Friends, Seattleites, Washingtonians, I have come to bury Lil Woody’s not praise them! Okay, not really, I just thought it would be a funny opening. They can’t all be winners. Plus, I made somewhat of a minor change in my reviews these days. I don’t out and out hate anything I decide to sit down and write about. Except of course cake slices that are an affront to humanity—those are a whole other thing. These days I figured I didn’t really want to be a complete Debbie Downer on food. They may not be 100% winners, but I try to find something I quite like wherever I go. Full disclosure, if I do eat someplace and am not very enthused with any of the offerings you won’t see a review, yet you can still see the photos posted on my Instagram. That’s my tell.

This new mantra applies to Lil Woody’s, another one of those Seattle institutions that just also happens to be slinging burgers at multiple locations. Seems I walked by this place a number of times as I headed downtown and was always like, I gotta try them. I mean, burgers, fries, o-rings, fried chicken sandwiches? Seemed like a no brainer considering how long they’ve been around and I always saw people inside and a steady stream of food delivery companies doing pick-ups. Sometimes I just have to make that decision to just do it when it comes to trying places. Because of my long standing “what am I in the mood to eat” moods, occasionally, even when I decide I’m gonna try something, by the time I make my way there, I am no longer feeling it and end up either somewhere else or just going home and getting nothing. I know, it used to drive the SO crazy, but my taste moods are what they are.

It kind of happened a couple times with Woody’s, though one of those times I’m gonna chalk up to weather as it started raining super hard and I was like, uh, no. Not that much of a Seattleite yet. Fear not though as I did eventually get by (twice!) and managed to chow down enough to get a taste of what they got and how they are serving it up.

I know what you are saying, it’s a burger place, what up with the fried chicken. Well, it is on the menu and it is fried chicken, why am I not gonna try it! I do have a thing for these things after all and I have had at least one good one here so why not plop down $10 for this for a buttermilk fried natural chicken breast on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Hmmm, well, everything is cooked to order. So I got this and I will say, it was definitely crunchy, which was nice. Though, it had to be one of the thinnest pieces of chicken I have had. The outside crust was thicker. It’s like they pounded it down to keep it tender, which, again, nice., but I kind of wanted to taste chicken and not just crispy crust. Props though, it was a toasted buttered bun and the lettuce and tomato tasted super fresh but it could have used more mayo. Had I gotten some plump, juicy chicken with it all, it would have been a spot on sandwich.

A burger you want, a burger you get! Like the Big Woody, a quarter lb of Royal Ranch beef, Hills bacon, Tillamook cheddar, chopped onions, diced pickles, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mayo on a toasted bun. There is a lot going on here for $9.50. Definitely on the bigger burger side and price is fine. Again, like the above, they did not skimp on the toppings. Lots of lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and even bacon you could taste. My biggest issue with this was the burger itself was over done. They did the whole press the meat down and char the outside thing but seems it was left on the grill a tad too long and ended up being not quite so juicy. Maybe that is why all the toppings? I mean, unlike the chicken one, at least I could taste the meat? Of course, it might have been just as well to forgo the burger part and double down on bacon? I don’t know. I guess for what I got it was fine but I was not terribly impressed with the burger part of this production like I was with that other newer burger joint in town.

Hand cut fries seem all the rage in Seattle. I have seen them on more than one burger spot menu. I do quite like a good one with the skin still on. They are cooked to order at Lil Woody’s so you get them hot, fresh, crispy out of the fryer. Fries, like pizza, seem to be personal choice in how you like them cooked. Some are crisp people, some are soft people, and so on. These were slightly on the dark side but salted well and a good enough mix of crispy and slightly soft, which I like. Not to mention, as a small side for $3.50 you definitely get your moneys worth and I did quite enjoy them.

I do so love a good onion ring, but I find it is hit or miss in places that serve them. Some are made in house and hand dipped, others are of the frozen variety, but even those have varying degrees of type from small, to large, to thick, to—is then even real onion? You also are never really sure how many you are going to get either regardless of how much they are charging. Which is why I am always skittish when ordering them as I never really know what I am gonna get. I took the plunge here and splurged the $6 for the basket and was pleasantly surprised. No, these are not of the house made kind but they were large, chunky beer battered ones with thick cuts of real onion inside. Props to whoever their supplier is as these were pretty good. Not to mention, you do get a decent amount of them for the money. More than enough to share with another person if you are that type of person. I’m not, but to each his own. You also get your choice of their dipping sauces. I went with the house made Fry Sauce which was pretty much like Thousand Island with a small kick. Not sure I’d get that again, but there is always ketchup.

I get the appeal of this place, not too bad prices and big portions of comfort food faves that you want to eat when you get the munchies. You know pot and drunk munchies—though I hesitate to call it all greasy food because it really wasn’t, even though the sides were all deep fried. And really, it was the sides I liked the best here and would definitely go back for them. The burger I could eat in a pinch but there other chicken sandwiches I’ll eat first…and last. One thing they do every now and then is specialty burgers. A few months ago they teamed up with some local chefs who created special burgers they featured for a few weeks at a time so maybe next time they roll through I might peruse to see if anything catches my eye. They also do a salmon thing if your in to that, we all know I’m not. If nothing else, they are better than Dick’s, that other burger institution in town, though, that isn’t all that hard to do. Them I’ll bury, Lil Woody’s, at least I got my o-rings and fries to satisfy.