FRISCO – If you want to get a room full of burger devotees buzzing, mention one little phrase: In-N-Out. The 60-year-old California-based chain inspires a particularly fervent brand of loyalty with its limited menu of fast-food burgers, fries and shakes. And despite frequent expansion rumors, the privately held company currently has no plans to enter our market anytime soon.

SONYA N. HEBERT/DMN

The Go Wild burger

So that's the bad news. The good news is that places to get an In-N-Out-style burger are proliferating in this area faster than you can say, "Hold the onions."

Home-grown Mooyah (which recently closed its Uptown branch) and D.C.-area import Five Guys do a passable rendition of In-N-Out's famed thin-patty Double Double burger, but newcomer GoGo Burger may come the closest to replicating many of the California chain's flavors.

Don't write it off as simply an In-N-Out clone, though. The minds behind GoGo have created a few novel menu additions that set their fare apart from competitors. Some of those inventions go down smoother than others.

Hamburgers are, of course, the main attraction, and GoGo's acquit themselves nicely. The signature GoGo Burger is the by-now-familiar construction of two thin beef patties paired with two slices of American cheese on a hefty, squooshy bun. Standard toppings include lettuce, tomato, pickles and onions, though bacon, jalapeño, avocado and grilled onions can be added on request. (You can also upgrade to a jalapeño bun and cheddar, pepper jack or Swiss cheese.) All sandwiches feature a generous swipe of the house sauce, a thick concoction similar to Thousand Island dressing and pretty close in taste and texture to you-know-

who's famed spread.

Despite the slim profile of the patties, the meat in my GoGo Burger sported a welcome bit of pink and plenty of juicy, drippy goodness. The noticeable char flavor of the beef was nicely offset by the fresh garnishes, and the fluffy bun that bookended it all held everything together well. The triple-meat Go Wild was a little more unwieldy, laden with not only an extra slice of meat and cheese but a slick of grilled onions. It's served on the jalapeño bun, and while I didn't notice much chile flavor baked into the bread, its slightly more rustic texture helped temper the sandwich's more unruly filling.

Hamburgers aren't the only protein option here. The brief menu also includes a sandwich dubbed the Go Lean, made with a plump, tender chicken breast. Mine was just as gloriously juicy as the burger, accented with a decadent mash of fresh avocado and the same thick smear of tangy house sauce.

Vegetarians aren't left out. The Go Green subs portobello mushrooms for beef and Swiss cheese for the more prosaic American, and the kids' menu offers other meatless options, namely a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a gooey grilled cheese made with a hamburger bun in lieu of bread.

But what's a burger joint without a side of fries? GoGo's hand-cut potatoes are the real deal: skin-on, cut slim and fried till golden and barely crisped outside. Served in a cute cardboard box reminiscent of a Chinese takeout container, they looked as good as they tasted, except for one weekend dinner visit when our serving (big enough to share) was almost all runty stubs barely 2 inches long. Still, I'd take those stumps any day over the ill-conceived cheddar tater tots. Shredded potatoes and Wisconsin cheddar cheese are rolled into golf-ball-size spheres and fried till dark brown. What in theory should be comfort food at its finest turned into tough, flavorless balls whose only lasting impression was of the fryer oil used to cook them.

My advice is to pass them up and save the calories for one of GoGo's Extreme Shakes, which come in such offbeat flavors as Twinkie, Snowball and chocolate frosting, as well as more traditional offerings such as strawberry and Oreo. The thick and creamy shakes are impressively forthright: vanilla ice cream hand-blended with your chosen flavoring. The strawberry shake was refreshing, with a good fresh-fruit bite, though the wackier flavors held their own undeniable appeal. Both the Twinkie and Zinger versions conjured liquid forms of the mass-market snack cakes that spawned them, while the rainbow-sprinkle-crowned vanilla frosting shake tasted like a sippable, slurpable birthday cake. What they lack in sophistication is easily made up in goofy, grin-inducing childhood nostalgia.

GoGo Burger is owned by Jeff Frankel, the restaurateur responsible for neighboring Mattito's. Though the stark dining room is small compared with its Tex-Mex sibling, it packs a visual punch with its bold accents of lime green and pumpkin orange and colorful modernist burger artworks.

Despite any culinary similarities to its popular predecessors, GoGo Burger seems poised to carve out its own identity in the growing dining destination of Frisco Square.

Kim Harwell is a Dallas food writer.

Food {star}{star}

Atmosphere {star}{star}

Price: $ (burgers $2.99 to $4.99, sides $1.79 to $1.99, shakes $2.99)

Address: 6129 Main St., Frisco

Phone: 214-472-2715

Web site: www.gogoburgerusa.com

Hours: Sunday-Thursday

11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday- Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair accessible: Yes

Smoking area: None

Alcohol: Beer