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Business & Tech

A Jersey Burger, Smothered in Mushrooms, Peppers, Onions and Swiss at Saporito

It's only appropriate that we find a Garden State burger at this bustling pizza joint on Route 22

Making the rounds of Springfield, we've done , and . This week, we tried a Jersey burger. 

The last time we visited Saporito on Route 22, we concluded that the place was "so Jersey." So it's no surprise the the signature burger there is called NJ burger. 

Bustling and confusing, navigating Saporito can be like driving on a Jersey road. And like a Jersey diner, Saporito packs a diverse menu into a small space.

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From healthy slices of whole wheat pizza to an artery-clogging buffalo cheesesteak sandwich with hot sauce and American cheese, if it's remotely Italian-American or something a third-generation Italian American might like, it's probably on the menu. Tuna fish sandwich with cheese? Check. Veal parmigiana over ziti? Check. Ziti on pizza? Check.

Even the décor is overwhelming: black and white tile floors, bright yellow walls, a mural of an Italian town center, a flat screen television playing sports.

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So what's on a New Jersey burger? Well, at Saporito, the NJ burger comes with sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions, and melted swiss. 

I was afraid that, like the line, the menu and the decor at Saporito, the amount of toppings on this burger would overwhelm. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Despite the multitude of toppings, the burger was easy to handle. A little thinner than those that we've tried in the last few weeks, this patty was hot off the griddle, neither charred dry nor pink in the middle. The onions and peppers weren't just sauteed, they were lightly browned, with a caramelized sweetness. The mushrooms, on the other hand, didn't exude much flavor, which is fortunate for me, because I'm not their biggest fan. 

My complaint here: Despite all of the toppings, some flavor was missing. Perhaps I've been spoiled in recent weeks by the sweetness of Fridays' Jack Daniel's sauce or the sharpness of McLynn's bleu cheese. Perhaps I should have pulled apart the burger and squeezed on ketchup from a few tiny foil packets. But something was missing here. Salt, a kick of flavor, something. The French fries, too, hot out of the fryer, neither thin and stringlike or thick and dry, were ideal texture, but needed salt. 

All in all, though, we were pleased, especially with the heat and the texture here. Now where do we go next?

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