Punk's: Good Food and Weird Aspirations

How do I characterize Punk's Backyard Grill? Is it a chain restaurant? A fast food restaurant? Does it have good food? The first three questions don't have clear answers, but the last one does. For the first question, Annapolis has the distinction of being home to the first-ever Punk's, which pleases me, because all of the other new restaurants at the mall and the Annapolis Towne Center are chains. However, according to its website, the founders of Punk's want to take the concept of backyard grilled food nationwide. I can understand the founders' desire to have their concept take off nationwide, but even so, it's funny in a roundabout way to aspire to become a chain restaurant. For the second question, I wouldn't call Punk's a fast food restaurant because there is a wait of around 10 or so minutes between the time that food is ordered at the counter and the time that it comes to the table. The answer to the third question, whether the food is good, is a resounding yes. The Punk's concept is fresh and natural food, and it tasted like it! I ordered a burger with pepperjack cheese and bacon. The roll was nice and fluffy -- not the standard spongy roll that one would buy factory-made and pre-packaged at the grocery store. The burger had a wonderful, savory flavor, and the applewood-smoked bacon had a little something extra. It came with a few leaves of arugula and two cherry tomatoes. Eugene ordered a grilled sausage, which was also tasty. Since we were trying the restaurant out for the first time, we decided to go all out, so we ordered two sides -- macaroni & cheese and potato salad, both of which were excellent. Even though mac and cheese and potato salad are rather standard fare, it takes effort to make them really really good. The mac & cheese had a great consistency and flavor and the potato salad avoided being overly mayonnaise-y and was nicely seasoned with pepper. We also ordered two desserts -- a key lime pie and a cookie ice cream sandwich. I am super picky when it comes to desserts, and I had no complaints. The key lime pie tasted like I made it at home, in a good way; perfectly tart and tangy with a nice graham cracker crust. The cookies for the ice cream sandwich were outstanding. They were nice and chewy with a good chocolate flavor and dusted with sugar. Other things I liked... the natural sodas! Instead of the standard Coke or Pepsi products, Punk's offers Boylan's sodas, and I had the sugar-cane cola, which was really nice. Also, the kids menu is healthy. For example, instead of chicken nuggets, it offers grilled chicken bites, and all kids meals come with milk and veggie sticks. At first, I was annoyed by the lack of fries, but then realized that fries don't really mesh with the concept of backyard grill cooking. The only drawback? The prices. They aren't exorbitant or unreasonable, but this isn't a place where you would go to get a lot of food cheap. The burger was a perfect portion for me (a 5'1" woman), but a really really hungry person might find it a bit lacking; some people may balk at paying $6.95 for a burger of that size, especially since cheese and bacon are extra and the sides are a la carte. It was about $30 for both of us to eat, which is a bit much for backyard fare. But, the food is good and imaginative, so I would go back once in awhile, just not all the time.