Haystack Burgers brings from-scratch goodness to Turtle Creek Village

There’s surprisingly little competition for a good burger in the neighborhood tucked between Oak Lawn to the south, Highland Park to the north and West Village to the east. Yet one block south of the fine burger at Beck’s Prime, husband-and-wife restaurateurs Jenny and Kevin Galvan are serving a half-dozen mighty fine burgers at the new Haystack Burgers and Barleys, a Turtle Creek Village outpost of the Galvan’s original (and duly popular) burger haven in Richardson.

The gig here is from-scratch fast-casual with beers. The eight Angus burgers can be dressed with various toppings that range from spicy, tart jalapeño escabeche to grilled poblanos to house-made chili . The fries are equally excellent, fresh-cut Kennebecs, fried twice till their crispy on the outside and creamy inside. The Galvans are also duly proud of their stuffed, fried jalapeños, milk shakes flavored with with Nutella, Oreos, chocolate or vanilla. You can also order a shake amped up some banana pudding, which also appears solo as a featured dessert which struck me as a little too pasty to be delicious, a from-scratch family recipe that, at least on my visit, probably should have stayed at home.

Next time, I’ll skip the banana pudding and go for more of the locally sourced draft beers, or maybe The Haymaker, a frozen cocktail constructed with Maker’s Mark, orange juice, lemonade and custom blended ice tea. Either way, I’ll be back. The burgers are uniformly terrific –even the odd Chicken Fried Steak burger — and the Galvans are the consummate hosts.