There used to be an upscale place that sat right on the watersedge. Not only did they have a caeser salad that would knock your socks off they made the best burger I've ever had. It looked something like this: Top grade patty, gorgonzola cheese, applewood smoked bacon on a high quality bun. My mouth watered as I typed that. The cheese is what does it and the funny thing is I don't even like its close sister known as bleu cheese. Sadly they are no longer open but lucky for me it can be reproduced in my own kitchen with quality ingredients. Now would be great. Maybe tonight. As some have said, when I'm at a BBQ and the cook slaps a burger on an uncooked at all bun I shudder. People, the buns must be slightly toasted to obtain the maximum burger experience.
http://www.kumascorner.com/food I've only been there once but it was fantastic. It's a total dive metal bar with every single employee either tattooed, pierced or some combination of the two. The burgers come on a pretzel roll which is really good, their beer selection is outstanding as well. I went at a little after noon on a Friday and just barely got in. I understand the wait is usually for a couple hours on any given night. From the menu:
Ohhh yes... I am a burger man. When in doubt I order them at restaurants because it is, well, kinda difficult to fuck 'em up. You'll always end up full and happy. I worked at a Culver's for 2 1/2 years and the company I work for now carries four kinds of stuffed burgers (the absolute best is filled with buffalo wing sauce and bleu cheese). I know and deeply love good burgers. If you want the best burger in the world that can be had in less than 5 minutes, walk into a Culver's and order a double butterburger (sub cheddar cheese!) with bacon and lettuce on it and then onion rings, BBQ sauce, and steak sauce on the side. Extra bacon and cheese if you are a man and a third patty if wrestling season just ended. Remove the bun and arrange half a dozen or so onion rings on top of the bacon so they are evenly distributed. Put the entire packet of steak sauce into the BBQ sauce with a good deal of black pepper and mix it up. Put liberal amounts of said Miracle Sauce over the onion rings and on the underside of the bun and place it on top of the burger. You're looking at a 6" mountain of calories right now. Compress the onion rings some so you can actually fit it in your mouth. I have yet to find an equivalent. When I grill up burgers at home, I always make stuffed burgers. They are called Juicy Lucy's here in town. It's essentially two patties with a good deal of cheese (or whatever else- be creative) inbetween. Leaner beef can be used because the cheese will keep that sucker extremely juicy and moist and you don't want it to fall apart or shrink up too much. I mix worscestershire sauce, seasoned salt, chili powder, and a few other seasonings into the beef to give it some character. Finely chopped onions or peppers in the mix can make it interesting too. I basically form two 1/4-lb patties, put a square of cheese on top of one, and very carefully lay the second on top and press the edges so it is all sealed up. I also toast the bun... I like some crunchy texture in my burgers. I typically use habanero jack cheese (killer stuff!), however I've experimented with swiss cheese and mushrooms, bacon and cheddar, and a few others that remain experiments. The possibilities are endless!
The best place in my area (Ann Arbor, MI) is Five Guys. But if I decide to drive to Dearborn we have a place called Miller's Bar which is damn good. It's styled like an old-school diner and has a very limited menu, i.e., burger or cheeseburger and fries or onion rings. There's a full liquor bar but the only beer they serve is Miller products. All the Ford guys go there after their shifts and it's a great place to relax. GQ actually named it as one of the 50 best bars in America a couple of years ago.
The best burger I have ever had was at a pool hall here in Atlanta that is just called "The Pool Hall." It is the oldest pool hall in Atlanta, and for those of you who are familiar with the city it is on Irby Avenue in Buckhead. I haven't been since the husband and wife who owned it sold it, but I had a lot of good burgers there over the years. For places that I still go my favorite is a little dive called Rhea's. There are four of them in metro Atlanta (3 in Roswell, 1 in Alpharetta). Their burgers are small (I can eat 4), but the key thing is that they are made on French Bread that is lightly buttered and grilled.
My favourite burger is from Harvey's, which is a Canadian chain but if I'm not mistaken it's owned by Kelsey's. The Big Harv (their hands down best burger) was a monster of a burger and it disappeared for quite a while then made its glorious return a few months ago renamed the Great Canadian Burger. Great Canadian burger with cheddar cheese and bacon, all the toppings minus mayo, onion rings and a root beer. One hell of a meal. Best shitty burger and biggest guilty pleasure? Spoiler Thats right bitches, it's the McGangbang. You bet your ass thats a McChicken inside of a double cheese burger. Not for the faint of heart. Seriously. If you don't have the heart of an ox you're probably gonna have a heart attack soon after.
I miss Biff-Burger since we moved away from St. Pete. They also did tots and shakes and other old-timey diner stuff. Soooo delicious! Probably my all-time favorite burger chain is Fuddruckers. When I lived in St. Pete, the nearest one was in Orlando, a couple of hours. Now that I live in Roanoke, the nearest one is Richmond, also a couple of hours away. Figures. And I'm not crazy about Five Guys for one very important reason: they cook all burgers well-done. I like a little pink in my burger. That charred crap, while surprisingly still sometimes a bit juicy, really ruins it for me. I'm also not a big fan of their fries. They're almost too potato-y, if that makes any sense. I'd love to try In-N-Out although I wouldn't want to trade Chick-Fil-A for it, thanks.
the best burger I've ever had was at Junior's in NYC. The patty melted in your mouth, The brioche bun complimented the salty patty perfectly and to top it off the frazzled onions just sealed the deal resulting in a what could only be described as a palatable orgasm. Every burger I've had since then paled in comparison to the perfection I experienced. It's like I'm always Chasing Amy, albeit in burger form. Currently all I need to have a great burger is a good quality patty, a chunky slice of tomato and gherkin, crisp lettuce and of course a thick slice of bacon. It still pales in comparison the perfection I have experienced but I'm clearly in the wrong country. damn, now all I want to do is look for flights to NYC just for that wonderful burger.
Burgers probably make my list of top ten favorite foods. I can't afford to go out to eat too often, but basically whenever I do I end up getting a burger, because I love them so and I don't have a grill so, unlike basically everything else on a menu, I can't make it at home. That being said, I have a pretty simple (and/or classic) taste. The most important factor for me is size (wink wink), I want them nice and thick and juicy (nudge nudge). Don't give me classy bread or gourmet cheeses or anything else. I want low grade cow meat, medium, with American or Cheddar cheese and maybe some red onion and a piece of lettuce if I'm feeling fancy. If I'm feeling totally high brow, I'll get Swiss and mushrooms, but that's rare. Burgers are meant to be a simple pleasure, keep it that way. If I'm not at a BBQ, I've found that the best burgers are served in pubs. Maybe it's the atmosphere that adds to it, though. I did have my first Shake Shack experience though. A date found out that I was claiming to be a New Yorker without ever having eaten there, so that's where we went. It was a half hour wait in line, the tables were small, the seats were uncomfortable and they were eaten out of cardboard boxes, but oh man, that was an experience. We kept feeling bad because we weren't talking to each other since the food was so good, but at least it was a mutual understanding. It was weird, because it had that sort of greasy burger chain feel to the, (similar to Five Guys) but I just couldn't get enough. Although, in the end, I do prefer the more charbroiled taste of a pub burger. Oh man, I want a burger.
Donut burgers. De-fucking-licious. I've never seen them at a restaurant, but it can't be far off. Note: do not use crumbly cake donuts, make sure to use a nice solid glazed donut.
Gordo's: My personal favorite of the top three burger joints in Cincy. The house burger has sautéed onions and ground bacon mixed in with the burger meat. The ground meat is not ground into the usual spaghetti string mush but a more flakey style. Zipps: The greaser thiner pattied burger of the bunch. I had the triple last time and was stuffed beyond belief. Good times. Terry's Turf Club: This is the most over rated of the bunch in my opinion. It made it on to a Discovery Channel show and the popularity blew up. They specialize in specialized burgers, a lot of specialized sauces and condiments. The add ons can be tasty, the expensive cheddar cheese is amazing. But the burger just wasn't as good as billed, definitely no Gordo's. They also have really weird hours and most of the time the place has an overly long wait. While not as good as a lot of local specialty burger joints I do enjoy Five Guys quite a bit. A order of fries can bust a gut. I also think their cajun seasoning makes them some of the best fries of any chain. I think fries can be a huge determining factor of a restaurants over all appeal. How they mesh with a bite of burger and sip of coke is usually how a judge taste.
In Atlanta, one of the best (and most consistent) burger places is the Vortex. There are two - one in Midtown, and one in Little Five. Little Five has free parking, but I have nostalgic ties to the Midtown location. Midtown also used to have a wall of nudie pics, but they've been taken down in the last couple years. The Vortex has every variation of meat and toppings I've ever wanted (I personally recommend the Blue Shroom burger or the Hell burger), along with an amusing/interesting menu and waitstaff, sweet potato fries, and a beer list of decent variety and prices. Marlowe's Tavern, which I know is franchised at least in the Atlanta area, maybe in other areas as well, has an awesome lamb burger called the Colorado burger. Lamb, feta, roasted peppers... Amazing. Grindhouse Burgers in the Sweet Auburn Market has been getting good press lately, but I haven't tried it yet. Anyone from Atlanta been there yet?
Dick's in Seattle. Cheap burgers, delightfully greasy, all around awesome. They're legendary in the Seattle area. I will miss them when we move.