Big Al’s Burger at the Junction

By Arikka Fullmer
Highway 89 Kanab, Utah

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>= mixed bag, can be good but can be bad, can’t count on it
The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxx= comfortable
Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$ under $10
Value (what you get for your money)
*** = fair -you get what you pay for, not in a bad way
This is Kanab’s greasy spoon. This is where every little league teams descend after a game. This is where teenage crush’s are crushed in the drive up.

Kanab High Cowboy football team portraits hang next to the ‘firewood for sale’ sign. Combine all that with vintage Coke decor and you’ve got an atmosphere familiar to any small town.

The menu high on the wall behind the cashier is full of typical fare. Corn dogs, fries, grilled cheese, burgers...you get the idea. To my surprise they have a buffalo burger, for cheap! I order it with cheese, fries and for 15 extra cents - Al’s homemade fry sauce. Fry sauce is a condiment anomaly unique to Utah and it is fantastic!

The shake menu shows signs of Kanab’s past and recent growth. The first shake flavor is COFFEE! I order a mint oreo shake but they don’t have mint! How can this kind of place have coffee but not mint shakes.

My dining partner orders a cheeseburger and a peanut butter cup shake. Total cost.....$13.85, a sign of the quality of food. My buffalo burger is bland, the bun flat and soggy. But the fries and sauce are delicious. It was enough to sustain me another 200 miles on the road without the emergency stop I anticipated.