By Becky Billingsley

Thursday, May 26, 2011, Conway - From the beginning when you walk through the door and smell fresh popcorn until the end when your meal can finish with a premium ice cream cone, Burger Brothers in Conway has a wide variety of sense-tantalizing ingredients.

From the outside the building at 1518 4th Ave. is jaunty with bright green, white and yellow, and inside the decor is beige with red chairs. It's roomy and spotlessly clean. To the right of the front door is the cash register, carry-out pickup and a Blue Bell Ice Cream counter with 16 flavors. Toward the rear of the dining room is a window into the kitchen where the server can pick up plates.

Dan and Tina Malfroid own this fine establishment. They handled the cooking at Thee Pour House before opening Burger Brothers in October 2010. Before moving to the Grand Strand area, they had two restaurants in Michigan.

The menu has a variety of items. Burgers ($5-$6, comes with fries) are a specialty, and my dining companion, Matt Cayuela of MyrtleBeachHappyHour.com, had the Conway Burger that he described as, "Like a Big Mac, only better." I could see the special sauce oozing out, and the two burger patties looked plump and juicy.

If you're feeling particularly hungry, you may be interested in the three pound burger. That's right, three pounds of meat. It costs $30 and people often buy one to take to a party or for entire families to split for dinner. The Malfroids also have a Burger Challenge where if someone can eat it all at the restaurant within a certain amount of time, it's free. You can check out photos on their website of people trying to eat it all; only two have succeeded, and they now have their names on a plaque in the restaurant.

Country Cookin' is a big part of the menu. For $6-$10, a few of those choices are fried or grilled pork chops, fried shrimp with hushpuppies and fries, four pieces of fried chicken with original or Cajun bread that comes with potato, side and roll, or a Ribeye Philly Cheese Steak. If you order the fried chicken, you need to allow 20 minutes because Dan cooks it to order.

I tried the Liver and Onion, and it was great. The brown gravy was okay, but what was excellent was the freshness and tenderness of the meat. Dan certainly has his cook times down to a fine art. My side was fried corn - yum - and I also heartily enjoyed some crispy sweet potato fries.

Every day there are $5 lunch specials; the day I visited it was hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet peas and a roll. If you go to their website, you can see the day's special that's posted at 11 a.m. They also have a Burger of the Week for $5 that comes with fries and a drink, and a $10 entree meal of the week such as 8-ounce ribeye, salad, potato, fried corn and roll. 

Hot Dogs are also on the menu; specialty dogs like the Carolina Dog with sirloin beef chili, slaw, onion and mustard are $2.50, but if you order two of them then you also get free fries.

Next time I visit Burger Brothers I want to try something from the Mexican section. The Taco Salad ($8) sounds great, and so does the Super Wet Burrito, which is also $8. My friend Matt said he had the Super Wet Burrito at Thee Pour House, and it is huge.

I'd also like to have one of their Mandarin Chicken Walnut Salads for $7, or the Grilled Chicken Wrap for $6. Children ages 12 and younger can choose from several $4 dishes that come with a drink.

And don't forget the Blue Bell Ice Cream! You can see all the flavors here. 

And that popcorn aroma that envelopes your senses when you enter? It comes from an old-timey popcorn cart standing just to the right of the Burger Challenge plaques. It works, and there's fresh popcorn.

All these elements add up to one big reason why I like this place so much: It feels like an extension of home. The service is friendly, accomodating and prompt, and everyone there can't do enough to ensure you're comfortable and well-fed.

"It's hot outside, would you like some more Diet Coke in a to-go cup?" our server asked.

Why yes, thanks for asking. And I'll see you again real soon.

Starting June 1, Burger Brothers is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; they're closed on Saturdays and Sundays. If you want to call in an order, the number is (843) 458-4317.