F.L.X. Wienery — Restaurant in Town of Starkey

We heard about this place before we left for our FLX trip, so we made it a point to stop here on our way outta town. Great simple concept, and a surprisingly superb bourbon selection with very fair prices. The highlight of the place is def the friendly and welcoming lady working the counter. Couldn’t have been better service. Now, the food. The best was the bratwurst. Big link and tasty. A little dry imo so maybe not enough fat. But overall was easily the best item. The homemade mustard was pasty thick and very little bite. The burger and hot dog buns were pretty dry. The burger had a creative topping, but the meat was torched. The hot dog itself was pretty average tbh. I was surprised by this because if you’re calling yourself “Weinery”, make sure the weiners blow people away. The chili was overwhelming with tomato paste and just not much flavor. I’ve been to a boatload of gourmet dog places around this country and this place doesn’t even sniff the conversation as one of the standouts. Supposedly a Michelin star chef opened this joint. I feel bad but gotta say that I agree with some of the reviews that say it was very average since they were expecting so much better food. I understand the prices, everything is high cost these days with labor, product, inflation, fixed costs, etc. So the prices are not shocking at all and are to be expected. Just look at the pic though of the reviews in the bathroom. Def written by a sensitive chef. Bad reviews are a nature of the biz, you can’t win everyone over. Read those reviews and tell me how they are “slanderous”? Slanderous is like someone who didn’t even eat there and trashes your biz with lies, not people giving you some honest tough love about your food. Again, I gotta agree with some of those assessments, but of course a Michelin chef will get their panties in a bunch about any criticism at all. Maybe the kitchen had an off day like every place does once in awhile. They were very kind people and I do wish them continued success. If most of the patrons and regulars are happy, then that’s what matters most. I don’t feel the need to hurt anyone’s biz, so that’s...

I will start by saying if you only serve burgers, hot dogs, and sausage as your entrees you better make good ones. If you wondering yes they do!!!

The place The only reason I am not giving this place a 5 star is the smell of sulfur in the place. I can only assume they have a well that creates this problem. It was quiet a strong smell of rotten eggs in the place. So that scared me a bit but I am glad I decided to stick around.

The food What can I say but this place is worth you time and money. They make most of the food in house except for the hot dogs I think. I have a huge topping list that was overwhelming so I went with the Blue Artist burger which had fried egg, onion rings, blue cheese, AMAZING Canadian Bacon and mushrooms. All I can say wow talk about flavor everything on the burger was top notch. One really unique thing is the onion rings they fry them in Frank's hot sauce I really liked it. I will say I am not a huge fan of the what I like to call "skinny onion rings" I like the traditional big rings but that is preference. The fries were also solid. Then I decided to get a milkshake I went with the Peanut Butter and Nutella. OMG it was one of the best shakes I have had in awhile! The only problem as I got in the car my family decided to "try it." I passed it around the car half full and it came back to me empty!!! Yes I am still bitter about it.

The staff When you go in a place with such a complex menu you have to someone who can explain it you. The lady who helped us was nothing short of great. She was patient with my family since of us were alittle slow and figuring it out.

The verdict

The place has found a niche and done it extremely well! The food from the burgers to the milkshakes were nothing short of great. My only complaint was the rotten eggs smell. I cant wait to come back and try more...

So we went here after hiking, and we were starving. I was looking for a local restaurant that mentioned 'a must-go spot’, and this was the one. The service was excellent. The guy who was greeting us was definitely friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was super nice, but the food was just okay.

I liked the homemade sausage and their soft bun, but my friend didn't like it as much as I did. We ordered two hot dogs: one with mayo and one with grilled onion. AND K-town fries. For hot dogs, they were def filling and nice protein after hiking. Worth trying out. However, the K-town fries were very disappointing. The fries at the bottom were AMAZiNG, so we could give 5/5 if we ordered just regular fries, but I'm Korean, and damn, I see the K-town? Fries with Kimchi? Like my country’s soul food? Of course, we had to try, and fortunately, it was not a good choice.

Kimchi is like fermented food, so it gets sour the longer you keep it in the jar or fridge. So, you must watch out when you cook Kimchi. You will not like that crazy sour flavor. So Kimchi is sour, and has a little fishy smell because of spices. I don’t smell it because I grew up with that, but foreigners often think it smells crazy. So this fries came with kimchi and goat cheese, which is another stinky stuff. My friend, born and grew up in New York, was shocked by how strong sour, salty, and crazy the flavor is lol. My friend loves Korean foods because I often cook, but he couldn’t handle this one at all. I think you guys need to work on how you can make it better. I guess the recipe itself is amazing. The goat cheese was a good idea, but you must fix the kimchi. There are various ways to make it tastes more gentle.

Except that fries with Kimchi and goat cheese, I would come back again for nice sausage, nice local drinks, and friendly services! I...