The Hangry Bison Review: We Skipped the Burgers, but Not the Good Stuff

The Hangry Bison makes a good first impression. The restaurant has a lively, casual feel, and even the way you order is a little different.

Instead of simply telling your server what you want, you can build your meal by circling your choices directly on the menu with a dry-erase marker. It sounds a little unusual at first, but it makes sense once you see how many combinations are available, especially with the burgers.

Burgers are clearly a big part of the menu, but on this visit, we went in another direction.

Inside, the same casual feel carries through the dining room. It is lively without feeling overly polished, and the restaurant has enough character to make the space feel distinct.

The menu is part of that experience. Rather than treating customization as a long list of server notes, some selections can be marked directly on the menu.

That system probably makes the most sense when you get to the build-your-own burgers, where there are plenty of choices to work through.

Our Hangry Bison review started with the bourbon wings

We started with the Bourbon Wings, jumbo chicken wings coated in the restaurant’s signature bourbon glaze.

These were the highlight of the meal for us. The glaze was sticky, rich and flavorful, and the wings are one of the dishes we would order again.

The Jangry Jalapeños were a little more unusual. They are chargrilled jalapeños wrapped in pepperoni and stuffed with blue cheese, rather than the battered and fried jalapeño appetizer you might expect.

It is an interesting combination, and certainly something different from the usual appetizer lineup.

A different take on calamari

We also tried the Calamari & Banana Peppers, which combines fried calamari and banana peppers and is served with marinara.

The banana peppers add a little extra bite without changing the basic idea of fried calamari too much. If you already like calamari, this version still feels familiar.

The Florida Cobb is not a basic side salad

The Florida Cobb Salad was another dish with a lot going on.

It came with avocado, bacon, egg, blue cheese, tomatoes, strawberries, pepitas and other toppings over mixed greens.

The strawberries and pepitas, in particular, make it feel different from the standard Cobb salad you see on a lot of menus. It is substantial enough to stand on its own rather than feeling like an afterthought alongside the burgers.

And somehow, we never ordered a burger

That might be the oddest part of this visit.

We went to a restaurant where burgers are clearly one of the main attractions and managed to leave without trying one.

Still, we did not come away feeling as though we had ordered around the interesting parts of the menu. The Bourbon Wings stood out, and the Jangry Jalapeños, calamari and Florida Cobb each brought something different to the meal.

Our experience was a good one. The atmosphere was casual and lively, the ordering system was different without being complicated, and the dishes we tried gave us enough reason to return.

Next time, though, we probably need to order one of those burgers.

Author: Dave