By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
While the name “hamburger” is derived from the city of Hamburg, Germany, over the last century, the food has become quintessentially American. And boy, do we have opinions. Should a burger be thick and juicy? A tad pink in the middle? Crusty on the outside? Steamed over onions? (I see you, White Castle, even if I don’t particularly like you). Round? Square? Grilled? Griddled?
With hamburgers on the brain, I stopped into Big Sky’s new Blindside Burger this month. Twist Thompson, who conceived Town Center restaurants Blue Buddha Sushi Lounge and Tres Toros Tacos & Tequila, is also behind Blindside Burger. The name is taken from a snowboard trick, a more difficult rotation in which the rider is blind to the takeoff or landing. Twist is an avid snowboarder who once tried to go pro, general manager Jed Sanford tells me, pointing out the snowboarder in the restaurant’s logo, performing a blindside off of a hamburger. Twist loves a blindside, I’m told, and I love the nod to Big Sky’s mountain culture and adventurous spirit.
The space—47 Town Center Avenue—used to be home to the Lotus Pad, a Thai restaurant which closed in October 2023 after 17 years in business. It received a makeover before Blindside Burger opened in February. Enter from the parking lot and you’re greeted by a black and white graffiti-style wall graphic featuring three suit-wearing primates—my guess is that they are chimpanzees, but I’m no primatologist—sitting on a pile of burgers and milkshakes and helping themselves to the treats. Other walls have similar treatments, making the space feel modern and a bit funky. Neon touches—like a line highlighting those chimps or a sign with Pac-Man ready to chomp on three burgers as if they were video game ghosts—are a nod to old-school diner culture.
Which brings me to the menu. My first thought was to say it was nothing fancy, filled with burgers, fries and milkshakes. But within those staples, Blindside explores a range of tastes and textures. I landed on the “Lone Wolf,” a burger topped with “bourbon peanut butter, smoked gouda cheese, caramelized onion, bacon and garlic aioli,” according to the menu. As I’ve tried to incorporate more protein into my diet of late, I’ve been rediscovering a love for peanut butter. And I’ve always loved bourbon. Together, they added a sweetness to the burger that was a wonderful complement to the smoky cheese and beefy burger patties.
Blindside’s burgers are smash burgers, which mainly means they are smashed onto the flattop with a spatula, locking in the juices with a hard sear and resulting in thinner patties. The meat, Sanford tells me, isn’t expensive wagyu beef. It’s not sirloin, which is too lean for a proper smash burger. You need the right meat-to-fat ratio to create the burger’s outer crust and keep the inside properly juicy, he says, and an image flashes in my head of southern food personality Paula Deen adding chunks of butter into her burger patties.
A kid-sized single smash burger and small fry starts at $10. A lunch special, with “The Base Layer” basic burger, fries and a drink, is $16. One can also go big, both in terms of the cost and the amount of food. The most expensive burger currently on the menu is $22.
Basic shakes are also priced around $10, and feature 10 scoops of ice cream, Jed tells me. I couldn’t go to Blindside and go basic, however, not when the menu features a series of “Gnarly Shakes” that seem more meant for the ‘gram than for actual consumption. These take an old-fashioned milkshake to the extreme, with an abundance of sugary toppings like cookies, candy bars and slices of cake. One, the “Donut Delight,” has both a full donut and a slice of cheesecake on top. I went with the “E.T.” featuring mint ice cream topped with a mini chocolate mousse cake. There were also an abundance of crushed Andes mints on the rim. I admit that I couldn’t hack the whole thing. I deconstructed the milkshake at my table, and took the cake home for later, wanting to finish the delicious melty bit before it fully liquified.
For mains that are not hamburgers, Blindside’s menu has a couple of chicken sandwiches, starting with sous-vide chicken pieces that are then fried without breading. I like how this method creates a crispy exterior without hiding the chicken.
Sides are mostly fried and include garlic cheddar cheese curds, stout-breaded onion rings and smoked gouda mac and cheese bites. Many come with a side of the house “Blindside Sauce,” which seems to be in the fry sauce/thousand island family with a ketchup and mayo base. I enjoy the slight kick of spice that lingers on my tongue.
For drinks, Blindside offers fountain sodas and a bar. Though perfecting the food has been the focus since Blindside Burger opened, Jed tells me there are plans for expanding bar offerings to match the menu. I spotted a burger-topped bloody mary on Instagram this week, so we have movement in that direction.
I haven’t mentioned Blindside’s French fries since the beginning of this column, mainly because compared to the burgers and shakes, they are nothing special. They are fried potatoes, so they’ve automatically got something going for them. The beer cheese sauce on the loaded version slaps, and I wish they were fully smothered in the gooey goodness. But I have to admit that I’m not going to Blindside Burger for the fries. I am going for the burgers.
And after trying what Blindside has to offer, I may be swaying toward the superiority of the smash burger.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
