Dining Out: Brandon's Burgers (Kokomo, IN)

Lol Cluck & Chuck

 Exterior: 3/5

Seen from the public-facing end

And then here's the drive-thru

Brandon's started as a food trailer based in Lafayette, IN and then opened in its current brick-and-mortar digs in Kokomo in July 2025. The building had been a Rally's, I think, and it has a nice location convenient to 931 and the little cluster of hotels on the south side of Kokomo. The building looks clean and eye-catching, although the signage could be a little more visible. You know it's there, though, and they do a good job of advertising their specials to the main-road traffic.

Ambience: 3/5

Outdoor seating

If you want to dine on-site there's some outdoor seating under an awning on the 931-facing side of the building. It looked comfortable enough, but we were there on a very hot day so we decided to just take our food back home. I'd be a little leery of sitting here even in more temperate weather, though, because you'd be visible to lots of folks driving by. A little privacy here - maybe just some tall-ish plants - would go a long way.

Variety: 4/5

One of those cups contains Pibb, which my husband thought was a very cool thing to have on the menu

Onion Rings and a Cookie Butter Burger

Brandon's thrives on interesting staples, although they do also offer rotating monthly offerings that are super-cool. When we went the special was a Cookie Butter Burger with cookie butter on the bun and two Biscoffs on top of the meat patty. (It was amazing, by the way.) Their offerings are mostly burgers and chicken sandwiches with various savory, sweet, and spicy toppings ranging from jalapeno to blueberry. They also have a tenderloin, of course, because it's Indiana. You can do fries, onion rings, or tots for a side. All of the burgers are substantial - the baseline is a quarter pound but you can also order then as a double - a half-pound of meat! Their menu isn't extensive, but that's ok in part because it's a drive-thru joint and you don't want people sitting and looking at options for like ten minutes. One caution: This is not an especially vegetarian-friendly place to eat.

Quality: 5/5

BBQ Western Burger and fries

The food at Brandon's is... spectacular. We were all blown away with the quality of our stuff, including the kids (see below). The burgers were thick and juicy and the topping flavors were all calibrated to work well. The fries have nice pizzazz to them and I was pleased with how thick my onion rings were. Seriously, the Cookie Butter Burger was swoon-worthy and when I made the mistake of letting my 5YO have a bite he tried the take the whole thing from me. We inhaled our food with no regrets.

Kid-Friendly: 5/5

Kid Burger with Fries

Kid Chicken Tenders with Fries - Dino Nuggets!

Brandon's knows kids. Their kid burgers are a perfect size for the target audience and of course crinkle-cut fries are always a win. It's the kid chicken tenders that really blew me away, though. First of all, they're enormous. Second, they're dinosaurs - different KINDS of dinosaurs! Pictured above you can see the pterodactyls, but there are also T-rexes and stegosauruses, which made me really happy. (As a parent of littles I am, I confess, easily amused.) The kids' offerings, in short, combine quality and novelty in a lucrative way. And this was also a really convenient place for us to drive through after a morning at the Splash Pad in Jackson Morrow Park!

Would Eat Again?: Green Light

Yummm we will absolutely be going back. I want to try more burgers, or maybe even the chicken sandwiches even though chicken patties aren't really my idea of a good time. I'm sure Brandon's finds a way to make them taste good. I doubt we'll be eating there at any point, but we can sure make a habit of driving through! Now, there were some snafus with our order - they didn't give us the right sauce and got one oft the kids' drinks wrong. Honestly, I don't care. The food was that delicious. Brandon's has a lot to offer and I think that if we as a community reach out and embrace them they're going to do great things.