Alligator is a common novelty meat in the US southeast.
Often served as an appetizer of small nuggets breaded and deep fried. Frankly rather innocuous; the breading and frying overwhelms the not-very flavorful meat. Which is usually kinda chewy unless it’s ground. And if ground, you have no clue what else might be added in.
Salmon is expensive here, but hey, it is Christmas. That looks amazing, and my kids are into cooking with me. Looks like a great project.
I think the most exotic burger I have tried is Oryx (also known as Gemsbok) in Namibia.
Delicious.
Bacon burgers are a thing (I mean patties made from ground bacon, not just bacon as a topping in the sandwich). I’ve not seen them at any sort of mainstream fast food place, but they occasionally pop up at independent restaurants and they can be really good.
Oh, wow. I have about 1kg of artisan bacon living in my freezer and I had no idea what to do with it.
Now I do.
I’ll keep about half until someone suggests something to do with the other 1/2 kg of bacon.
I even have the perfect cheese for the burgers from some artisinal shop.
Did I say artisan too many times? I’m not a hipster but I support local small business.
Both? Denver, CO (generally an 70ish minute drive up the interstate from me) used to have an all-pig-based (and yes, they had the Simpson’s quote up in the common area) restaurant called The Berkshire that had a number of wonderful dishes, including ground pork burgers. So they had none of those issues, however, they closed a year or so before COVID.
Otherwise, no, I’m mostly making them at home on my cast-iron or stainless steel cookware depending on what I’m making.
I’ve had alligator as well and agree with the above. To me at least, it tastes like a very mild, fishy chicken. Really a novelty, rather than a useful flavor profile. And as pointed out above, if you didn’t know what it was, you’d probably consider it some form of chicken that maybe was starting to go off.
The two ways I’ve had it was fish-fry style (cornmeal dredge with Cajun seasonings), the second time it was with a bunch of other meats (small chunks) in a gumbo. So, not like I was eating it in any format where it’s own flavor stood out.
I had a summer job at a YWCA camp in Western Massachusetts circa 1977. Our chef was pretty good (he was also an asshole, but that’s a different story). He made some kind of pork burger that was fabulous - laden with spices, crispy on the edges, and pretty salty (in a good way). Yum. We used to very happy when those showed up for dinner.
A local gourmet burger joint had a 50/50 pork and beef burger, and it was great!
When my Dad was serving in Australia during the War he complained places were trying to substitute mutton for beef in the burgers.
Wild boar is one of the few meats that the FDA says often had trichinosis. Make sure it’s well cooked.
Yeah, that’s what I thought, but maybe it’s not beef but some chemical they put in the feedlot beef?
Speaking of, I sprinkle the Mahi-Mahi burgers with Montreal Steak Seasoning. On a ciabatta roll with lettuce, tomato, a Claussen dill slice or two and some mustard aioli…yum!
Has it got to the point where we can talk about the bun?
I make my own, with a 33% rye, 33% whole meal and 34% plain white flour. I use sour dough, so no sugar. The rye especially gives flavour, and the slightly sour roll accentuates many burger styles (I like mine with strong cheese and chilli sauce)
A burger is a burger. You can have a keto diet/no carbs version but I do not believe what you are eating is a burger unless it has bread involved. And pickles.
That is probably why my experience with venison burgers was so sub-par. The burgers were dry and crumbly. To be fair my family was gifted the venison when I was child and neither parent had any experience cooking with it.,
Yes, I had alligator tail made into fried nuggets and served with an orange marmalade. I thought it was pretty good actually. I’d have it again.
That was exactly how it was made. It was some kind of food festival at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO back in 2000.
I also had kangaroo at the same festival and it was horrible. It was not served as you described. It was served like you’d serve roast beef. Just a well-done chunk of solid meat. It was tough and gamy. Like trying to eat particularly foul-tasting leather. I’m sure whoever cooked it had no clue what they were doing.
That’s funny. To me it’s a burger if it’s made of ground up critters. If the meat isn’t ground, it might be a hot sandwich but it’s not a “burger”.
To me the bread is totally immaterial and I usually don’t have any on my burgers.
IMO one POV is no more valid than the other; it takes all kinds to eat all the yummy stuff humans know how to make. Bon apetit!
I’m inclined to agree with @Atamasama. I count Filet-O-Fish because the fish is chopped and formed, so basically ‘ground’. An unprocessed slab-o-fish is, to me, a ‘fish sandwich’.
We have alligator here, but never as burgers. As others noted, they’re chunks that are usually served with a dipping sauce, or as sausages.
Pretty cheap here, depending on where you get it.
Buns are a special treat for me. My ‘burgers’ are usually on low-carb multi-grain bread. (The heels, if I’m lucky.)
I bought a pound of ground bison, and a pound of ground lamb today.
It’s not, it’s a breaded filet of wild caught Alaskan pollock. Peel off the breading or just look at it when you bite it, you can tell it’s an actual filet, the way it flakes apart.
It’s been many years since I had one, but they always looked processed to me. Also, the patties seem to be too uniform in shape, size, and thickness to be unprocessed. If I’m wrong, I’ll still allow it as a special exception because it appears to be processed.
I think they just cut it into a uniform rectangle shape.
Looks like I have everything for the aioli. I’ve got Madras curry powder, hot curry powder, and garam masala. I think I’ll use the Madras. I do need to get keto buns and a red onion. Raw onions bother The Wife’s stomach (especially red ones), but she’s usually OK with grilled ones.
Trader Joe’s had chèvre goat cheese. Three or four different kinds. That’s the only goat cheese I found.
There’s a variety of burger patty, a “brat burger” (“brat” pronounced to rhyme with “cot,” not “cat”) made from bratwurst sausage meat (which, in the U.S., is typically ground pork meat with seasonings)
Brat burgers are popular in Wisconsin, and can often be found at local restaurants and butcher shops. Johnsonville sells a frozen patty line, “Grillers,” which are bratwurst patties.
I have, for several years now, hoped to be able to meet up with @Qadgop_the_Mercotan for brat burgers up in Wisconsin. 
Complete agreement.
Bison burgers slightly preferable to beef. Venison burgers were good but nothing special; basically had because a coworker’s husband hunts and most of a deer is better ground than as steaks and he had extra to give away. Ostrich I’ve eaten as fillets on the grill rare. Not worth the premium to do as a burger. Same with many other game meats, including kangaroo, boar, elk. Local grocery store does sell ground elk though. I’d rather have my salmon as a fillet. Lamb burgers with mint topped with feta are yummy. Turkey burgers boring.
Oh. Eta. My office partner swears by ground brisket burgers smoked.
Bison are genetically distinct from domestic cows. They are both family Bovidae but bison are Bison bison and cows/beef are Bos taurus. So… quite plausible you could be allergic to one and not the other.