.