Dutch Boy Burger

Brooklyn, NY
www.dutchboyburger.com



The Order: Dutch Boy Burger, medium rare. A 7oz patty with beer soaked cheddar, sauteed crimini mushrooms, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and a sesame seed bun.
Side Order: Comes with fries (during lunch), Onion Rings ($4)
$8.50 + $4 = $12.50
Drink Order: Foxon Park Soda: Iron Brew



Touted as a great new local mainstay, Dutch Boy Burger has garnered over 90 favorable reviews since opening its doors. A tiny little place with a bar in the back, Dutch Boy has a sort of charm in being very bare. The staff is friendly, but I'd fire whoever said it would be okay to play two back to back 311 albums... Seriously. Is it the mid 90s again or something?

Anyways, the service was great, and the burger came out fast. But there isn't really all that much I have to say about this place that is positive. First, I definitely said medium rare. Twice. And the burger came out well done. Not even medium well, which I could understand if they somehow misheard me twice. No, it was well done. And it looked as if they spent a long time working and reshaping the meat. It didn't have that delicious ground up texture. Rather, it looked a bit like meat paste. Gray meat paste. Yum right?

The toppings on the other hand were great, fresh and tasty. They made the burger edible. The onions were cooked properly, the mushrooms were soft, but not too soft, and the cheese was appropriately melty.

The fries were recommended as well, but I was unenthusiastic about them from bit number one. Some weren't seasoned. Some were too salty. Some were burned. Eh. The onion rights at least LOOKED delicious. They were tasty at first, but ended up just tasting like oil. I have, however, recently found that onion rings seem to always taste that way to me now. So maybe it's just me. The seasoning on the onion rings and the batter were great. So I'd say you should give them a go. You might really like them.

Their lunch special (a regular burger, fries and soda for $6.95) is pretty hard to beat, but it's a crapshoot as to whether or not they will cook your burger correctly. This place just doesn't cut it, and can't compete in the NY Burger scene.

Original Tommy's

Los Angeles, CA
www.originaltommys.com



The Order: Double cheeseburger. With chili, American cheese, mustard, tomato, pickles, onions
Side Order: A #1 comes with fries
$7.19
Drink Order: Large Mr. Pibb

Tommy's has been around now for over 65 years, starting at the original location at Rampart and Beverly. All the locations have basically the same food, and comparing the Hollywood blvd. location, where I met Dan for lunch, and the original location, the fare is pretty much the same. The other locations just lack the charm of the original stand.

And the burger never disappoints. If you're looking for a heavy, post-drinking burger, look no further. Every burger comes standard with chili and there's no reason to ask for one without. You wouldn't be getting the full experience. The chili is thick and delicious. The double cheeseburger is more than enough burger for any one person to handle, but if you're feeling man enough, go for the triple. Hell, go for the new Mega combo (a triple, chili cheese fries and a 44oz drink). That'd be enough to take you down a peg or two.

The chili cheese fries are a bit superfluous when there is so much chili dripping off the burger to begin with, and don't make the mistake of eating the free chilis first. You'll be especially unhappy about having to eat the burger so slowly because the heat of your burger in your mouth will be somewhat painful.

Tommy's is a mainstay in LA. I'll always recommend going to the original location over any of the others, especially because they are open 24 hours, and its always the best at 3 in the morning.

Burger & Barrel

Manhattan, NY (SoHo)
www.burgerandbarrel.com







The Order: Bash Style, medium rare. Caramelized onions & bacon jam, pickles, American cheese and special sauce
Side Order: Comes with fries/tots
$14
Drink Order: Big Daddy Speakeasy IPA



Located southeast of NYU's main campus, Burger & Barrel is surprisingly filled with the bridge and tunnel crowd; after work cocktails and beer draw these denizens here. Maybe it's the relatively high prices compared to every other restaurant clustered around NYU, or maybe it's the fact that it's more than a two minute walk. Who knows? The atmosphere here isn't terrible. A little loud to be sure, but you'd probably have a lot to say, and be saying it loudly, if you had these burgers. They've got a great selection of burgers to try, a short list, but definitely interesting.

I ordered the burgers to go, and brought them back to Uzi's apartment (a fellow burger lover). Largely because of the intriguing Bacon Jam, I decided to get us both Bash Styles. This, my friends, was a good choice. The combination of flavors just burst out in canon, one after another, pushing their way through to my taste buds. The butter pickles were crunchy and slightly sweet while the bacon was salty and a little smoky. And the meat. Oh man. By the time I got the burgers back to the apartment (maybe about eight minutes) the bottom bun had completely soaked through. So much flavor, so much juice, but you really have to slow down to enjoy this burger. If you eat it too fast, you miss all the nuances of the seasoning and the individual ingredients. At $14 for a burger and fries, it's a little pricy, but, having forgotten to take a picture the first time, I was glad of the opportunity to go again.

The second time around I had the tots as my side. HOLY SHIT. Get these. Hands down these are the best tots I've ever had. They were seasoned with some mysterious combination of spices that just tantalize the taste buds. Seriously, don't pass these up.

So the second time was really a test of Burger & Barrel's consistency, and they did not disappoint at all. Mind you, not only was this the second time, but the second time in two days. A slight delay in the getting the burgers to the table, but with an apology from our server, and an personal apology from the executive chef, AND the fact that it really wasn't a long wait time at all. The evening's special appetizer were the Bison Sliders, which were delicious, but a little small to be splitting. The burger arrived and it was as juicy and delicious as before. No disappointments here. Burger & Barrel is fantastic. Who wants to go, because I'll sure as hell be going again.

Stout Burgers & Beers

Hollywood, CA
www.stoutburgersandbeers.com



The Order: Goombah, medium rare. Parmasiano flakes, smoked mozzarella, crispy prosciutto, and lemon basil aioli.
Side Order: Beer Battered Onion Rings ($4)
$10 + $4 = $14
Drink Order: Ommegang BPA



Wow. With recommendations from two friends, Stoud had a lot to live up to, and by no means did it disappoint. First off, these onions rings are the best I've ever had. Perfectly golden, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and when you bite into one, you bite all the way through, not pulling out the entire onion. The beer batter they use is fantastic and incredibly tasty. They aren't light, and the portion is definitely generous.

The Goombah is a wonderful burger. My hat is off to the chef for designing this amazing creation. The lemon basil aioli was such an interesting compliment to the burger without getting in the way. Just a slight sour taste made the burger that much more delectable. The patty itself is HUGE and by huge I mean almost an inch think of in-house-ground (daily) beef. They aren't messing around here. Perfectly cooked, really tasty, and big. The cheese was melty and fantastic, lending a slightly smokey and sweet flavor to each bite. And the crispy prosciutto? Sprinkled on top of the cheese adding a fantastic crunchy texture and a little bit of saltiness. Perfection.

I would DEFINITELY come back here. The beer selection is great, if a little bit pricey, but they've got staff who know their beers, and are actively learning more about them. My bartender is getting into home brewing, helps buy the kegs for the bar, and I heard the waitresses asking about certain beer recommendations they might be making in the future. They've definitely got their burgers and their sides right here. All you other burger restaurants take notes. Stout is doing it the way it should be done.

McDonald's

EVERYWHERE, USA!!



The Order: ANGUS DOUBLE DELUXE, medium rare. With 2 pieces of American cheese, red onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato and "SPECIAL SAUCE" on a sesame seed roll.
Side Order: Add fries and drink with meal
$7.59
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper



I was going to wait til next Wednesday to post this, but I just couldn't wait to tell you about this new burger because you ALL need to try this. Say what you want about McDonald's, but they have been at the forefront of the fast food chain industry since the late 1940s. And boy, oh boy, have they done it again. Now, I usually don't review fast food restaurants (In N Out excepted), but when I saw the ad for this new burger, I just had to try it. At first it didn't look like anything special, but the more I saw the ad, the more I realized I needed to try it. No subliminal messaging, it was just the picture of the burger that enticed me.

McDonald's has had their Angus 1/3 pound line of burgers for a while now. Angus Deluxe, Angus Bacon and Cheese, Angus Mushroom and Swiss: these were your options for a while. But they've gone and changed things up! You can now get doubles! So I ordered an Angus Double Deluxe. Of course, when it showed up in person it wasn't as beautiful as they made it in the ad, but it wasn't less than I expected. I mean, two 1/3 pound patties! Two pieces of cheese! And it was tasty! But here is why. See the picture above? Look at the color of the "Special Sauce" that came on the burger. It's pinkish isn't it? McDonald's is using THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING on their burgers now!! Oh. My. God. It's amazing! And a complete revelation. AND you can order your burger medium rare now! What?! Someone from McDonald's must have visited In N Out recently because they're stealing all their awesome tricks. Seriously McDonald's is changing up their game, and their game is now called WINNING.

As if that wasn't enough, did you notice the price I paid for the entire meal? Seems kind of low for a new burger meal right? That's because for today only, you can get a Angus Double Deluxe meal for the same price as a regular Angus Deluxe meal! NATIONWIDE! So get off your high horse, and go get one of these fantastic burgers! Don't forget to order it medium rare. And be amazed! I may just go back again today for dinner.