On the way to our great American adventure hike, as we drove north from the Phoenix airport we needed some lunch.  Checking the Hamburger America app, I saw a green pin in Flagstaff and we headed toward that address.  We parked downtown and went to wandering, looking for Diablo Burger. We walked by the place without seeing it, ultimately asking someone where to find it.

The entrance was sort of hidden within a mural (it is under the sign in the picture to the right).  The mural could best be described as “odd”.  I’m still not really sure what it was all about.

Inside was small – a counter / bar where you walked in to order and a few communal tables along the inside curve of the outside mural.  (I’m actually standing at the register in the photo below.)Their drink options were limited to beer, wine, ginger ale, two root beers and Mexican Coke.   You can see my choice <g> (and a little more of the creepy mural…)On to the burger.  To quote the menu:

Every DB burger is made from 6 oz. of 100% local, open range-raised, antibiotic-free and growth-hormone free beef from the Diablo Trust ranches, char-broiled & served on a signature handmade, preservative-free, branded MJ’s English Muffin, with Seasonal Greens, Tomato, Pickle, and our DB Frites (Really good, Belgian-style Fries).

Because this beef is about 95% lean, we recommend that your DB burger be cooked medium-rare.  Generally speaking, at that temperature your burger will be a little pink – but not mooing at you, as some people like to say.  If you normally order your burger well-done, we’d recommend at least going to medium-well – we want you to have a nice, juicy burger and at well-done – again, because the beef is so lean – it can be a little dry.

In addition, please understand that we cook all of our burgers to order, literally taking the temperature of every single burger we make.  And we want you to have a perfectly cooked burger.  But because this is a locally-sourced product — these cows are coming off the open-range of Northern Arizona, not an assembly line — there can be variation in fat-content from one animal to the next, even one patty to the next.

We decided to split a burger and I was allowed to make the choice.  So we ordered “the Blake” – with homemade Hatch Chile mayo, roasted green chiles and sharp cheddar – cooked medium, toward medium-well.

When it arrived, they had cut it in half for us and gave us an extra plate.   

And when we split it to share, it was cooked well enough for Jo and pink enough for me.  A perfect combination.

The burger and fries were excellent.  The only issue with splitting the burger is that we could have used another side of fries.  I’d definitely stop back in if I was anywhere near the area.   Please note: Diablo Burger is CASH ONLY.  They’re very clear about this inside – it is posted no less than three times.   I love the answer on their menu to the “Why don’t you take credit cards” question.  “Because banks don’t serve cheeseburgers.”  ‘Nuff said.