After years in downtown Beijing helping local Chinese acquire a taste for classy fast food (with still-popular sandwich and seafood joints in Sanlitun), Let’s Burger has branched out to the city’s fringes with a new location on Shunyi’s Pinnacle Avenue.

The suburban vibe is fairly obvious, with a wide, family-sized table layout. The Shunyi menu also boasts a bit of kid friendliness, like the small burger paired with sticky sweet waffles in the mini breakfast (¥68). But it’s the parents that will be most satisfied, or overwhelmed, by items like the hulking new Italian truffle steak burger (a very pricey ¥168), or the stingingly spicy, jalapeño-laced Angus beef Mexicano burger (¥88). Neither of those sandwiches, or any other burger on the menu for that matter, can be eaten without a fork or a considerable mess. The French fries are served in equally gargantuan portions, but if you dunk them in the variety of delicious homemade sauces (the best being blue cheese and wasabi mayo flavors), you’ll be tempted to gorge on such a generous offering.

Let’s Burger’s sweet side, especially the bland milkshakes, pales in comparison to the spicy, pricey, massive main courses. A few staple Sanlitun Let’s Burger Plus items, like the popular pizza pitas, are absent from the Shunyi Let’s Burger menu, replaced by tuna and chicken croissants that may be more popular with healthy eaters. But the menu is very carnivorous, aside from a few salads and a mushroom patty burger (¥68).

Servers are prompt and friendly, and there is always at least one English speaker waiting the tables. The atmosphere falls between mellow and upscale, and the décor mimics the Sanlitun location. But the Shunyi restaurant isn’t aspiring to be like its predecessors—it’s too remote for downtown customers, but just right for suburban families looking for a trendy new menu.

Our rating: 4/5 stars

DETAILS

What: Let's Burger

Where: 102, 29, Pinnacle Avenue, Liyuan Street, Tianzhu County, 天竺镇丽苑街荣和商业中心29#102

Tel: 8416-7803

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