Triple XXX Serves West Lafayette Burgers With a Side of Nostalgia

At Triple XXX in West Lafayette, a burger can arrive with peanut butter and bacon, a side of sweet potato fries can come with cinnamon marshmallow fluff, and the drink in the glass is likely to be house-made root beer. It is a diner with a broad comfort-food vocabulary and a pleasantly old-fashioned way of putting it all together.

The room has the close, active energy of a classic drive-in-era stop rather than a sprawling restaurant. Its winding, loop-shaped counter puts diners near the action and near one another, while the menu gives them plenty to discuss: named burgers, pork tenderloin sandwiches, chili, hash browns, shakes, floats and breakfast plates with Purdue connections.

The named burgers are a good place to begin. Some carry the names of Purdue-associated figures, turning the menu into a little local roster as well as a list of lunch options. Duane Purvis, Bernie Flowers and Drew Brees all show up in one form or another.

The Duane Purvis All-American is the conversation starter. It brings together a burger, bacon and peanut butter, a pairing that sounds like a dare until the salty bacon and creamy peanut butter begin to make sense on the same bite. It is the order for diners who would rather try the house oddity than play it safe.

For a more straightforward old-school burger, the Bernie Flowers All-Pro has been served as a quarter-pound chop steak burger on a toasted sesame bun with onion, lettuce, tomato and Miracle Whip. The classic burger and double burger options keep the basics covered for anyone who prefers a familiar stack.

Then there is the Flash Gordon, which takes a deliberately larger view of lunch: four patties, bacon, grilled onion, cheese, jalapeno pepper and jalapeno ketchup. It is not subtle, nor is it trying to be. A burger like that is best approached as a table topic before it becomes a plate.

The menu changes over time, so named specialties are worth checking before making a special trip for one particular sandwich. Still, the larger idea remains clear: Triple XXX has long made room for burgers that are more memorable than a standard patty and bun.

Pork tenderloin sandwiches are another prominent savory choice, offering a familiar Indiana favorite alongside all the burger variations. That helps when a group divides into burger hunters, tenderloin loyalists and people who simply want a plate of diner food.

Sides are not treated as an afterthought. Onion rings, fried mushrooms and hash browns offer the expected fried-and-crisp pleasures, while chili-cheddar fries add house-made chili and melted cheddar to the equation.

The sweet potato fries take a more playful route with cinnamon marshmallow fluff. The combination turns a side dish into something halfway between a snack and dessert, with sweetness against the fries' earthy flavor. It is one of those details that makes an ordinary diner order feel distinctly its own.

House-made root beer is central to the Triple XXX meal. Burgers and root beer are the natural pairing here, and refills have commonly been included with the drink. The soda also travels well beyond the table: packaged root beer has been available to take home in four-packs and six-packs.

A root beer float is the obvious next move, but the flavor also appears in a root beer cake served with ice cream. It is a fitting diner dessert, built around the same house specialty instead of treating the drink as a separate part of the menu.

Milkshakes have a notably ice-cream-forward character, making them more substantial than a thin sip-through-a-straw afterthought. Between shakes, floats and cake, a person with a sweet tooth can build an entire second course around the soda fountain side of the place.

Triple XXX is not only a lunch stop. Breakfast brings in corned beef hash, chili, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and the reassuringly broad range of traditional diner fare that makes an early meal easy to customize.

The Drew Brees breakfast sandwich or plate features split, toasted biscuits with sausage gravy. It is a hearty use of two breakfast standards that are often served separately, and it fits the restaurant's habit of giving familiar food a little extra personality.

Even breakfast has a few tangents from the usual diner script. Jalapeno ketchup and root beer jam add unexpected sweet heat and sweetness to the condiment lineup. Dishes can sometimes be modified, too; a corned beef addition to an omelet is the sort of combination that suits a kitchen comfortable with requests outside the printed formula.

The loop-shaped counter is more than a visual throwback. It gives the compact interior a social rhythm, with people coming in for a quick meal, families settling into seats, and neighboring diners close enough for a passing comment about an enormous burger or an unusual order.

This is not a spacious, quiet, formal dining room. The closeness is intentional in spirit, recalling the days when counter stools and an active grill were a main attraction. People who enjoy a lively diner will likely appreciate the bustle; those wanting more separation have outdoor picnic tables under tents.

The crowd has long included Purdue students, local regulars, families and travelers making a West Lafayette stop. That mixed audience helps explain why the menu runs from breakfast staples to sizable burgers and tenderloins: different diners arrive with different missions.

The restaurant can fill quickly around lunch and during busy Purdue-related periods or major event weekends. Waits have ranged from no wait to roughly 20 minutes, depending on the time and traffic around town.

Parking can be trickier when the dining room is busy. Free options have included nearby or adjacent lots as well as street spaces, though availability naturally changes with the crowd.

Triple XXX has generally been an affordable casual meal, with many meals falling around the $7 to $20 range. The most expensive-looking order may still be the Flash Gordon, but its four patties make it a very different proposition from a simple burger and root beer.