Counter Culture.

You Can Take Twisted Root Out of Ellum, But You Can't Take Ellum Out of Twisted Root.

Twisted Root Burger Company
5609 SMU Blvd., Suite 102
Upper Greenville

Food: 3 out of 4 burgers.
Ambiance: 3 out of 4 burgers.
Service: 3 out of 4 burgers.

The original Twisted Root Burger Company in Deep Ellum has been a staple burger place for a while at this point, earning Food Network acclaim for its spunk and various kinds of exotic (buffalo, elk, ostrich, etc.) patty offerings. But now the burger spot has locations in places like Arlington.

Can these other places possibly stack up to the original?

To make an educated comparison, we figured it was time we finally visited the location next to SMU.

And go figure: The food was just as good as the Deep Ellum spot. The burger, the fries, all of it. This time around, we ordered one of our Deep Ellum location favorites, the Ranch Hand, with peppercorn ranch, bacon and Swiss. It's not the cheapest burger around, checking in at around $8, without any soda or fries coming with it. Factor those costs in and you're looking at a bill around $12 or so, which is kind of a lot for a burger. But, hey, it's a good burger. And, unlike some of the other locations, the food at the SMU location comes out quite promptly.

Located on near Milo Butterfingers, this location can be found at the bottom of an apartment complex. The goal for this location, one figures, is to attract the local college kids.

That much seems easy enough with its fairly nice bar and ample outdoor seating. Plus, they open up the windows to the outside to the patio to give the whole place a great, wide-open feel.

Oh, and they still do the whole celebrity name thing at this location. You know the drill, right? After you place your order, they give you a card with a celebrity's name on it, and when they announce the celebrity's name over their loudspeaker, that's how you know your order's ready. On this particular visit, I was Ray Charles.

Maybe if you go, you'll get to be Bruce Willis.