Burlington eatery Crispy Burger now in Old North End, offers food from Chinese perspective
Though the name is Crispy Burger, a new restaurant in Burlington doesn’t specialize in hamburgers. It does, however, deal in all things crispy.
What is the place?
Open since Jan. 13, Crispy Burger is where the Mawuhi African Market had been most recently, in the wedge-shaped brick building at North Winooski Avenue and North Street that’s spectacularly adorned with a mural of Muhammad Ali. Though it has “burger” in the name, diners won’t find much beyond a cheeseburger to satisfy their beefy needs.
Crispy Burger does offer burgers featuring fried-fish options, including a shrimp burger and a cod burger. The restaurant also has bone-in fried chicken, offered with or without Asian spices. Owner Jason Lin said the fried chicken and crispy chicken burger have been the most popular items on the menu in Crispy Burger’s first few weeks.
That menu also includes a grilled chicken burger, a crispy chicken wrap and a chicken tender burger. Side dishes cover the expected – hash browns, cheese sticks, coleslaw, onion rings, French fries and the like – but also present a few surprises. The most unique side dish, takoyaki, features Japanese-style fried balls surrounding vegetables and octopus. Lin noted that, while Crispy Burger approaches its food from a Chinese perspective, hints of Japanese and Korean cuisine can be found on the menu as well.
The Burlington restaurant does not have a liquor license. The compact dining space also lacks seating at the moment – four tables are currently standing room only – but Lin said on Feb. 2 that he hoped to have permitting for seating in a week or two, around the time he also expected to start selling the ever-popular Chinese drink bubble tea.
What’s the story behind it?
Crispy Burger is a small chain that Lin said began in Flushing, Queens – a mecca of Asian dining – in the summer of 2021. “It’s so popular there,” according to Lin.
Other outlets featuring Crispy Burger are in College Point, Queens; Staten Island; and New Jersey. Lin’s shop in Burlington is the first outside the metropolitan New York region.
Lin is a native of China who moved to the United States in 2006. He lived in Queens and Brooklyn before settling in Burlington in 2012.
“I wanted to get a nice and quiet place to raise my kids,” said Lin, who with his wife, Yan Feng, has three children, ages 18, 11 and 8.
Though he lives in South Burlington now, Lin once lived on North Avenue and wished there were more quick lunch options nearby, but something different than KFC, McDonald’s or Burger King. That’s a big reason why he wanted to site his Crispy Burger eatery in the Old North End.
Lin formerly made sushi sold at grocery stores Hannaford and Market 32. While he gets Crispy Burger going, his wife is overseeing their other restaurant, Volcano Asian Cuisine, in the New North End of Burlington.
Business at Crispy Burger has been good so far, according to Lin. He said lunchtime was a little slow the first week but has been picking up since.
“We’re getting better every day,” Lin said.
Hours and location
Crispy Burger, 160 N. Winooski Ave., Burlington. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. (802) 540-0900.
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington restaurant Crispy Burger offers fried fish, bubble tea
