“Housemade” burger sauces are generally terrible and places should just stick to ketchup, mustard, and mayo.

r/

Especially all these new “smash burger” places. No one knows what the sauce tastes like before ordering because there’s never any meaningful description, and if I’m paying a premium price for a premium burger I want to taste the meat, not your sauce.

Comments

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  2. A_HappyPalmTree Avatar

    If it makes you feel any better, I dont put ANY sauce on my burger

  3. jawrsh21 Avatar

    > I want to taste the meat, not your sauce.

    in that case maybe they should drop the ketchup mustard and mayo as well? since you just wanna taste the meat?

    hell drop the toppings and bun too, just a patty since apparently the meat is all that matters

  4. WelderWonderful Avatar

    industry secret: those sauces are mostly just ketchup, mustard and mayo mixed together

  5. redditoway Avatar

    > No one knows what the sauce tastes like before ordering because there’s never any meaningful description

    Upvote for this line alone. Even when I enjoy a restaurant’s signature sauce, it’s always a gamble because they never tell you anything about it. Like, I’m not asking for the recipe, but maybe some keys words or comparisons would help. 

    Also, fuck off with your house ketchup. 

  6. CaymanGone Avatar

    Mayo is disgusting and should never be near a burger.

    Mustard is only used to disguise spoiled beef product.

    Ketchup …. or bust … on burgers.

  7. Kiowascout Avatar

    Then there’s “donkey sauce”. Like i want to eat anything named after a donkey.

  8. FluffySoftFox Avatar

    Ironically the secret burger sauce is usually just some combination of those three

  9. Alex01100010 Avatar

    I thought that’s popular, nobody likes them, we all just accept them.

  10. ssmit102 Avatar

    My favorite burger place has some pretty good house made sauce but they always put it on the side instead of directly on the burger.

  11. Modsaremeanbeans Avatar

    I didn’t realize smash burgers were considered premium. I thought they were discount. 

  12. Speedhabit Avatar

    It’s mustard and mayo with relish, that’s 80% of burger sauces

  13. NewLeave2007 Avatar

    You can always ask for the sauce on the side.

  14. Internal-Tank-6272 Avatar

    And here I am in NY being repulsed by the thought of mustard on a burger

  15. OldBanjoFrog Avatar

    How about a good burger without the sauces. 

  16. thereichose1 Avatar

    Just ask to try a little sample of their sauce

  17. r2k398 Avatar

    That’s why I order it on the side.

  18. Ace0spades808 Avatar

    Ask for no sauce? Some places might say you can’t request that but I would bet the majority do. Or ask for it on the side and try it.

    If the real take is that they just suck though then sure, maybe an unpopular opinion but I feel like every sauce has lovers and haters.

  19. GeotusBiden Avatar

    Everyone knows what special sauce tastes like dude.

  20. SniperMaskSociety Avatar

    I think they should just be more communicative about the sauce. It’s usually just a mix of two or three of the main condiments anyway, plus spices.

    They don’t need to list the whole recipe if it’s so precious to them, but a brief description would be more helpful than a vague, quirky name. “It’s a sweet, ketchup based sauce” or “tangy mayo with a hint of lime and vinegar” would at least be a starting point

  21. Ice-and-Fire Avatar

    You just don’t like Thousand Island/Russian sauce and its variants.

  22. oliferro Avatar

    My favorite is when you order for delivery and all the sauces have custom names and no description. Am I just supposed to guess if I’m gonna like this random sauce? Do I have to play sauce roulette?

  23. Gibber_jab Avatar

    I find most burger sauces are just an attempt to make their own Big Mac sauce

  24. Jarocket Avatar

    Food opinions are so boring lol.

  25. WiggleSparks Avatar

    If it has mayo in it, I’m down.

  26. MrFriend623 Avatar

    It’s even worse when they call it something gross, like “gritty sauce” (an actual example from a place in my town). Who would want Gritty Sauce on their burger?

  27. Yarzu89 Avatar

    I’ve had some good ones, but like others are saying its usually just a combo of stuff you’d find on a burger anyway, sometimes maybe with some franks red hot. But if you aren’t sure or just a picky eater just get it on the side.

  28. noronto Avatar

    “I want to taste your meat”

    That’s a great GRIDR tag line.

  29. kbee540 Avatar

    “House” anything just grinds my gears. Are we all impressed that you made something? It’s just marketing bullshit like “market fresh” salad. Meaningless words trying to add artificial value to a basic commodity. My favourite is “hand-carved” sandwiches. How does that improve my sandwich.

  30. FollowTheLeader550 Avatar

    Terrible is a vast over exaggeration. Underwhelming? Maybe. Terrible? No.

  31. TheGuardiansArm Avatar

    Always named some stupid shit like “Chef Manny’s Ass-Kickin’ Shit-Fuckin’ Ten Fingers Up Your Ass Sauce”

  32. kickintheball Avatar

    How does ketchup or mustard make you taste the burger more than special sauce?

  33. jwrig Avatar

    All these sauces are a combo of them, and maybe bbq and spices.

  34. FadeAway77 Avatar

    Aioli does NOT need to be on fucking everything. I don’t like it on anything. But it definitely doesn’t need to be on everything, like it seems to be in these places. How about you just make a burger good enough to stand on its own? That nasty ass garlic mayo does a lot of heavy lifting.

  35. Anarchoglock Avatar

    Absolutely agree. I actually have been defaulting to replace with something I KNOW I like (must+mayo) when maybe it could have added to the sandwich if I had known what I was getting. I’ll get on the side and dip fries in to try it if I’m feeling randy though.

  36. xAfterBirthx Avatar

    The only thing to put on a burger is a sauce made from mayo (mostly), ketchup, mustard, dill relish. You’ll never go back.

  37. dcrypter Avatar

    lol, since when are “smash burger” places premium?

  38. Appropriate_Type_178 Avatar

    I love the ketchup, mayo and relish sauce. big mac sauce apparently

  39. pornokitsch Avatar

    Absolutely agree. I don’t mind restaurants experimenting with their own sauces, but any non-standard sauce should come on the side.

  40. NahikuHana Avatar

    I love little big burgers fry sauce.

  41. escobartholomew Avatar

    Lol the point of going to different places is to try something different. Why go to different places to get the exact same thing?

  42. bindermichi Avatar

    Said someone that cannot make good burger sauce

  43. Zestyclose-Feeling Avatar

    Solution, get the sauce on the side. Your welcome

  44. Former_Specific_7161 Avatar

    I mean, I agree with you, but I think it’s more about marketing that simple consumers love than the restaurants actually wanting to do all that.

    People will trip over each other and pay exorbitant amounts of money for dry, tasteless chicken strips just so they can get some of that ‘Cane’s Sauce’. It’s like some placebo effect where if you add any mystery label to a sauce, most people will automatically enjoy the meal more.

    If it’s at an actual restaurant, I always get a sauce on the side. Not usually because it’s not good but because they will otherwise drown the entree in it.

  45. dwfmba Avatar

    Agreed, you only need 4 sauces. Hot, Mustard (stoneground/brown only), ketchup and BBQ. If YOU want to mix them together, go for it.

  46. Gubbtratt1 Avatar

    Possibly. There’s this one local place that has had the same sauce since the 80s or so, through two buildings and three businesses, and it’s the best sauce I’ve ever had.

  47. janedolores Avatar

    Time to hate on millennials here lmao. Back in the day restaurants would just have ketchup, mayo, mustard, and relish, but the millennials ushered in all these weird ass “aoli” sauces and shit

  48. DangleofDoom Avatar

    I won’t eat a burger with “special sauce.” It is always disgusting, and usually some variation of the same vomit flavored dressing they all use.

    I wholeheartedly agree with you.

  49. forgotusernowimmad Avatar

    My brother had a severe allergy to the Whitespot secret sauce. As a kid he’d always order a pirate pack with the burger and the sauce comes with everything. One bite and his face would turn as green as grass and he’d run to the washroom.

    We asked what’s in the sauce and there like “it’s a secret” even while a child is throwing up in the bathroom. The following times we went he got it without sauce and he still got violently ill. Eventually just the smell of the damn food turned him green so we stopped going.

    My mom now thinks it’s the grease they use because my brother can eat everything except at that restaurant. We have no idea why he gets so ill it’s remained a mystery for years.

  50. BuddyBrownBear Avatar

    what did you learn in grade 4 today?

  51. ACuddlyVizzerdrix Avatar

    Any house made sauce, like a local bar had a home made bourbon BBQ sauce and its garbage but sometimes the get it right, I have a local chicken place that makes their own ranch dressing and it’s sooo good I could probably drink it

  52. kaka8miranda Avatar

    All I need on my burger is ketchup, mayo, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato.

    STOP TRYING TO BE FANCY PEOPLE!

  53. In_A_Spiral Avatar

    So, you hate thousand island dressing…

  54. WhereIsTheBeef556 Avatar

    Ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together is a very popular dipping sauce for french fries.

  55. QuinceDaPence Avatar

    There’s two Cajun/Cajun-inspired places near me that have pretty good house sauce. I think they both have dijon mustard in them and a minimal amount of mayo in them but other than that I’m not sure. They both taste different so they’re not the exact same thing.

  56. rakozink Avatar

    Really don’t like much sauce on my burgers at all and have yet to have a “good” smash burger, let alone a great one.

  57. heyuhitsyaboi Avatar

    theyre literally all the same too. I despise them profusely

  58. Coogarfan Avatar

    Sometimes the sauce makes the burger. Still, you’ve reminded me of a local joint that specializes in exotic meats and insists on slathering them in fry sauce. What’s the point of eating antelope if you don’t know what it tastes like?

  59. Get_your_grape_juice Avatar

    >if I’m paying a premium price for a premium burger I want to taste the meat, not your sauce.

    You know, I’m gonna disagree with this.

    All I care about is the sum total of the burger — the complete package. If the burger is absolutely delicious, it doesn’t matter to me if the meat or the sauce is the bigger contributor to this. 

    If my enjoyment of the meat is 30%, and the sauce 70%, then that’s 100% enjoyment. If it’s 85% the meat, and 15% the sauce, then that’s equally 100% enjoyment.

    It’s worth the money either way.

  60. Shot_Pop7624 Avatar

    Or, its really good, but you only get a tiny cup. And it costs for extra

  61. itsmeonmobile Avatar

    Join the no-sauce gang! There are dozens of us.