5 Guys. Am I allowed to change toppings visit to visit? If not, then with lettuce, barbecue sauce, green peppers, and grilled onions. Otherwise, I’ll mix it up.
Double-double animal style, whole grilled onion, and extra toast.
I flip flop between the DD animal style and a Fatburger XXL with everything and on the char. Currently it’s the Fatburger as I lurves me some charbroiled beef patties.
There are some other smaller contenders however. Farmer Boys is an excellent burger, Joes bar and grill in Burbank, CA ditto. Also in Burbank, a BBQ place The Hollywood Way Bar and Grill has a Memphis burger that is outrageous!
No question, a BRGR Truck Burger. It’s a big truck that serves burgers, fries, and milkshakes. Check out their (PDF) menu.
A little pricey, but the meat is fresh and they will make a very rare burger without batting an eye. They have been showing up on Fridays at my local favorite bar. I like the Fire In The Hole burger.
Shake Shack
The best burgers I’ve ever had were from The Vortex in Atlanta. Of all of them, I’d have to have the Spanish Fly Burger. Here is the write up for it:
I appreciate White Castles. There was a rather semi-train wreck of a thread at a local foodie message board where I (and some others) were vociferously defending WC’s. The funny thing is, I eat there maybe four times a year, tops. (But I don’t really eat a lot of fast food, in general). But I could see the love, because it is a very particular and peculiar style and taste of burger and, if you like it, there really isn’t anyone similar. (ETA: Well, there’s Krystal’s and there’s other ma & pop that do proper sliders [not just “mini burgers”], but White Castle, like McDonald’s, has a very distinct flavor and aroma to them.)
That sounds so terrible as described, I’ve got to try it.
Asheville has a lot of excellent restaurants for a city our size. One of my favorites is Jack of the Wood, a Celtic pub from before Celtic pubs were dime-a-dozen trendy. All their food is delicious. When I was vegetarian, I loved their Ploughman’s lunch, served with homemade chutney and sage cheddar.
But when I started eating meat again, theirs was one of the first burgers I tried, and it hasn’t been topped since. 8 oz is a little too big, but that’s my only complaint. They grind their own beef, so they’ll serve it medium-rare, the way I like; they use a local mustard called Lust Monk Mustard, that’s super-strong and delicious; they serve the burger on a toasted Kaiser that’s thick enough to withstand burger juices without turning to mush; their toppings are unfailingly fresh and plentiful, although I always get it pretty simple (just lettuce onions tomato mustard and mayo). Their steak fries may not be part of the deal, but they’re part of the meal, and they’re perfectly crisp on the outside, with big flecks of kosher salt, and baked-potato fluffy on the inside.
Their burger is one of the meals I crave (does it show?), and although every time I go there I look at the menu, it’s purely ritualistic: I know exactly what I’ll order, and I know exactly how delicious it’ll be.
I strongly dislike fast food burgers and wouldn’t miss them if I never eat another bite of one. But Jack of the Wood? Yes please.
Whataburger.
The one I had this weekend - Chris Madrid’s Tostada Burger, with the waves of melted cheddar rolling off the sides and some fresh pico thrown over the frijoles. Add a liberal dousing of malt vinegar to the fries please! Enjoy outside in the warm sunshine of mid-December in South Texas and all is right with the world.
RIP Chris - you were a great restauranteur and an even better man and your legacy lives on in every delicious bite.
In Madison Wisconsin there is a place called Dotty’s Dumpling Dowry. The memory I have of those burgers (late 80s) still lingers like no other. I cannot attest to how they are now, I know they moved, but if I could get that burger I had back then then I could die happy.
In-N-Out cheeseburger. Although I’d have to travel at least 500 miles to get one.
The Romanburger, from Mr. Hero. For those not familiar with Mr. Hero, it’s sort of like a cross between a burger and an Italian sub, with some really great seasonings that I have no idea what they are.
This was a really easy question for me: I’ve cut way back on my beef consumption, and the Romanburger is the only burger I’ll buy anymore anyway.
The “George’s Cadillac” (a cheddar-bacon-BBQ burger) at Ted’s Montana Grill.
I prefer beef over bison, but if I’m allowed to switch it up now and then I will.
Yum. Now I want one.
There are a few in town that are difficult for me to choose between. (Christian’s Tailgate’s bacon cheeseburger where the bacon is blended into the ground beef, The Petrol Station’s lamb burger, Hubcap Grill’s ordinary cheeseburger, the wonderful choices from Bernie’s Burger Bus. If I can go out of town, I’d get one of them from Casino El Camino in Austin.) Many of your choices have been written down though, should I ever be in their area. If I had to choose one though, it’d be the Houston Burger from The Burger Guys. Add to it, an order of their duck fat fries, and a chocolate milkshake, and I could go to the execution chamber as happy as I could be.
Because that’s the only way I’d be limited to one burger for the rest of my life.
It’s a toss up for me. Either a double quarter pounder from McD’s served as normal, or a sonic burger from Sonic’s with just onion, mustard and pickles.
The Black Angus Beef Burger at Burger Bar between Luxor and Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. However, I’ll have to try Gordon Ramsay’s BurGR at Planet Hollywood to see how it compares.
Fuddrucker’s 1/2 pound Bacon Cheddar Burger with the Toppings bar.