Burgers, fries, guys: and gals love it, too

How's this for a grade-school math problem? Sally headed to the local burger joint for lunch. When she arrived at 12:30 p.m., there were 30 people in the restaurant and five of them were female. Estimate the percentage of customers who were male? (Answer: A lot.)

Bonus points: What percentage of the customers were downing burgers and fries? (Answer: All of them.)

Not that there isn't "other stuff" on Blue Moon's menu. You can order up chicken tenders or Buffalo wings, a BLT and even a salad. You can also have your sandwich sans beef by substituting chicken, salmon or a Gardenburger. But if a guy (or the occasional gal) wants to indulge in a classic, overstuffed, two-fisted hamburger, Blue Moon ranks pretty high up on the fast-food chain.

They recycle their cooking oil and are implementing a composting system. They use natural, hormone-free beef and wild salmon. There is no high-fructose corn syrup in their food prep and no trans fats, comforting thoughts (sort of) as you duel over the last of those garlic Parmesan fries.

At the Fremont spot, most customers were chasing their burgers with a fountain drink, but beer and wine are available, and thick shakes, too. Order at the counter and the food finds you minutes later with the help of friendly staff who also keep the place mighty tidy.

The Fremont location is Blue Moon's second; the original is in South Lake Union and you can expect to see more. The vibe may be on a par with a college cafeteria — loud, bright and cheery with big windows and a large flat-screen TV — but no one comes here for the ambience: They come for the food, dude.

Blue Moon Shroom Burger: You can smell the char as soon as you loosen the parchment paper wrap, and you can taste it in every juicy bite. With plenty of sliced portobellos and melting crumbles of mild blue cheese, do you need two strips of bacon? Uh-huh. That touch of smokiness is sublime. Stacked with leaf lettuce, tomato, pickles, red onion and mayo on a Kaiser bun that, sadly, doesn't quite soar to the burger's lofty heights.

Salmon Burger: A thin fillet of fish subs for the beef patty. Crisscrossed with grill marks, the salmon is cooked through yet remains delightfully moist.

Garlic Parmesan Fries: For garlic lovers (and their immediate circle) only; the sprinkle of cheese is secondary to the minced, sautéed garlic coating these slender, hand-cut, bronzed beauties.

Drinks: To steal Coke's tagline, the dreamy chocolate malt here is "The Real Thing."

Itemized bill, meal for two

Blue Moon Shroom

Burger$5.99

Salmon

Burger $5.85

Garlic Parmesan

Fries $2.59

Chocolate

Malt $3.49

Coke $1.79

Tax $1.85

Total $21.56

Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com