Embrace the Zombies (Sheryl vs. Katie)

Uh oh, Mini-Zombies.

Sheryl says...

You don't have to be afraid of the Zombies at Zombie Burger & Drink Lab on East Grand ave in Des Moines.  These Zombies are out for burgers not brains.  Unless you order a vegetarian patty or grilled portobello instead of beef, then the Zombies might find you.  Just kidding.....maybe.

Seating at the bar.

While this can be a pretty busy stop, there are some great options to cater to everyone.  You can choose to sit in the full-service area, sit at the bar or get take-out.  You can also grab a seat at the counter-service area and eat there if the main dining area is too busy or you are just looking for faster service.  




With names like, The Walking Ched, Dead Moines, Trailer Trash Zombie and about 26 others (here is the menu), how could these burgers not be good?  We also love the chili and the baskets of fries for under $4. The fry baskets serve 3-4 people.  My favorite is actually the Zombie Salad though, with cranberries, pecans, gorgonzola and a raspberry balsamic dressing. Yum.  


Make sure to try a speciality drink too.  The adult drink menu is awesome and the milkshakes are also available "spiked".

The Zombie Burger.

Chili.

Try something different like mac & cheese with bacon or a poutine basket, which is a fry basket with chili, cheese and poutine (a brown gravy). Go for a cereal shake, available in rice crispy, crunch berry, cocoa krispie or cinnamon toast crunch.  You can also order all of the burgers gluten-free with a bed of lettuce bun. 


Don't think this restaurant isn't kid friendly, they keep kids entertained with a zombie-themed coloring sheet and a kids menu including things like, burgers, hot-dogs and grilled cheese.



While the food and drink is certainly good enough to make the trip complete, we think the coolest part is the zombie decor.  Life-sized zombies join you for lunch in the counter-service seating area.  Zombie pictures and random zombie hands decorate the full-service area. The servers adorn Zombie shirts as well.  The atmosphere is very cool.  We've always had good service and they even gave out zombie rings for halloween this year so my kid is hooked. 


And if your kid IS afraid of the zombies, at least is will make a great picture!  



Katie says...

Eat Burgers, Not Brains. 

This is just one of the many references to zombies at Des Moines' own Zombie Burger. I'm pretty sure that if Zombie Burger found a way to cook brains, it would be delicious. Everything I've tried at this pre-apocolyptic restaurant is out-of-this-world good. 

Here's the low-down:

• Eat a burger. Not the veggie kind, the meat kind. And get stuff on it like bacon, onion rings, Zombie sauce, fried pickles, cheese, and other fine toppings. 
• Choose "First Available" seating when checking in. Even if you end up sharing a high-table with other diners, it's still a fun and worthwhile experience. My hubby and I sat next to four high school guys who were quite entertaining. Check out the skinny-guy's burger in the photo!
• They will text you when your table is ready. We headed over to Raygun for fun while we waited and laughed at all of the awesomeness over there. 
• Get a shake, and if you are old enough, try a spiked shake with alcohol. They are TO DIE FOR (pun intended). I think my current favorite is the zombie wedding cake shake but they are all awesome. 
• Health Conscious--I was able to stick to a fairly healthy meal by ordering my burger on a bed of lettuce. I was expecting two leaves of lettuce around the burger, but it was served on top of a salad of mixed greens (not just iceberg!) and I used my Zombie Sauce as dressing. Zombie Sauce is like Thousand Island dressing. Burger + Salad = Good! 
• Be careful with little kids. The atmosphere is lots of fun, but there are many decorations with blood and severed heads. Just a warning. 
• The host/hostess were great despite a very busy crowd on a Saturday night. There were two of us and we waited about 30 minutes to sit at a community table, and groups of 6 or more were waiting about 2 hours. It's popular for a good reason! Our waiter was equally great too. 

I highly recommend this restaurant for it great food, unique atmosphere, and fantastic service. And besides, where else are you going to get a burger called Dead Moines or George Romero's Pittsburgher or Undead Elvis?