4Food

Manhattan, NY
www.4food.com



The Order: Brioche bun, beef patty, potato chorizo hash, avocado, gruyere, ketchup, letuce, tomato, onion
Side Order: Roasted Root Vegetables ($3.50)
$8.50 + $3.50 = $12
Drink Order: Water ($1?!!)



Prepare for a trip to 4Food by learning their menu beforehand. There are so many options for building your own burger that if you go during a busy time it'd be easy to get flustered, and ordering here is definitely something you don't want to rush into. There are three ways to order. You can order one of the chef-designed burgers, one of the week's top ten burgers submitted by other patrons, or you can build your own. Joined by fellow burger enthusiasts Vanessa and Mike, we all made our own burgers.

The burger was good. I wasn't as excited about it as I had built myself up to be, having heard about this place in September, but the fault was mine. I ordered my burger on a Brioche bun, which I'm not really a fan of. It made the burger a little too dry and I quickly wished I'd gotten something different. Apart from that, however, the burger was tasty. The flavors I chose went together well and with the variety of choices, it'll be interesting to create other burgers and see just how different, and crazy, you can get. My burger definitely could have been hotter overall (maybe toasting the bun?) and unfortunately the burger was surprisingly on the small side.

The premise of 4Food is that they are 'dejunking' fast food. Great. What it means is that the meet patty has a big hole in the middle that you fill with a scoop of some other food stuff, mostly vegetables. That being said, its a little hard to justify $8.50 for a burger where you don't actually get the whole burger. Keep in mind that you are getting a lot of different condiments and toppings for that amount as well.

It's definitely an interesting idea, and fully worth checking out. Next time I'll probably go for the "Caliburger", which has been no. 1 for 15 weeks in a row. What I won't go for is $1 for a small water. Along with the whole 'dejunking' fast food idea, they don't have sodas other than their own strangely flavored sodas. No beer either. That's fine, if you're in the mood for hibuscus soda. Go ahead and 'dejunk' my fast food. But at least don't make it ridiculously expensive for me to have some water with my burger.

Rare Burger

Manhattan, NY
www.rarebarandgrill.com



The Order: Artisanal Burger, changes day to day. Pork tenderloin infused with chive and butter, mahon cheese, apple smoked bacon, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms
Side Order: Comes with Parmesan Truffle Fries. Frickles ($5)
$20
Drink Order: Brooklyn Lager



The waitstaff here are pleasant and attentive. Now, this may have been a fluke, but our burgers took over THIRTY minutes to arrive. I know pork has to be fully cooked, but thirty minutes is a little much. After an apology from both the waiter and the manager, our burgers arrived quickly. Excellent presentation (sorry about the crappy picture), but what was bewildering to me were the toppings and taste of the burger. While delicious, I soon found out this was NOT the burger I ordered (The burger toppings above reflect what I received, not what I ordered). It was definitely made with pork, but with all the wrong toppings. Mine was supposed to have mahon cheese and bacon, with chipotle butter and apple & apricot sauce.

Oh well. It was still a fantastic burger, and I ate every last bit of it. Rare was recommended to me by fellow burger enthusiast Erin, who accompanied me on this Rare Burger adventure. Their Artisanal Burger changes every day, which is exciting, but that means unless you go on the right day, you'll probably never have this exact burger. Don't let that stop you from coming here. Don't let the ordering mishap, or our unusually long wait time stop you from coming here either. The burger was delicious. The portions were generous. The Parmesan Truffle Fries were excellent. And the dipping sauces are all complimentary. Try them all, but spring for the BBQ and the Chipotle Mayo, which were by far the best.

I also had a bite of the M&M Burger (not made with M&M's), rare with cheddar, bacon, sauteed onions, and the beef was whiskey infused, which was delicious though no actual whiskey taste came through. It just made it really tender and juicy.

The Frickles were excellent, far better than Corner Burger's. And served with some kind of pesto sauce. They were sweet, sour and fried. A great opener for the meal. The Parmesan Truffle fries were great. Not a single fry left on the plate. Truffle oil makes a huge difference, and the parmesan wasn't overwhelming. Just a light dusting, enough to make you taste it.

Go here. Now.

Burger Burger

Manhattan, NY
www.burgerburgerny.com




The Order: Bill Burger, medium rare. American cheese, sauteed onions, horseradish cream, on an English Muffin
Side Order: Cajun Fries ($4.95)
$10.50 + $4.95 = $15.45
Drink Order: Mountain Dew



I was really excited to head down to the financial district and join fellow burger enthusiast Abby for lunch at Burger Burger to try their Barack O'Burger (a burger dusted with cocoa powder). Unfortunately they didn't have any cocoa powder so I had to settle for their Bill Burger. It was definitely a solid burger, cooked correctly and messy, but it could have been better overall. The horseradish flavor didn't stand out at at all and the American cheese and onions were just a little two sweet.

Perhaps the flavor of the burger was merely overpowered by the spicy awesomeness that was their Cajun fries. They have a lot of fry types to try here, and you can mix and match, but I'd definitely recommend the Cajun fries. They are just so delicious, I wanted a double order. Their only downside is how ridiculously expensive they are. Seriously $4.95 for fries? It doesn't really matter how good they are. That's kind of a deal breaker. I don't know if I'd get the fries again for round two.

Burger Burger is tiny. Four stools inside, and a few chairs outside. All the stools were taken, so we had to eat outside, and there's nothing like a burger to warm you up in 25 degree weather. It may be better to do a pickup order or their free delivery service if you live or work in that area, especially in the winter. The service was fast and friendly. It's also two doors away from a place called Pizza Pizza. Next somebody will open a place called Sandwich Sandwich.

Ray's Hell Burger

Washington, DC
Ray's Hell Burger Menu



The Order: B.I.G. Poppa, medium rare. Au Poivre burger, aged danish bleu cheese, cognac and sherry sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions.
Side Order: 7-Cheese Mac ($2)
$7.99 + $2 = $9.99
Drink Order: Coke (No beer)



Located just outside of DC, in Arlington, VA, Ray's Hell Burger has been talked up by friends and family alike, featured on a number of food network TV shows looking for the best burger, and even been supported by President Obama and Vice President Biden. While certainly an excellent burger, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's the best.

My burger came out fast, almost ten minutes before my fellow connoisseur's burger came out. Cooked perfectly, and presented simply. One look at this and you could tell there was going to be a lot of flavor. Dripping with it's own juices, and the soft bleu cheese oozing out beneath the mushrooms and onions, the first half of this burger was amazing. But after a while, all you can taste is the overwhelming flavor of the cheese. Don't get me wrong, it is delicious, but a milder cheese would've let the flavor of the onions and mushrooms have a little more room. And come on, cognac and sherry sauteed mushrooms? These should be exploding with flavor! But such was not the case.

The side of 7-cheese Mac was good. That's all. You'd think that boasting seven different flavors would make it amazing, but it was just a good dish of Mac and Cheese. You really couldn't tell there was more than two flavors of cheese if you didn't know you'd ordered seven.

There's no beer selection here (there is another location four doors down that sells beer and wine as well). Sodas are $2 and this place is cash only. And be prepared when you go up to order. The faster you order, and get your stuff together, the more likely you are to get a seat inside.

BareBurger

Manhattan, NY
www.bareburger.com



The Order: Pesto Red Pepper Burger with Beef, medium rare. Creamy Havarti, roasted red peppers, baby spinach and BareBurger pesto mayo.
Side Order: Onion Rings + Fries Combo ($4.5), Curry Ketchup dipping sauce ($.40)
$9.95 + $4.5 + $.40 = $14.85
Drink Order: Founders IPA, Raspberry Vanilla Shake



Despite the friendly waitstaff, the pleasant company, and the laid-back atmosphere, this was an intimidating place in which to order. This may have been due to having been really hungry by the time I arrived at BareBurger. So after thinking that I had it all together to order, all of a sudden there are all these other options that I didn't realize were available. Type of bread, side, sauce, etc. When I finally ordered, the service was extremely fast.

The place wasn't packed but it was surprising just how fast the food came. The first few bites of the burger were average. But then I started tasting all the seasoning. HOLY CRAP is this burger good. Cooked perfectly, delicious, juicy, I can't say enough about this burger. It was gone in a second, before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. Left with a pile of onion rings and fries, I dug in. The fries were definitely better than the onion rings, and definitely better value (you get a lot more fries for your money). They don't need any sauce, but you should really order one or two sauces to try, as they are excellent.

The dipping sauces cost extra but are AMAZING. Curry Ketchup and the BareBurger Special Sauce (they gave this one to us for free). Both were entirely worth it, interesting, and really different from any other sauces I'd had before.

I ordered a milkshake for after because, well why not. A decent selection of flavors, though they were out of blackberry. Really quite good, and not too overwhelming with the raspberry flavor.

BareBurger has a decent beer selection too. Their draught craft beer selection is available in pints, 25oz and 60oz, and they carry a lot of seasonal beers, though our waiter didn't seem all that knowledgeable about the beers they had.

This place is well worth the visit. I'll definitely be going again.

The Dram Shop

Brooklyn, NY
dramshopbrooklyn.com



The Order: Hamburger with handcut fries. 2 100% ground grass-fed chuck squares, shredded lettuce, tomato, diced onion, pickle, mayo, and mustard, american cheese ($1), and yummy bacon ($1)
Side Order: Comes with handcut fries, garlic aioli dip ($1)
$11 + $1 + $1 = $13 + $1 (sauce) = $14
Drink Order: Kelso Nut Brown and Smuttynose IPA



Dear readers, I apologize for the lateness of this burger review. It is not for me to hold back from you the delicious delicacies that are out there. I have been stricken by the flu, and while I know this is not an excuse, my avid bovine consumers, I nonetheless needed to postpone. After working until very late, and not getting back to my house until 4:30, and then waking up at 2pm, I was groggy and sickly all day, finally getting back into bed at 10pm. Upon realizing today that while in the influenza infirmary I had completely bypassed yesterday's post, I rushed to the computer to deliver unto you the review of the week as follows.

The two patties of this burger are thin, making it impossible to order it any other way than well done. Adding the cheese and bacon didn't really do anything for the burger (the waitress' suggestion), and though the burger comes with mustard, you don't really taste it unless you actually look for it. We ordered two of the dipping sauces and after trying them I wished that they had just forgone the mayo and mustard on the burger and instead made the bold choice to put on any one of their delicious sauces.

The sauces really over powered the fries, which were nothing to speak of apart from the fact that they were remarkably uniform in thickness, all nice meaty fries but with basically no seasoning, or taste, to speak of.

A solid burger, but not worth $13.

All American Drive-In

Massapequa, NY
allamericanhamburger.us



The Order: Double Double
Side Order: Large Fries ($1 extra)
$2.40 + $1 = $3.40
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper and Black & White Milkshake



This is by no means a gourmet burger but nostalgia for old time drive-ins and the allure of the burger brought me and fellow burger enthusiast, Alexis, here. If you like White Castle, this burger is for you. The taste is almost exactly the same but in larger form. Two thin patties, pickles, ketchup and cheese somehow combine to make this burger sweet and salty and almost seem steamed. And for the price, it's worth it. Notice that the above picture in no way looks appetizing? This picture is actually fairly accurate in how it looks, shoved into a bag and a bit smooshed. They aren't going for presentation here.

The fries were good, just plain thicker machine cut fries. They were lightly salted but the 'large' is not as big as it could, or should, be. Again the price isn't bad, but compared to other establishments' large-size fries there were not as many as there could have been.

Their shakes were also fairly cheap and pretty good. I couldn't see if it was made with real ice cream or with soft serve (they took it behind some other array of machines) but it was a pretty thick shake and worth the couple dollars.