People are sitting in the dimly lit room at the metallic tables, eyebrows furrowed as they lean over their clipboards with the intensity of students taking final exams. They tap their pencils to the rhythm of an upbeat song that fills the retro-styled room as they analyze each selection, before finally marking their choices on the papers.

These people are eating at The Counter in Ballard, which has become one of my new favorite burger joints in Seattle.

While the custom-burger concept isn’t new to Seattle or even to the Ave, The Counter’s menu is more expansive than your average burger joint. It’s home to items like herb goat cheese spread, roasted corn and bean salsa, apricot sauce and even English muffins — all ingredients that mesh together to create someone’s idea of a perfect burger.

Besides the gigantic menu, The Counter also has a more chic atmosphere than most other burger joints. It has an open layout with ample seating, and a bar area that stretches along the back wall that is illuminated by a flood of fluorescent lights.

Deciding between dried cranberries or hard-boiled eggs as burger toppings, I munched on a side of sweet-potato fries. The skinny fries, which were still hot from the fryer, were crispy on the outside and soft inside and complemented the horseradish dipping sauce perfectly.

For my order, I chose the one-third-pound burger with sharp provolone cheese, grilled pineapple, jalapenos, roasted red peppers, tomatoes and a fried egg on a normal bun. For a zesty kick, I also tried out their ginger-soy glaze. Together, I hoped that these toppings would have a tropical and Asian flair brought out by the flavors of the pineapple and soy glaze, and I added the fried egg because I was curious to see how The Counter would serve that non-traditional item.

As soon as I found a way to bite into the burger, the fried egg broke apart into a surprisingly flavorful mess. The sweetness of the hot pineapple chunks mingled with the subtle heat that sparked from the jalapeno bits and the ginger soy glaze blanketed the entire burger. The actual beef patty was cooked just as I had requested, with a pink center and well-done outside, and was piping hot. The combination of my chosen toppings, which were all fresh, had seeped into the patty. This was an impressive meal that satiated my tummy.

Since other food critics had praised The Counter’s milkshakes, I thought I would see how the shakes measured against my own standards. I got the basic chocolate shake that had the right chocolate-to-ice-cream ratio and was as thick and creamy as I could have hoped, but the restaurant’s other daring flavors caught my eye. I got a taste of the restaurant’s Apple Pie and fell head over heels for its bits of apple crumble and cinnamon clusters nestled on top. It made me drool in anticipation for Thanksgiving.

While the shakes had balanced amounts of ice cream and milk, I still tasted miniscule chunks of ice, which means the shakes could have been more smoothly spun.

For $16 for a burger, fries and a shake, The Counter in Ballard is a great burger joint that I’ll be visiting again. When I do make the trek over, I’ll be bringing an eraser so that I’ll have less trouble marking my order when I’m choosing between all of their mouth-watering burger dressings.

Reach contributing writer Kat Chow at weekender@dailyuw.com.