Topz Burgers - Orange

1632 E. Katella Avenue #A
Orange, CA 92867

714-628-0266

www.topz.com
www.topzorange.com - Online Ordering

I've been telling myself for years to get down to a Topz Burgers to check them out. I saw them years ago on the Food Network and immediately wanted to try them. At the time, the closest location was in Los Angeles. A few years ago, a Topz opened in Orange. I knew about it when it opened, but for some reason it has taken me this long to finally try it.

Topz calls themselves the "Healthier Burger Grill." Their gimmick is that they use really lean ground beef and oven bake their fries. This is supposed to make your meal much healthier than the standard burger meal.

I decided to order a 1/2 lb. Angus Burger ($5.90). I added cheese ($0.50) and bacon ($1.30) to my burger. I justified the extra fat because the burger is supposed to be super healthy, right? I added an order of the baked Aero Fries ($1.80). J ordered a 1/4 lb. Angus Burger ($4.60) with cheese ($0.50). She added Aero Fries and a Soda to her burger for $2.75.

We went and found a table in the mostly empty restaurant. We were there during the lunch hour so I was surprised at how dead it was. I went to get some ketchup from their ketchup bar and noticed that they had garlic ketchup. Yum.

Our burgers came out a short while later. My 1/2 lb burger was actually a double cheeseburger with two 1/4 lb. patties. The burger was served on a wheat bun. The burger itself was pretty good, but for some reason didn't taste like beef to me. It kind of tasted like ground chicken or ground turkey. The fries were pretty good. They were much better than I expected for baked fries.

J thought that her burger was decent, but nothing special. She also thought that the fries were pretty good.

Since this restaurant prides themselves on being a healthy alternative, they proudly hand out their nutritional info at the door. I decided to take this info home and see how healthy these burgers really were. Here is what I found.

Fat Grams-
Topz 1/4 lb. Burger - 25 grams of fat*
Tops 1/2 lb. Burger - 40 grams of fat*
McDonalds Quarter Pounder With Cheese - 26 grams of fat**
McDonalds Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese - 42 grams of fat**

Calories-
Topz 1/4 lb. Burger - 507 calories*
Tops 1/2 lb. Burger - 735 calories*
McDonalds Quarter Pounder With Cheese - 510 calories**
McDonalds Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese - 740 calories**

So it looks like choosing a "healthy" Topz burger, instead of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McDonalds, saves you a whopping 3 calories and 1 gram of fat. Then I realized that the nutritional info on Topz was not including cheese. This most definitely means that a Topz burger has MORE fat and calories that it's equivalent at McDonalds. Take it from me, you're much better off with the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. A McDonalds Quarter Pounder without cheese has 410 calories and 19 grams of fat**. That's almost 100 calories and 6 grams of fat LESS than Topz.

While I was eating my meal, I was also looking over a copy of their takeout menu. Topz advertises that they make "healthy" milkshakes by using frozen yogurt and fresh fruit. I saw that they offered a Chocolate Banana shake ($3.25). I decided that since it was healthy, I would grab one on the way out for dessert. I watched as the girl behind the counter put some soft serve frozen yogurt into a drink tin. Next she got some chocolate syrup out of the fridge and squirted some in. She then pulled out a tub from the fridge that looked like dark brown swamp sludge. She started scooping it into my drink. That's when I realized that these were the "bananas." She blended this concoction together, poured it into a cup and handed it to me. I grabbed a straw and hoped for the best. I hopped in my car and took the first sip as I pulled away. It was disgusting. I can't believe I wasted $3.25 on this. I tried to drink more to get my money's worth, but I couldn't. I made J try it and she agreed that it was horrible. It tasted like the bananas had been sitting in that fridge for weeks.

Since it doesn't look like you're making much of a healthier choice by going to Topz, and because their shakes are disgusting, I doubt I will ever return to Topz. In fact, I am writing this article now after having just eaten a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. It was much cheaper and much better than my burger from Topz.

*Info pulled from http://topz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=30

**Info pulled from http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html