Joe's Burger Search

Joe's Burger Search ^ | 12/31/2010 | WizKid

[wizkid]

Welcome to my search for the perfect burger. My mission is to search and inform one burger at a time.

[stainlessbanner]

Seen the DFW Burger Bracket [pdf]?
Kincaids, Dutch's, Love Shack, M&O, Mooyahs, Trailboss

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Here's mine. Great shakes and frings ( fries plus onion rings ). Even buy a bag of the fring batter for home.

http://www.cheeburger.com/locations.asp

I go to the one in Bluffton SC, the only one in GA, NC, and SC. Savannah was supposed to get one for years but they couldn't get a location.

[mylife]

I hate to say this...

But I haven’t had a decent burger (other than my own) in the 19 years I have been in Texas.

[stainlessbanner]

Kincaids is great - i think one of the son’s took over for his grandaddy. I heard Love’s is good too...anyway there’s a list of north texas burger joints to put on your list :)

[mylife]

Sounds like a roadtrip is in order.

[wizkid]

If you want a nice BBQ burger and happen to be in LA, check out the Hickory burger at the Apple Pan on the west side, Pico Blvd across from the Westside Pavilion Mall.

Apple Pan's burgers are arguably the finest example of the California-style burger - Serious Eats

I must admit to straying from burgers for a while when I lived in LA. Pastrami Burritos had my number. There were tons of places that served them. All you had to do was look for places that had Hamburgers, Pastrami, Burritos listed proudly on their signs. James Elroy sent me day dreaming of my brief affair the other day when he wrote about them in his new book, Bloods a Rover:

Like most stray cats, I eventually came back when I fell hard for the Hickory Burger at the Apple Pan:

The Apple Pan has a funky u-shaped layout and is usually jammed to the gills. Seating is first come first serve and it is up to the customers to keep score. Half the fun was watching the me me LA crowd fighting over seats. Needless to say, it was best to go as a small party or by yourself during non-peak hours.

Note the huge brick grill dominating the horse shoe.

If you could man up and elbow your way to a seat, your reward was either a steak burger or hickory burger prepared exactly the way Mr. Apple did in 1947 including paper cup holder for the drink:

That is the beauty of the Apple Pan. The owner and his wife envisioned their idea of the perfect burger and imposed their will to a degree that this perfect burger is still being created exactly the way it was over sixty years ago.

The BBQ burger genius, Mr Apple:

The ENFORCER, Mrs Apple:

You see some reviews where they nit pick about the Apple Pie: Too much lettuce, Grumpy Staff, No Substitutions, no 3 pound burger, blah blah blah...

All I can say bring me a slice of cheese with that slice of apple pie:

[NoCmpromiz]

Back before many of you were born, there was a chain called White Tower that originated in Wisconsin in 1926 and had 230 restaurants all over the midwest at their peak. In the 1970's in Toledo (the one in Ohio, not Spain) there were two locations. They sold what they called the 'Bodacious Double Butterburger' which was the best thing that happened to ground beast, er, beef.

I have not lived in the Toledo area for over 30 years, but this thread got me curious. I find that there is still a White Tower in Toledo on Sylvania Avenue and according to Wikipedia it is the last one open. Whether they still have the Butterburger on the menu or not will have to wait until someone from northwest Ohio (or southeastern Michigan) visits the place and reports back. I did note from posts to this tread that Culvers claims to sell the original Butterburger, but they have been in business only since 1984. Culvers is based out of Wisconsin however, and I am curious to know if there is any connection between Culvers and the old White Tower people...

I could go for a bodacious double butterburger platter about now...

White Tower

Article in The Blade from 2008

[mylife]

I just cant get near LA

I tried once. I got to long beach and turned the eff around.

[mylife]

I have had some serious burgers in that part of the world.

[wizkid]

Thank you for teaching me something new about burgers. I did not know Wisconsin was such a burger hub. One of my favortite sites, RoadFood.com, recommends this place for butter burgers:

Solly's Grille

Here is the great butter burger of Milwaukee, a city where burgers are a passion. It is a fairly thin patty of beef, cooked through, served on a bun literally dripping with butter. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, we recommend you reserve it for a milk shake, which is Dairy State-rich and made in flavors that include chocolate, hot fudge, strawberry, pineapple, vanilla, and the superb fresh banana malt.

[mylife]

I think Culvers just recreated an old fashioned idea.

They toast and butter the buns, they make home made frozen custard, but they are a chain.
I have eaten there and it’s fine, but i am certain that it is not up to the standards that you are thinking of.

No chain does.

[mylife]

Oddly, McDodo makes the worst burger on the planet.

The plain ol Whopper with cheese or Jumbo Jack with cheese beat them hands down.

[Jet Jaguar]

That will do.

I was going to suggest the Owl Cafe or any Blakes Lottaburger for Green Chile Cheeseburger.

All rock.

[mylife]

By the way, Colonel Sanders sells the chicken ***es to McDonald.
So when you bite into one of their burgers and you hear... FFfrraapptt.
You know you got one of the Colonels ***es.

[waterhill]

[mylife]

Stop ****ing around you clown!

[Poser]

Eddie’s is excellent. Fast Eddie’s in Alton, Illinois deserves a mention as well.

[mylife]

Eddie’s is great just for the time capsule.

I take my mom there and her eyes light up.

[mylife]

Notice Eddies uses Ballpark Stadium Mustard, That was actually sent into outerspace by request. A friend of mine did the honors.

Burgers with attitude in a place full of character.

Eddie’s is a very cool place. Classic 50’s style fast food made to order in a lakeside town place. They have lots of indoor seating, and some outdoor seating as stools by their indoor-outdoor service counter. They also have classic looking jukeboxes, though I’m not sure if they have the Surfin Bird song made famous by the TV cartoon Family Guy. The place is a bit on the worn side but it clean and will be around for a long time.

On this visit, my order was simple- a burger and a small soda. They’re burgers are similar to Steak N Shake, only Eddie’s burgers has a more intense beef flavor. Condiments? The crew doesn’t put any on. Instead, the customers go to the condiment bar to put whatever they want on their burgers and hot dogs. Among the condiments are sweet pepper relish, horseradish sauce, hot chopped peppers, hot and mild peppers, chopped onions.... oh yeah pickles, ketchup, mustard, Stadium Mustard... there’s more but I cant remember.

Burger tasted very good. All I did was add ketchup, mustard and chopped onions. The bun was grilled or steamed and very fresh.

The prices are fair for what you get, and expect some wait time because they seem to get busy a lot during the day.

The only downside are the customers who think they walk around as if they owned the friggin place and or have no manners whatsoever. There’s also the parents who cant control their unruly kids. Keep your focus on the faaaaaaaaaaantastic food and the people you’re with, especially that special someone :=D

Eddie’s Grill means lunch and dinner next time I’m in the area.

[mylife]

Awesome