Maple & Motor, Dallas, TX (September, 2011)

When I knew I was heading to Dallas in late September,  I called my friend (and professional photographer) Chris Moseley, and asked him where HIS favorite burger was.   He did what any reasonable person would do - created a Facebook poll.   The consensus was that we should meet and eat at Maple & Motor.   So we did, for lunch. 

When I got there, he was waiting inside, camera in hand.  See, some of the photos in this blog post were PROFESSIONALLY TAKEN!  The first thing he did was take me back outside to look at the sign on the door:

Photo by Chris Moseley

From the outset, I knew that I was going to like this place.  Any place that is that clear about the priority of the burger is near the top of my list.  (The small print in the sign directs parents to take their screaming kids to the Purple Cow, a Dallas chain that is know for being kid friendly.) 

Photo by Chris Moseley

We went in and scouted for a table.   Even at 11:30, it was packed.   But the burgers smelled good.   The menu was  burger-based, but with a big list of "must-adds": chili; double meat; bacon (mmm.  bacon); fried egg; grilled onions; and grilled or pickled jalapenos.  But what caught my eye was the alternatives: flat top brisket; fried baloney; grilled cheese; BLT; chicken or sockeye salmon.

Photo by Chris Moseley

Chris asked the order-taker-person (I don't know what to call the guy, he wasn't a waiter, or cashier and may have been the owner), whether he should go with the fries or the tots.  You know me, I'm all about the tots.  But OTP said the fries were actually better, so Chris ordered fries, with cheese, bacon (mmmm.  bacon) and jalapenos.

Photo by Chris Moseley

They were good.   

Being the practical man I am, and torn between tots and fries, I did what I believe that Solomon would have done in the same situation.  No, I didn't ask they split an order and half and see who loved it more.  Instead, I ordered a fried baloney sandwich as my side.

It was really good, too.   I don't know what they do to the buns, but the bun was perfect for the sandwich and the burger.   Hard to tell in the photo, but that beautifully seared slab of baloney is about 3/8" thick.

And then, came the burger.   A bacon (mmmm. bacon) cheeseburger, to be exact.   When I ordered the burger, OTP didn't ask me how I wanted it cooked.  He said, "you want it pink in the center.  Right?"  

It came out pink in the center.  It was a mighty fine burger.   Great burger.  Great company.  I'd go there again.

Kincaid's Grocery & Market, Fort Worth, TX (September, 2011)

Texas burger are different.   While the basic burger at most of the places I visit are based on a sixth-, fifth- or quarter-pound burger, often served as a double, the foundational Texas burger is a half-pounder.  I'll have to admit, I'm fond of the idea.  Kincaid's opened in the mid-forties as a grocer with a full service butcher.  In the mid-sixties, the butcher (ultimately the owner of the restaurant, O.R. Gentry) starting grinding the prime cuts not sold the previous day into burgers and selling them out of the grocery.  

Like Lankford Grocery in Houston, at some point, the burger sales surpassed the sale of groceries and it became a burger joint.  From everything I've read and heard, they do a booming lunch time business, serving 800 - 100 burgers a day.  I stopped in late afternoon and the place was nearly empty.   After the crowds starting showing up, they cut down the former grocery store shelves to lunch counter height and they're full of diners at meal times.

 

I stared at the menu for a while, trying to decide.  Ultimately, I went with an Original cheeseburger, with tomato, mayo and ketchup.  It was not fast food, at all.   The burger prep took just as much time as it would have if I'd cooked the burger at home.

So I waited about ten minutes, wandering around, reading all of the articles on the wall (picking up some interesting bits of information) and waiting for them to call my name.  When they did, I went to counter and picked up a little lunch sack full of heaven.  

Opening the sack, I could see the grease and cheese pushing against the wax paper.   When I opened it up, what did I find?   An amazingly juicy burger, on a steamed bun, covered in melted cheese that I absolutely devoured.   An amazing burger.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

I'll have to be honest, here.  Before I left Fort Worth, I swung by one of their other locations (they have five satellites in the metroplex) and had a junior before I headed to the airport.   It was good, but the original was amazing.

Bionic Burger, Wichita, KS (September, 2011)

The fourth and final stop on the Kansas burger tour - Bionic Burger.  After the disappointment at Nuway, I was still hungry and we had plenty of time to kill before our flight.  So I hit the Hamburger America app on my phone and looked at burger joints added by fans.   Bionic Burger was there.

I couldn't figure out the name.   I was reading the front of the menu and it talked about one of the founders, Steve Majors.   And it all clicked.  Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors, the Six Million Dollar (Bionic) Man.

With thay mystery solved, I go ahead and order the #2, Double Cheeseburger combo.   It comes out and looks promising.

The burger was seared around the ages and executed very well.   The bun, however, was a dry, chewy white-bread mess.   The fries were very good - similar to Five Guys'.

But what really caught our attention there was the Funnel Fries.  Imagine funnel cakes, reinvented as french fries.   What a wonderful creation.

Jo had a peanut butter malt with it and said that the combination was indeed, in the six-million dollar range.

Nuway Crumbly Burgers, Wichita, KS (September, 2011)

Stop 3 on the Kansas burger tour - heading back from Winfield home, we drove back to Wichita to fly home.   Nuway Crumbly Burgers was the second pre-determined stop.    I read about the crumbly burgers in the "burger bible" and was intrigued.   Back in the 1930s, the founder left Iowa with a new way of making burgers looking for a warmer climate.  He stopped in Wichita.

So, at Nuway, the burgers are made of "loose meat" as opposed to being formed into a patty.  Imagine a sloppy joe without the sauce.  Or, as a friend said when I told him about them, "sounds like the old Taco Bell burger" - anybody remember those?   As you walk in the side door, you're face-to-face with the counter, one side lined with stools, the other with booths.  There has also been a room added-on to the left of the counter area, with additional booth seating.  There are five locations in Wichita, we chose the refurbished original.

On to the crumbly.  So, on Sundays the original crumbly is half-price, so that's what I went with.

It looked pretty good, but was actually only fair.  Jo agreed, but said the home-made onion rings made up for the bad burger.   I had chili-cheese  tater tots.  Whenever there are tots on the menu, I let the fries pass by.  I found those mediocre as well.

The coup de grace for me at Nuway was the cherry limeade.  Made to order and quite refreshing.

The Burger Station, Winfield, KS (September 2011)

Once we got to the the Walnut Valley Festival, I was moderately consigned to the fact that the best food we'd have outside  camp was the fair food on the midway.  So while chatting with some friends at their campsite (about my preternatural fascination with cheeseburgers, among other things), one of the locals said, "Have you been to the Burger Station?"  My ears raised like a cat to the sound of a can opener.  

He then went on to describe a "carry-out only" place that served a "heart-attack-in-a-sack" for which you had to hold your hand under the bag because the grease would so weaken the paper that you couldn't carry the burgers all the way to the car without them crashing through the paper to the ground.   Jo and I, along with two buddies (David and Coy, whose last names will be withheld to protect their identities) headed over there for lunch on Thursday.  Walking in (the door on the right)

you sidle up to a counter where you place your order.   With the four of us inside, we stretched from in door to out door.  On the opposite side of the counter was, from right to left, cash register, counter-top (the picture picks up here), grill, then deep fryer with an old-time Frigidaire icebox where they stored the patties.  The burger choices were simple, and you are out of luck, if you wanted lettuce or tomato. 

The burgers were "five-to-ones" and quite tasty.  I went for a cheeseburger with chili and they didn't lie about the grease factor (check out the wax paper).   It was a good burger.  We'll go back at some point next "Bluegrass".

Jack's North Hi Carryout, Wichita, KS (September 2011)

Last week, the answer to almost every question was, "I can't.  I'm going to Winfield."   One of the questions with a different answer was, "would you like a cheeseburger?"

Starting our pilgrimage to the Walnut Valley Festival, we flew into Wichita.   Consulting the oracle at Hamburger America before we left, I had two  destinations in mind.  The first was Jack's North Hi Carryout. 

Jack's is located directly across the street from North High School, and we were warned to get there before the noon lunch bell range.   When we arrived (about 11:35), the place was empty save for a single soul ordering carry-out.

The story behind Jack's is an interesting one - the place was owned by the by same two people, Jack at the inception / Norah subsequent to him, from 1951 until 2007 when a fire closed its doors.  There were a couple of interim owners and then it sat empty.  Austin Herron (in the white t-shirt at the grill), a twenty-five year old who had wanted to open a burger stand across from his high school (a rival to North), bought it at auction and has the place up and running again.   

I went with the cowboy burger (chili, bacon, cheese and barbecue sauce on a quarter-pound burger) with fresh cut fries.

It was, by far, the best burger we had on the trip.   The fries were crisp, but not hard, and the burger nearly perfect.  Look at that steamed bun!  Jo would have given her double burger a double thumbs up, if only she'd have had a free hand <g>.

Yeah Burger, Atlanta, GA (Most all of the time)

Looking back, I can't believe that I haven't said anything about Yeah! Burger.   We eat there about once every three weeks.  It's really simple: I ask Jo where she wants to eat, and, regardless of where we are or when it is, she says, "Yeah! Burger".  The concept is near perfect: they use natural and organic ingredients and allow you to build-your-own burger.  You start with the patty - beef, bison, turkey, veggie or chicken breast - and place it on a bun - southern white, whole wheat or gluten-free - and add your ingredients.

With two locations in Atlanta, Howell Mill and Virginia-Highlands, it's not "fast-food" but it is great food done relatively quickly.  The reason we go back is for the turkey burger.  I'm a beef guy (although the bison there is a less-fat alternative) but I'll have to admit that Yeah! Burger has the best turkey burger I've ever had.  

This one is on whole wheat with tomato and turkey bacon.  Usually, I add pimiento cheese but I didn't the day that I took this photo.  

And earlier this week, I decided to try the chili and cheese (pimiento) dog:

It was okay, but I'll stick with the burger in the future.  Consistently, the food is tasty and they feature monthly burger specials (this month it is crab, the lamb one earlier in the summer was really tasty) along with monthly side specials (right now it is a caprese in a cup, in May it was a beet salad that Jo ate weekly).  One of the other "nifty" menu options is that you can order Fifty-Fifty as a side (half french fries / half onion rings).

Definitely a winner in my book.

Great Southern Cafe, Seaside, FL (September 2011)

Sometimes you end up with a burger in an "odd" place.   We went to the Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, FL, for lunch yesterday.  You may, or may not, be familiar with Seaside.   It is a highly planned community between Panama City and Destin on 30A.   It was also the backdrop for the movie the Truman Show.   It has lots of shops and restaurants and a, relatively new, Airstream dining area, with several restaurants housed in vintage trailers.   

With another rainy day at the beach, we were heading toward the outlets in Destin and needed to eat.  I was drawn to the Great Southern by their  buy/cook local signage and the line wasn't ridiculous.   We looked over the menu and I was heading strongly towards shrimp and grits, but they couldn't be made without the despised portobello mushroom, so I fell back on the cheeseburger.  

We started with a black-eyed pea hummus appetizer.  We eat hummus on occasion, and this one had a decidedly southern spin.   The pita chips served with it were semi-soft and hot.   They were awesome.  The hummus was different.  Not bad, not great - just different.  We did eat all of the pita bites.

As I said, I went with the bacon cheeseburger.   The fries were beer battered and double fried (as were Jo's hush-puppies) which she said were awesome.  This was a good burger, with great bacon.  Note, I use the word "great".  There are three categories of bacon in my lexison: good, great and excellent.  This was on the high end of great.  To give a reference point for excellent bacon - the deep-fried bacon goodness at Ann's Snack Bar comes to mind.

Jo had fish that, even though we could see the ocean (dimly through the rain) didn't appear to be fresh and definitely wasn't cooked throughout.   I was about to write this place off as "okay, but no real reason to return", until the waiter asked about dessert.   We had both noted no less than four references to their homemade key lime pie, so we ordered a slice.

I started to say that I like key lime pie, but that would not do my feelings justice.  I Love key lime pie with a capital "L".  Key lime pie can be really good or mediocre.  Kind of the base line for acceptable key lime pie in my mind is Mrs. Edwards frozen key lime pie singles.  They are nowhere near as good as a well made pie, but an amazingly good copy for $2.00 something a slice.   

This pie was exceptional - thick key lime, with fresh whipped meringue almost as thick as the pie itself.  Good enough that we've talked about going back there for dessert after dinner somewhere else <g>

Marty's Hamburger Stand, Los Angeles, CA (August 2011)

Earlier this week, I had the chance to be in LA, for a day.   With a little time to kill between meeting's end and my flight home, the opportunity to continue my quest arose.   Driving down the 405, the next logical stop was Pico Boulevard, in West LA.   Cruising east on Pico, we drove by the Apple Pan, looking for this roadside stand from the fifties.

 

Open since 1958, Marty's is "Home of the Combo".   I've eaten "combos" my whole life, but never like this.  All the fast-food joints have made it a combo when you add fries and a soft drink to your sandwich.  Marty made it simple.  A "combo" is simply a hot dog and a hamburger on the same bun.  Brilliant.   This grill is right through the window on the right.  

As you order, they pull out the ground beef ball, measured and rolled fresh daily and slap it on the grill, mashing it nearly flat.  And here's the result.   My "combo" combo <g>.

 

And a little closer view of the combo burger.  It was excellent.  The folks I was with both had double cheeseburgers.   In fact one went back for a hot dog, but changed his mind when we started discussing Apple Pie for desert at the Apple Pan.  It was REALLY good, too.