Triumph Brewery

Princeton, NJ
www.triumphbrewing.com



The Order: Epic Burger, medium rare. With pork bellies, caramelized onions, fried egg, truffle aioli, mornay sauce, and a pickle.
Side Order: Comes with fries
$15
Drink Order: Triumph Beer flight: Honey Blonde, Amber Ale, German Pilsner, Oatmeal Stout, Bengal Gold IPA, Abbey Trippel, Porter



I want to shake the hand of the chef who designed this ridiculous creation. This burger was just all around fantastic. It was big. It was juicy. It was cooked perfectly. I knew I loved burgers before I ate this, and I knew I loved pork bellies, but the combination of the two, AND a fried egg?! Holy shit. I can't even begin to tell you how satisfying and tasty this burger was from the moment it arrived. It looked amazing and served to make me all the hungrier before I could sink my teeth in.

Piling on all the ingredients, and smearing on the sauce, every moment of it was building in anticipation of that first bite, which in no way disappointed. I don't think this thing could possibly have disappointed anybody. The egg was gloriously runny, mixing with the sauces and the flavorful meat. The bun was lightly toasted, containing and absorbing the juices, but not too hard that it got in the way of the rest of the burger experience. This is seriously a hearty and delicious burger. I would come back here in a second, and it would be the only reason, besides cheaper gas, to go to NJ. Seriously, awesome.

A generous portion of fries on the side were delicious, and a refreshing change from all of the stingy burger places giving only a measly little handful. They were all cooked the same, crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, evenly and delicious seasoned. And I cleaned the plate after the burger. It as ALL gone. STUFFED. And happy.

Lucky's Famous Burgers

Manhattan, NY
www.luckysfamousburgers.com



The Order: Lucky Cheddar Burger, medium rare. Premium Gold Angus beef, on a potato roll with lettuce, onion, tomato and pickles.
Side Order: Combo comes with fries and a drink
$10
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper, Shake ($4)


If not for the Groupon I had previously purchased, I would not have come here, or really even have heard of this place. Lucky's Famous Burgers. The name, you'd think, would imply a certain amount of fame and perhaps even a little street cred. I'd never heard of it before. But apparently, it's a revamp of a previous place called "Lucky's Famous" so I'll just go with it. And with a Groupon, why not right? $20 worth of food and drink for $10? That's awesome! So, joined by my friend Nate, a writer for Lonely Planet, I decided to take the burger plunge. Or, rather, we did together.

To be honest, there really isn't much to say about this place. The burger is average, the fries remind me of going to Nathan's to get hot dogs and fries as a kid. They had the same cut, and the same lack of flavor. But what IS great is their array of sauces. Their Lucky's Special Sauce and their Chipotle Mayo are delicious. So after smothering the burger and fries with these sauces, all of a sudden they were pretty damn good! So come here for the sauce, I guess that's what I'm saying.

Oh right. We had a milkshake. Eh. It was fine. Be clear about what you want. I ordered a chocolate, vanilla, coffee shake, and got a Neopolitan. A fairly tasty Neopolitan, but not what I ordered. Worth the $4? No. It wasn't overly large, and $4 is a big chunk of change for an average milkshake. But I'll say again, this place is worth it if you bought the Groupon on their NY Burger Day sale a few months back. Otherwise, skip it.

Yard House

Los Angeles, CA
www.yardhouse.com



The Order: Classic Sliders
Side Order: Comes with fries
$10.45
Drink Order: Alaskan IPA



Juicy. Very salty. Soft. These are the classic sliders at Yard House. And they are very easy to eat. Small and scrumptious, these sliders are great when paired with beer, or anything really. You just need something to wash them down because of the amount of salt you'll be ingesting.

Joined by a group of about ten people, the staff at Yard House were quick to get us a table and to get us our food. No rush, but I wasn't going to complain. But the burgers. It's very easy to eat them in no time because of how tasty they are. They just get devoured, but it's not as if they are the tiniest sliders ever. Maybe it's the large amount of beer I seem to always consume at Yard House, but I always seem to suck these things down in 5 minutes. The patties aren't as slim as the server led me to believe (read: they could have at least tried to cook it medium rare), but they were consistently delicious across all four burgers. There is a ton of seasoning that is unfortunately undefinable... You'll start noticing a trend in this review. I honestly can not tell you what this tastes like, other than it is salty and delicious.

They also have bearnaise sliders (pictured above... somehow I don't have a picture), which are also delicious. They come with some fried shoestring onions on the sliders, and the bearnaise sauce is pretty awesome. AND you don't have to choose between the two if you can't or don't want to. You can mix it up with two of each kind for no additional charge.

Worth the $10.45 for the sliders and fries, and Yard House often has happy hour deals where the sliders are 1/2 price. Also worth it if it isn't too crowded. Avoid the downtown LA establishment if an LA team is playing. For all of you east coasters: they recently opened locations in Boston, MA and Westchester, NY!

Oh yeah, and they have beer. Their list occupies the first two pages of the menu. Its a decent selection, but it rarely changes. The draw is their mixed beer with alluring names (Snake Bite? Black Velvet?), which are actually pretty good, and their happy hour discounts on half yard drinks.