Not Burger King. Sadly there is a BK across the street with much much faster service, but this is a local place that serves very quality burgers. See I eat a ton of burgers at local joints, from Ellensburg to Moses Lake, and This stands up to be as quality as you can get. Sad part is if you are in a hurry I would rather go across the street to BK. 2 Screaming kids doesn't help, but waiting in a hot car get me down.
Is Dusty's a great hamburger joint? No. Not by the standards of a great Seattle, Chicago, or any big city's burger places. Is it a great burger joint out in the middle of rural Washington? You betcha! There's that lovely old myth that we all seem to enjoy - the one about happening upon some great little hole-in-the-wall eatery that you never heard of, in the middle of nowhere, that has great food and smiling owners and prices straight out of the 50s. Truth is, those places used to be out there but seldom are, anymore. Now, in the recessionary times we inhabit, restaurants which expect to make it have to economize. Fact of Life. The difference is going to the the same as it always was: what do you DO with your food-service materials and how clever are you at making stuff Taste Good. Yeah, Dusty's burgers are just food service patties, quite likely frozen and thawed, but the other ingredients are absolutely fresh, great quality, nicely prepared, and presented with sauces they make there that are GREAT compliments to the sandwiches. The fries are crisp outside and tender inside, the buns are even good(!!), and the seasonings are near-perfect. And the shakes are to freakin' DIE FOR. You CANNOT suck this shake through a straw and, in my book, that's a fine shake. And, yeah, they DO take a while to make the stuff - which means they're making it FRESH, as you order it. I watched. They do. If I ate this stuff in Seattle, I might just say, "Well, it's good, but I can do better down the street." In Ephrata, expecting nothing, Dusty's was a wonderful, tasty surprise.