Charlie’s Flame-Broiled Burgers, “not your ordinary neighborhood joint,” recently opened its new location in Kirkland.

“It’s one of those secrets,” Steve Lamson, a Kirkland burger enthusiast, said of the restaurant. “The burgers are flame-broiled, a good grade of beef, not greasy. The steak fries are huge and everything’s fresh.”

Charlie Urenda, the owner of Charlie’s Flame-Broiled Burgers, said he has been in the burger business since he was 14 years old. The Kirkland location is the seventh Charlie’s he’s opened up and is now the only one in existence.

Urenda had been watching the building on Kirkland’s Lake Street for a few years, and when it became available he moved Charlie’s from downtown Seattle to Kirkland.

“I knew downtown Kirkland would be the perfect location” for the next Charlie’s, Urenda said.

Apparently it was, as Lamson is one of many who’s discovered the restaurant just while walking along Lake Street.

He saw the sign that read “not your ordinary neighborhood joint” and decided to give it a try, he said. After sampling the avocado burger he was hooked.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s your old-fashioned burger,” Lamson said. “Places like this don’t exist anymore.”

In addition to their flame-broiled burgers, Charlie’s also offers 12  flavors of wings.

“We’ll custom-make sauces for customers,” Urenda said. “Sometimes they’ll take the spicy barbecue and mix it with the honey barbecue. Or mix the sweet garlic with the spicy garlic. They like to mix and match our flavors.”

While the most popular chicken wings are the honey barbecue and the original, both Urenda and his son, Josh, prefer the spicy wings.

“This guy can sit down and eat 20 wings no problem,” Urenda said of Josh.

When it comes to Charlie’s Flame-Broiled Burgers, appetite is key.

“You can’t go in there semi-hungry,” Lamson said.

He recalled the time he first visited Charlie’s and saw his burger.

“The thing must have stood 6 inches high,” he said.

Each burger at Charlie’s comes with a side of steak fries, but customers can substitute the fries for onion rings, fried mushrooms or even mozzarella sticks.

The prices range from $8.49 for your basic hamburger (with Charlie’s secret sauce, of course) to $12.99 for the “manly burger,” which is an entire pound of beef in one patty.

Although the prices aren’t the lowest around, “you get what you pay for” when it comes to the caliber and size of the meal, Lamson said.

“We offer a quality burger,” Urenda said. “We use 100 percent fresh-ground chuck and we make all of our sauces in house. It’s a grown-up burger. It’s not a kiddy burger.”

Charlie’s Flame-Broiled Burgers is located at 1006 Lake Street South Kirkland and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

From the mouth of Charlie himself: “Come try us out, enjoy a good burger.”

Lauren Dire is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.