Up & Down knows the ins and outs of making burgers
Where to: Up & Down, a smash burger and fried chicken sandwich joint inside Mike & Patty’s in Jamaica Plain.
Why: If you fly in and out of California frequently, you might be familiar with a certain cult-favorite fast food joint that proliferates there. Up & Down takes a similar — but different — direction with its food.
The backstory: Known for its breakfast sandwiches, Mike & Patty’s expanded from its original Bay Village location to Somerville, Newton, JP, and downtown dining hall High Street Place. Along the way, it introduced ancillary concepts like Hot Box (specializing in North Shore roast beef and South Shore bar pizza), Hall Pass (Philly cheesesteaks), and Flourhouse Bakery. Up & Down is the latest. It’s open during Mike & Patty’s off hours, Thursday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.
What to eat: Smash burgers, the meat flattened and pressed onto the hot cooking surface to create the crustiest, tastiest patty possible. At Up & Down, they are served on Flourhouse rolls, in various permutations. The Up & Down OG ($10) is classic, with double patties and double American cheese slices, lettuce, onion, pickles, and Kewpie mayo. For all you animals, there’s also the “Savage Style” burger ($10.50), which adds caramelized onions and something called “phuct sauce” to the mix. (Don’t ask me how to pronounce that in a family publication.) On the poultry side, you’ll find the likes of the Taki Clucker ($12.50), a fried chicken breast on a Flourhouse roll with slaw, spicy mayo, and Taki dust. (For those who enjoy their chips pulverized, Cheeto dust is also available on the long list of addons — fried mozzarella, arugula, avocado, bacon — that allows patrons to customize their food.) Yes, you can get fries with that, plain ($4) or Phuct ($7) — with house-made cheese whiz, caramelized onions, and more of that unpronounceable sauce.
What to drink: On the nonalcoholic side: water, juice, soda, cold brew, and chocolate, strawberry, or banana milk. For those who want something boozy: craft beer and cider, canned mimosas, and Downeast Blue Slushies, which look like windshield wiper fluid and taste like a childhood beverage no child should ever drink.
The takeaway: Up & Down doesn’t have a secret menu — at least not that I know of — but it does satisfy the craving for indulgently topped smash burgers and fried chicken sandwiches.
388 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617299-2990, www.upanddownbos.com