Your Top 5 Favourite Burgers?

Cafe Society
1

We’re going out to dinner tonight, and I’m thinking I might enjoy a nice burger, which got me thinking about my top 5 (yes, I keep lists of these things):

In no particular order

  1. Red Robin’s Peppercorn Burger - I don’t know what they’re calling it these days, used to be “Pass the Peppercorn Burger”, but it’s some sort of peppered steak sauce with onion straws and cheese and is wonderful.
  2. I’ve-Created-A-Muenster Burger - A burger of our own making. We mix the beef with a dry ranch mix, carmelize a mess of onions in beer, and serve them over the burger topped with melted muenster cheese. Heavenly.
  3. McMenamins Captain Neon - Bleu cheese and bacon. I’ve seen vegetarians fall off the wagon for it, it’s so good.
  4. Carl’s Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger - 'Twas a brilliant man who first put onion rings on a burger.
  5. The Nugget Diner’s Awful Awful - Local favourite, “awful big and awful good”. A freakin’ huge burger with crisp lettuce and red onion, served with more fries than you can possibly finish. Perfection.
    Yours?
2

Hands down, my own. I pack the pattie with either feta or blue cheese, top with avocado, red onion and serve on an onion roll. Fantastic!

I’m actually in the area, and yet to try an Awful, Awful. Shame on me, but when I hit the Nugget, I go to the Oyster Bar.

3

All local places. If you ever find yourself in wine country and you’re craving a burger, these are the best in the area, IMO:

  1. Mike’s Burgers - They are all awesome, but my favorite is the Nauvoo Bleu Cheese Burger.

  2. Taylor’s Automatic Refresher - Just big, awesome burgers.

  3. Gayle’s Superburger - Here in Santa Rosa. A little hole in the wall with delicious burgers and shakes and malts. So good.

  4. Phyllis’ Giant Burgers - Pretty damn good burgers and good fries.

  5. Third St. Aleworks - My favorite is their Black & Bleu, but the Bacon Cheeseburger is damn good too.

4

The absolute best burger I have ever had was at the Father’s Office in Santa Monica. They take their burgers seriously, and it shows (tastes?). After that, I’ll eat an In N’ Out burger any day. After that, they are all basically the same.

5

#1 Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. They sell nothing but burgers and fries (well, hot dogs, too), and they are amazing. Thick, juicy patty hot off the grill (be careful – can be too hot) with whatever toppings you want. Consistently rated the top burger anywhere they have locations.

#2 – Morrette’s King Steak. Their king steak is terrific, but their sirloin burgers are nearly as good.

6

Bennigan’s has a very nice cheeseburger with blue cheese and fried onions that I really like. For a quick grease fix nothing beats **White Castle’s ** classic cheeseburgers.

7

The Fatted Calf. Calf burger with soft cheddar.

The Angry Dog. Pick your patty, cooked to order.

Burgermeister in Cole Valley. Shockingly, unexpectedly good.

Biddy McGraw’s. With Tillamook cheddar.

8

I won’t bother counting to 5. The Pimento Cheeseburger at the Kingsman in Cayce (or is it West Columbia?), SC, is the best burger I’ve ever had that I can still get.

9

In September, two weeks into starting a job as an elementary school teacher, I said, “Screw this vegetarian crap, I need meat!” Since then, I’ve been making up for lost time, eating what seems to me an ungodly amount of animal flesh.

So far, I’ve only found two acceptable burgers at restaurants. One of them is at Westville Pub, our local beer joint. It’s plain, but good. The other is at Asheville’s spectacular Jack of the Wood, the only non-irritating British-themed pub I’ve ever been to. They’ll make the burger rare if you ask for it rare, instead of feeding you some line about how the health inspector won’t let them, blah blah blah, and the burger is awesome.

Fast food burgers were a major disappointment. Compared to veggie burgers, they suck.

Daniel

10

Exactly what I came in to post!

11

When I’m at college, my standards are:

  1. Louis’ Lunch , the first Burger Joint in America (and still does 'em only one way)
  2. The Doodle , about as greasy a burger can get.

Otherwise, there ain’t much going for New Haven. :slight_smile:

12

The Hat - About 8 locations around SoCal. They advertise the pastrami, but the burgers are what I always order.

In-'N-Out - Of course. Love 'em or hate 'em. Animal-style, please.

BJ’s - The open-faced chili cheeseburger is a meal worth savoring.

Speaking of chili cheeseburgers…Tommy’s.

Mine. On the grill, no add-ins or frills, just meat and cheese and a bun.

13

I’ve only got a top four, I’m afraid.

  1. Red Robin Whiskey River BBQ Burger
  2. My dad’s burgers, fresh off the grill
  3. A hamburger I had once at Ground Round that was essentially a Club sandwich with a hamburger patty in the middle.
  4. Wendy’s classic
14

  1. The Urban Burger in Rockville has consistently served me the best burgers, ever.

  2. For some inexplicable reason, I can’t get a bad burger at the Wendy’s behind Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersbug. Keep waitin’ for it, but it ain’t happened…

  3. I agree, Red Robin’s burgers are good, but their restaurants are too noisy. It’s those damn kids and the crazy music they play… :mad:

  4. Five Guys burgers are pretty good too, and cheap. Avoid excessive toppings, or they’ll overwhelm the burger. :frowning: . The Kentland’s location is my favorite. Many of the Five Guy’s locations are really small, but not the one at Kentland’s.

  5. Fuddrucker’s burgers are good, although, like Red Robin’s, their restaurants are on the noisy side.

15

Fuddrucker’s are some killer burgers, man. I’d put them in my #5 slot anyday, if it wasn’t for personal pride and all. :smiley:

16

The original. The awesome.

Fatburger .

WARNING! Link has sound- a video link from the Letterman show with Queen Latifah, about how she owns a Fatburger franchise, plus some other clips.

But Fatburger is the best ever. Give me a Baby Fat with bacon and a fried egg, with skinny fries and a vanilla shake, any day, any time.

In-N-Out is pretty good, too, and so is Tommy’s and Knowlwood.

17

I came in just too late to be the first to mention Fatburger. They’re new here, and I love them. Saturday grocery shopping / Fatburger for dinner has become a bit of tradition. Well, three times anyway.

Second (more most often that favorite, really) BK cheeseburger, extra ketchup, extra pickle.

  1. Wendy’s double stack (ek,ep)

That’s it, really. Until I try to make NailBunny’s I’ve created a muenster burger.

18

Fuddruckers makes the best burgers I’ve ever had, including fancy steakhouses and even my own. I usually order the one-pounder, cooked to a perfect medium on a fresh-baked, lightly-toasted bun, and then go to town at the toppings bar: ketchup, honey mustard, barbecue sauce, nacho cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, onion, jalapeno slices, and fresh pico de gallo. My girlfriend, friends, and family know that as the Lou Burger.

When they used to offer sauerkraut for their hot dogs, I got the idea of topping a burger with the nacho cheese, pico de gallo, jalapenos, and sauerkraut, and that was the Zimmerman Burger.

We have Five Guys here, but I’m not terribly impressed by them. They just taste like extra-greasy diner burgers, and the fries have too much of a strong peanut oil taste for me. There is a bit of a schism between my friends between which is better, Fuddruckers or Five Guys.

19

There’s a place in Key West, FL (I think it’s called Cheeseburger) that served me THE best burger I’ve ever had. Huge patty of beef, lots of cheese, bacon, and a fried egg on top. It’s amazing what egg yolk does to a bacon cheeseburger. ::droool::

20

NYC and North Jersey (in no particular order)

Copeland’s
Shake Shack
Peter Luger Steakhouse
Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien
Blue Smoke