I bought a Restaurant.com coupon for American Junkie after reading their on-line menu. Lots of my favorite bar foods, with a few intriguing additions. Then I looked on Yelp, a review site, and became uneasy about my purchase. Junkie sounded like one big drunken party with snooty bartenders and expensive drinks. There was hardly a mention of the food. This did not bode well.
So, with minimal expectations, we went to American Junkie on a Sunday afternoon. As usual, we were practically alone, so there was no problem with the drunken party aspect. I was surprised to see that the menu had been radically trimmed, but there were still enough choices to satisfy me, and the prices were reasonable. Since we had to reach our $35 minimum (to qualify for the $25 Restaurant.com deduction) both Ken and I ordered the most expensive burger, which had two eight ounce patties, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and thousand Island dressing ($12 each including one side). There was a goodly selection of sides to choose from - I got onion strings, and Ken a green salad.
In the interest of serious research we also got an appetizer order of mac & cheese ($5).
The food was somewhat slow in arriving, especially considering there were no other diners, but that gave us a chance to look around.
American Junkie is a large place with two patios, very pleasant except there were no umbrellas to shade the tables. There was, however, a basketball hoop, several TV screens, and a bar. Inside, on the higher of two levels there was another smallish bar, a ping-pong table, and foosball. I understand from our waitress that this is where a DJ holds forth late at night, pairing videos with the music (the place is supposed to be insanely loud at night). A huge circular bar is in the middle of the lower level, surrounded by bar stools upholstered in an interesting glittery gold-green material which coordinates well with the mosaic tiled wall. Another wall is montaged with rock posters. There are many more TV’s scattered through the space. Couches, tables and chairs are arranged with large groups in mind - this clearly is a place to mingle. And an attractive one, although starting to look a little worn around the edges.
At last our food arrived. The hamburgers, of course, were huge. The first thing we both did was to remove the top patties from our sandwiches, to be taken home. The meat was properly cooked, we were not hassled when we asked for medium rare, and very flavorful - I would say it was on a par with any of the moderately upscale burgers served at places like DeLux or Zinburger. My side of onion strings was large, not greasy, and not over-salted. Ken’s salad wasn’t very interesting, but it was fresh. In fact, our only complaint was that the dressings, including the thousand island for the burgers, was on the thin, insipid side. But really, the burger was so good it didn’t matter. Two people could share one of these babies and be very happy. That would make for an incredibly cheap lunch. Our mac & cheese appetizer came in a large bowl. While not as creamy as I would prefer, it had a nice crunchy top, some bacon bits, and lots of cheese (we also took half of this home).The only dessert served was one of those hot cookie, ice cream things which I find universally disappointing since the only detectable flavor is “sweet”.
I suggest if you’re in downtown Scottsdale at lunch time you give American Junkie a try. If you have a coupon, so much the better. Our bill for two burgers (with a pound of beef patties to take home), mac & cheese, and two ice teas came to $10.80!! By the way, our waitress was very pleasant, and for those of you who are interested, she wore very short shorts.
American Junkie
4363 N. 75th St. Scottsdale
480-990-3000
americanjunkieaz.com
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