The Wise Guy Burger at Red Robin is a smorgasbord of Italian ingredients surrounding a hamburger patty. Before we get into the mouth-stretching, genre-bending meal that is the Wise Guy Burger, I think it's important to acknowledge one small fact: The burger served in the restaurant bears a striking resemblance to the one in its advertisements, which is not always the case with chain restaurants.
Easily three inches tall, this burger is best dissected from the top to the bottom. Beneath a sesame seed bun lie three mozzarella sticks. The sticks are perched on a layer of pepperoni slices and marinara sauce. Then there's the burger, which sits on lettuce, tomato and banana pepper rings atop the bottom half of the sesame seed bun.
The first thing you taste are the mozzarella sticks, which are salty but well seasoned. You then get a hint of burger beneath the marinara sauce. Then come the banana peppers. The pepperoni is like a constant surprise for your mouth, though it might be one meat too many.
The Red Robin burger does seem to suffer from the same fate as custard or frozen yogurt -- it ends up being a vehicle for toppings. However, that's not a shocker considering the toppings-to-patty ratio of The Wise Guy.
The sheer height of the burger makes it hard to get a taste of every ingredient with every bite . Instead, you end up alternating between the taste of mozzarella sticks and the taste of burger (the paper wrapping is a nice touch because it helps preserve the burger's integrity while you're eating it).
It turns out the banana peppers are the saving grace. The Wise Guy would feel much too heavy and fat-laden were it not for the spice and sweetness of the yellow rings. Ultimately, this tastes like a delicious mozzarella stick sandwich with a flat meatball underneath.
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