Johnny Rockets; How were they all not fat back then (Restaurant Post)

Post by The Grumpy One

Johnny Rockets

(Restaurant Chain) 7000 Arundel Mills Circle
Hanover, MD

http://www.johnnyrockets.com

So I have passed by this place every time I am at the Arundel Mills Mall, but I have never eaten there.  I think mostly because I usually was by myself in the past, and I didn't want to be that sad picture of the lone person at the booth.  So now with kids in tow, and time to kill, I decided its time to try Johnny Rockets.

 The outside paints the picture of a classic burger place, but as soon as you are inside, you are fully transported to the past.

Everything from the decor, to the uniforms, to the old music, this place was great. Even though it was in a mall, the relax vibe some how kept the loud mall noise out and kept this place really calm.

The little details like the old straw holders (which Kara had to show me how to use) and the Juke box on the table made this place just that much better.  It was wired up, but didn't work, but that was O.K. because both boys had fun flipping through the music. 

Enough about décor, time for food.  The menu was what I pictured the menu like in the 50's, very simple. Burgers, fries, grilled cheese, and that's about it.  Their milkshake menu was literally bigger than their food menu.  I ended up getting the smokehouse single, a burger with bacon, cheese, onion rings, and barbeque sauce.

While I was ordering, I was reminded of a line from "The Brady Bunch Movie," which takes place in the 90's but Alice went to the butcher and passes everyone ordering ground chicken for their health and she makes a comment about...we are raising boys, we need red meat and bacon.  That was this burger.  I don't know how fresh everything really was, but it tasted like they killed the animals right there and took the buns straight from the oven.  Oh and a nice little touch, that Ketchup smiley face was made by the awesome server. 

Which talking about the server, she was incredibly nice.  Not your usual fake waitress nice, but really genuine.  I don't know if all the servers are like that, but it really sells the theme. Her attitude was a great change for us the last few days.  We moved from a very relaxed, kind peopled Hawaii and now are in a very fast pace busy place where people cut you off in traffic then honk at you for being alive. 

So the burger was outstanding, the fries were decent, but the best part...the milkshake.  I ended up getting the Orange Dreamsicle even though there were about 20 flavors, dreamsicle has always been a childhood favorite.  It was perfect, not too thick, not too thin, delicious.

So overall, atmosphere that actually comes close to transporting you back in time, great food, incredible shakes, waitress with real manners and the price wasn't too high.  I have a feeling I might want to bring my family when they come to visit.