Fly Over: Blu Burger Grille is burger royalty

Blu Burger Grille is burger royalty! While it looks more like a trendy Manhattan martini bar than a burger joint its offerings are definitely tailored toward burger blue bloods.

The restaurant is located in Peoria in the Park West shopping center at the corner of 99th Ave. and Northern, directly across from Harkins Theatre.

While parking next to the restaurant is limited, the short walk from a larger lot behind the eatery is well worth the effort.

The trendy décor and very blue walls reach up to tall ceilings accentuated with neon lights. The waitresses are gorgeous and just as courteous and helpful as they are beautiful, not necessarily the environment you want a sloppy smile covered in sauce. While the staff might burn extra calories from their quick service, they don’t look like they eat many burgers, which is possible because Blu Burger Grille offers something for everybody, including vegetarians.

The menu offers Black Angus Beef, turkey, chicken, American Kobe Beef, bison, salmon, Portobello mushroom, veggie, and even triple mini sliders, all made to order with dressings of your choosing. Pick your bun, your cheese, your toppings, specialty toppings, and sauce, all for $9 to $13. Best part, they have a military discount!

I visited the restaurant on the recommendation of a colleague and was obviously very pleased.  Although I was excited they had sweet potato fries, I made the healthy choice and had a salad on the side, which to my delight was made with mixed greens, sweet onions, and tiny little cherry tomatoes.

My entrée, the Portobello mushroom burger on a wheat bun with Swiss cheese, absolutely yummy with teriyaki sauce and ready within 7 minutes of my order. For the thicker bison and Kobe beef burgers my server recommended allowing 20 minutes for proper cooking, but I suspect with a drink at their full-service bar the time passes pretty quickly.

I might just cave on my next visit and get the fries. Regardless, I will definitely be visiting Blu Burger Grille again. They have impressed me more than once with excellent service, great prices, and wonderfully delicious fare!

If you want to try the grille for yourself, they can be found at three different locations, the closest to Luke Air Force Base being, 9828 W. Northern Ave., Ste 1705, Peoria, AZ 85345, open from 11 a.m to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For take-out at this location call 623-877-3200 or visit their website at bluburger.com for more information on this and their other locations.