Hamburguesas Richard's Morelia

Last Thursday night, we made another visit to the delightful Hamburguesas Richard's in Morelia Centro. I just searched my blog's archives, and I was very surprised that I'd never written about this before.

Hamburguesas Richard's serves what I consider the best hamburgers in Morelia. The French fried potatoes are exemplary. There are also Tacos Al Pastor and Hot Dogs, but in my opinion, the hamburgers and fries rule.

There are three locations: the main one, at Morelos Sur # 398, a few blocks south of Av Madero and close to the corner of Aldama; another, not far away, at Virrey de Mendoza # 434, corner of Ortega y Montañez; and a small branch, just off Av Madero Poniente, at Francisco Zarco # 32.

UPDATE: The Fco. Zarco location is closed, or at least, unlisted on the poster on the wall of the main restaurant. The other locations are closed on Tuesdays. Carne al pastor is available only on weekends.
A sencilla is $22 pesos, a doble carne is $26, as is a Hamburguesa al Pastor. Refrescos are $11.

Morelos Sur #398, Centro, Morelia 

Of those, we've eaten numerous times at the Morelos main restaurant, once at the Francisco Zarco branch, and so far, never at the Virrey de Mendoza restaurant. I greatly prefer the main, Morelos restaurant over the F. Zarco one. Although the Morelos location opens at 1 p.m (I'm not swearing that. It might open at 6 p.m and close about 1 a.m.), go after 7 p.m. for the energy buzz, and you can other watch interesting customers.

The Morelos location is a long hall, the tables and chairs, in Ketchup Red and Mustard Yellow colors. When you enter, you'll see the Carne Al Pastor machine. Keep walking and you come to the hamburger grill. This is The Source.

Los Reyes de la Plancha

At the far end of the line sits a cashier. Read the short menu and give her your order. There are soft drinks and horchata available. This is a mildly sweet, milky white cold drink based on rice and lightly tinged with cinnamon. I recommend it.

The hamburgers come already dressed with ketchup, so if you want something else, ask them to make it "sin catsup". They also have a yellow, American-type cheese. That can be eliminated on request. Sometimes the cheese is a stringy, mozzarella like cheese, perhaps a type of queso Oaxaca.

The burgers themselves are not huge nor thick, but they are as close to a good American type burger as we've had in Mexico. Want more? Order a Doble Carne.

The triad of burger, fries and horchata

The sandwiches come with a small side plate of grilled onions and chiles toreados. The latter are very picante, fresh chiles serranos given a couple of turns on the grill. They are tasty, but I advise extreme caution. Adult supervision required. These are not toys, amigos!

Be sure to order Papas Fritas Francesas. Richard's makes their own, from fresh cut potatoes, and the servings are generous. They are not cooked to golden brown, so if you prefer that, ask for them "muy bien doradas."

Service is a bit irregular yet cheerful. Sometimes our orders go astray, and we have to inquire about them. They will be cheerfully fulfilled, lo más pronto posible. (As soon as possible.)
UPDATE: There is now a dining room service person to expedite things.

On an earlier visit, I tried a couple of different things, both in the interests of research and for the benefit of my readers.
The first was a Hamburguesa con Carne Pastor. It sounds a bit odd, but it's delicious, and the contrast of the tender and juicy hamburger patty with the crisp, pleasantly chewy morsels of pastor meat was pleasant.
Illustrated below.

The second was the alluring Hot Dog Richard's. Visually, these are real beauties, first as the bacon wrapped dogs slowly grill to crusty goodness, then, as they are nestled into butter (?) toasted buns, and dressed with vivid and fresh condiments. The eating reality is a little disappointing.

The sausages themselves are very soft and the flavor mild and indistinctive. It has been said that Mexican Hot dogs are "all about the condiments", and that is very true at Richard's. I'm not saying that they are bad; it's just that the hamburgers have more character and taste.

Hamburguesa's Richard's is the place to go when you are tired of tacos, aburrido de burritos, and are suffering enchilada ennui. Menu photo below.

Here's my star ratings:
Food: 5*****
Service: 3***
Price: $ barato
Rest rooms: clean