Crowds were pouring out of the door when the newest location of LunchBox Laboratory opened in downtown Bellevue. The people were eager, not just for a typical hamburger, but ones with titles like “Burger of the Gods,” with a huge beef patty topped with bleu cheese and a gorgonzola spread and candied balsamic onions, or “As Seen on TV Dork Burger,” a burger named for its unique combination of ground duck and pork. When the original LunchBox Laboratory opened in Ballard years ago, it made news as a burger shack unlike any other, with its over-the-top flavors and use of high quality ingredients, and now that it’s come Eastside, it’s prepared to satisfy and entertain food fans with its unique blend of flavor and nostalgia.
Bellevue’s LunchBox Laboratory has both a restaurant and a full bar, with their hours easy to remember – open daily, 11 to 11. Their food is all about classic comforts, with a nod to a TV generation, as the décor is vintage afterschool chic, showing off their collection of metal lunchboxes of classic cartoon and TV shows. What sets their menu apart from other typical burger places is the care that goes into their food – their “super-beef” patties use Kobe-style beef and their Kaiser-style buns are made locally, from Essential Bakery. Their specialty dipping sauces are house-made, they offer handcrafted salts, and while some restaurants have a soup of the day, LunchBox makes different flavors of their Mac du Jour macaroni and cheese daily. They also put their spin on milkshakes, with flavors like their Boston Crème Donut, which literally has chunks of doughnuts mixed into the rich, creamy shake. On their own, the shakes are an indulgence, but they offer a grown-up option to spike a shake with your choice of liquor selections.
Catering to the happy hour crowds, they offer a Kick Ass Hour, with daily specials from 3-6pm and 9pm to close, with a special menu offering items like Dogsticks (mini corndogs on a stick), a tater tot version of nachos called Gavacho’s Nachos, and their happy hour burger combination called Scotty’s Classic Drive-In, which includes mini cheeseburgers and a choice of fries or tater tots. Their cocktails are just as playful, with drinks like the Tang-O-Rita and Kool Kollins using ingredients like Tang or Kool Aid to flavor or color the drink.
LunchBox Laboratory is located at the base of 989 Elements apartment building. Zen Asian Bistro had previously occupied this space.
LunchBox Laboratory
http://lunchboxlaboratory.com/
989 112th Ave NE, Bellevue 98004
425-505-2676
Open 11-11 Daily
Had for lunch today… had to go with “Burger of the Gods”. Loved it! New favorite burger place in Bellevue.
Still need to try this one here, but judging from the menu on the website, the place seems really overpriced.
For the price you get a ton of food, would be easy to consider it as two meals if you saved half your burger. Not an every day place to go but very good and the Awesome Hour (Happy Hour) deals are pretty decent.
Managed to get over there with some friends yesterday, and was not particularly impressed. The burger I got was rather bland, and with tax and tip figured in, it ended up costing $18.00. I could get a much tastier burger from Burgermaster for half that. The tots were quite good though. I’m not writing the place off yet, but I’m thinking it’s a happy hour place, and not much more.
I look forward to trying Lunchbox out. I’ll tell you what though, the burger at John Howie Steak is unreal, and for only $9 at happy hour it’s a good deal. Check ‘er out! http://www.johnhowiesteak.com
Just ate at the Lunchbox Laboratory and I can’t wait to go back! The burger’s are off-the-hook! Try the “Burger of the Gods” it is sooooooooo mouth watering delicious! And the cocktails are fun in their beeker glasses! And definitely get the sweet potato fries! This is my new favorite burger joint – hip, comfortable, affordable and easy parking too!
Wow Lisa, how long have you been working there? 😉
I’ll have to try the burger at John Howie. I have to imagine it’s like the burger at Daniels which is my favorite “regular” burger in DT Bellevue.
But if you’re looking for super flavorful loaded creations, Lunchbox is currently my favorite. Maybe it’s a rich man’s Red Robin… I say that as a compliment since I actually like Red Robin depending on my mood. Lol (and related to that, the burgers are only a couple dollars more than Red Robin)
I was waiting for this place to open for a few weeks. My wife and I live right next door and are always looking for a good hamburger. We recently had a kid and didn’t want to dine in so I went over at lunch to get some take out. I was promplty turned away since they were ‘too busy’ to help me out. Since we really wanted to try this place out, we decided to give it another try at night and walked over to get take out for dinner. This time we had our ordered taken and the waiter was nice enough to give us some tots while we waited. The tots were so overcooked that they just crumbled in our hands. The waiter said that this was not normal and apologized. When we received our food, we walked back home without looking in the bag. My wifes fries and my tots were so overcooked that we couldn’t eat them. Our burgers were overpriced for what we got. NOT worth the $15 each for burgers.
Waited at table over 10 minutes this afternoon. No service so left. Menu only listed 1 shake – eggnog. Kids menu only 3 choices. Adult menu called Experiments with only 1 burger choice. Took awhile to find almost location. Not worth the trip.