Guapo's Shore Shack

Brewster, MA
www.elguapostaqueria.com



The Order:  Guapo Burger, medium rare.  With jack cheese, guacamole, pico (chopped tomato 'salad'), shredded lettuce, and a drizzle of hot sauce.
Side Order:  At time of order - comes with chips.  Current - Add fries ($1.75)
$7.99 (at time of order) - now $8.95
Drink Order:  Coke
Burger Menu Rating:  8.5/15




El Guapo's Taqueria is a little Mexican restaurant over on Underpass Road in Brewster, Massachusetts.  I happen to be up in that area of Cape Cod once or twice a year for work, and I'm, of course, always looking for a burger to try.  I'd been woefully disappointed on previous occasions, but was recently introduced to El Guapo's, a definite game-changer.

Tucked out of the way, and definitely pushing the Mexican theme, El Guapo's is probably one of the last places you'd expect to find a burger that was worth trying.  They've got a small list of burgers to try, three basic run-of-the-mill burgers, but one stands out because it's the only one they have that goes along with their Mexican theme; the Guapo Burger.


The to-go container from Guapo's

The Guapo Burger comes with guacamole, hot sauce and pico.  So they basically took the toppings from one of their tacos and put it onto a burger.  I'm down.  I'm imagining a chef one day was just a little clumsy when transporting the taco ingredients on his spatula across the kitchen and over the grill ("Why do we keep these toppings all the way over there?!") and whoops, the toppings are all on top of a burger ("I'm a genius!"), and thus the Guapo Burger was born.  In truth, it probably wasn't like that at all, but let me believe what I want to believe.


The Burger is revealed, with a nice lightly toasted bun.

Because I was busy at work, I had to order my burger to go.  I got back to work to scarf down this burger.  The burger came in a nice little biodegradable box, which was a perfect size for their burger.  Not crushed, the guacamole was just beginning to creep out of the confines of the burger.  When I cut the burger in half, I was presently surprised.  The thin patty was cooked surprisingly close to medium rare.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it is very difficult to cook thin patties correctly, and those few establishments that can do it, or even get close, deserve a tip of the hat (go ahead, put on your hat and tip it).  The burger is only slightly spicy, the hot sauce adding a nice little kick to each bite, but not so much that you have to breathe any harder, or drink any more of your drink to cool off.  The bun has a nice texture, and adds a grainy flavor.  On this particular burger, some of the cheese was a bit charred, which was awesome.  The pico was fresh and crisp, adding the usual tomato flavor.  Unfortunately where the burger fell short was the guacamole.  It was a bit plain and bland, a great textural element, but didn't really add a distinctive flavor to the burger that I expected, especially since the burger shares its name with the establishment itself!  This kind of burger isn't anything new, but if they really wanted to impress, they should up the ante with their guacamole and make it amazing.  And wait!  My order was supposed to come with chips!  There.  Were.  No.  Chips.


The burger, cooked almost medium rare.

Guapo's Shore Shack has recently gone through some rebranding with the opening of their new location in Orleans, MA.  Their new website is up, although it's still under construction, and their menu has changed, with slightly higher prices (which affected this rating a bit after the fact).  The next time that I am up in the area, I'll check out the new establishment and see how things are going.


Another view, more flattering, but deceiving!





Cooked correctly:  4.5/5
Plating:  1 (Branded Takeout)
Design: 1.5
Value: 1.5

Heartland Brewery

Manhattan, NY
www.heartlandbrewery.com



The Order: The HB Burger, medium rare. With shredded lettuce and tomato.
Side Order: Comes with Idaho fries.
$11.95
Drink Order: Heartland Brewery Indiana Pale Ale



A clean and simple burger, the HB Burger from Heartland Brewery is all taste and no frills. The meat is only lightly salted, allowing the taste of the meat to be the main focus of each bite. I really enjoyed the layering of the ingredients. While there weren't that many of them, having the tomato underneath the meat afforded the entire burger a crisp and refreshing taste as well as a satisfying ending crunch every time I bit into it. The tomatoes weren't especially flavorful, but it wasn't a detriment to the burger on the whole. Simple. No sauce, no cheese. Just a hamburger, for the sake of the burger.

The two plusses for Heartland are 1) they cooked the meat perfectly. I've been to too many burger places recently who claim to make an awesome burger, but they can't even cook it properly. Heartland just did a great job cooking the meat the way I asked for it, and did it quickly. 2) They didn't work the meat too much. Again, so many places feel the need to knead the meat until it becomes mush. Not so here. Still, as tasty as this burger was, I can't justify the $11.95 it cost for a burger and fries. Its just not worth it, both in size, and in interest.

The fries here were, however, very good. Nice and thick, these are meaty Idaho Potato fries. I don't know how much a side of fries would cost you, but I'd say these are more worth it than the burger is. You might come here and grab beers and snacks, in which case I'd say get the fries. As a side with the burger, the fries were a fairly generous portion, but still not enough to justify the cost.

Heartland Brewery is supposedly the third in the burger rivalry between Schnippers Quality Kitchen and Shake Shack. I don't really see any way of comparing those two and Heartland Brewery though, other than by taste. Both Schnippers and Shake Shack ask you to order from a counter, and Heartland has waitstaff. This may just be Heartland trying to break into the spotlight by setting itself against the other two more major contenders, but it really doesn't have the burger to back up its claims.

Schnipper's Quality Kitchen vs. Shake Shack

Manhattan, NY
www.schnippers.com
www.shakeshack.com



The Fight: Schnipper's Classic vs. Shackburger (single)

Schnipper's Quality Kitchen
The Order: Schnipper's Classic, medium rare. Special cheese blend, carmelized onions, bacon, arugula, Schnipper sauce
Side Order: Fries ($2.75)
$8.99 + $2.75 = $11.74
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper

Shake Shack
The Order: Shackburger (single). American cheese, lettuce, tomato, ShackSauce
Side Order: none
$4.75
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper



Last night I went to shake shack for the second time. It was late after work, I need a quick snack, and the line wasn't very long. Many of you have problem heard of Shake Shake and how it has been at the forefront of the whole NYC Burger Revolution. But what many people don't know is they have a direct rival. Schnipper's Quality Kitchen. Friendly and healthy competition, to be sure, but Schnipper's has one location within two blocks of Shake Shack on 8th avenue, and are currently in the process of opening another in Madison Square Park, where Shake Shack recently opened a new burger venue.

I've known about this rivalry for a while now, and just had not had the chance to get to Schnipper's. Getting my second Shake Shack burger to go, I realized my mistake upon walking up to Schnipper's. For a second I was tempted to do a direct taste test, walking into Schnipper's with a Shake Shack burger in hand, but it was not to be, so I vowed to return the next day. And return I did. Now, much is being made about this rivalry between Shake Shack and Schnipper's (in the papers and blogs at least), but I don't understand it at all. Shake Shack really isn't all that good. The patty is thin, and the flavor of the meat isn't all that great. There is a lot of hype surrounding it, that I'm fairly certain has a lot more to do with public relations than actual quality.

On both nights, I ordered the burgers to go. Shake Shack's burger comes to you in a wax paper wrapper. Not elegant, no points for presentation here. But then again, they're 'high end fast food' so this makes sense. The burger comes out entirely too fast, but with the number of people that are already there waiting for a burger, I can't imagine that it was precooked. Schnipper's burger comes in a box. Upon opening the box I immediately knew this was going to be good. An aroma wafted out from under the lid making it's way quickly to my nose and OH MY GOD this burger smelled amazing. And this wasn't a small burger either. Not flattened and crammed into the foil, instead it was nicely wrapped. You couldn't tell where one ingredient ended, and another began, with all the cheesy goodness. Bite after bite was delicious. There was so much flavor. It was cooked perfectly, the bun wasn't soggy, and their Schnipper's Sauce (some mixture of mayo and mustard) was excellent, especially paired with the baby arugula. The fries were thin and crispy. Simple, but they're each JUST salty enough that it was difficult to stop eating them, and I found that I'd eaten half of them before even starting my burger.

Shake Shack's burger by comparison was bland. Not a lot of meat flavor. "Now wait," you might say, "you didn't order it medium rare!" A mistake on my part, yes. But to be honest, if cooking the burger medium takes away all your flavor, and you cook your burgers medium unless specified differently (which nobody does), you've got a problem. Squished into the wax wrapper, the descriptor of 'high end fast food' makes perfect sense. Less than five minutes of wait time, and crammed into a wrapper. I might as well be at McDonald's. The burger wasn't as hot as I expected it to be and the taste of the American cheese was somehow overpowering. Having eaten their fries previously, I didn't order them. The previous visit, they had been nice and thick crinkle cut fries (think Nathans's), but bland in taste. Not enough salt, or any other seasoning for that matter.

At Schnipper's the prices are a bit higher, but you really get more for your money when ordering a burger there. Shake Shack has a more specific market, while Schnipper's has many more options on their menu (sandwiches, sloppy joes, chicken, etc.). On the whole, Schnipper's is just more worth it in almost every aspect. Both establishment's have a beer selection, though Schnipper's is just your standard selection of domestic beers. Shake shack wins by here, with a number of regular and seasonal microbrews. But this war isn't about the beer (though it helps). Schnipper's burger blows Shake Shack's burger out of the water. Worth it for the money, I'd choose it any day. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't go to Shake Shack, but for all of you who haven't heard of Schnipper's, its time for you to put your jacket on and go.