Square Burger - McKinney, TX (February 2012)

On a recent visit to the land of burgers, I asked the fellow I was visiting with if there was a good burger close by.  He thought for a minute and said, "there's Square Burger downtown?"

I was sold, so when lunch time rolled around we drove to the square in downtown McKinney.  We found a parking place and walked in.  The first thing I noticed was the decor - wood floors, high ceiling, long bar on the left wall.  While it wasn't an issue at lunch, I imagine that this place could get LOUD.  In a hurry.  The bar was lined with at least 30 taps and they had a modest wine list on the chalkboards on the back wall.  Floor to ceiling windows lined the streets.  A very attentive maitre d' appeared out of nowhere and took us to a table.

This was definitely an "up-scale" as opposed to a "hole-in-the wall" burger joints with burgers in the $7-$12 range a la carte.  The selection was broad - ten listed burgers (including salmon, tuna and turkey) along with salads, plates and some appealing looking sides (three mini-grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup).  At least they looked appealing from the menu description.  The special menu included a celery root and apple soup, pork chops, a chicken dish and a charcuterie and cheese plate.  

My companions ordered sides for the table.  A big bowl of French fries and sweet potato fries, with sides of ketchup and mayonnaise. 

The fries arrived first and were thin, crispy, hot and slightly sweet.  Good start.  I have a fundamental problem with a great burger served with bad fries.  Are you listening Burger King?  These fries portended good things to come.

My lunch mates ordered a turkey burger on wheat and a Smokey Jack burger (smoked mozzarella, monterey jack, apple-smoked bacon and fried onion strings).  I went with the High Society Burger.  

Seven ounces of locally sourced Genesis beef, topped with thinly sliced prosciutto di San Daniel, aged balsamic, arugula and fontina cheese (I had the roasted red pepper relish on the side), served on a slightly oblong roll.  The waitress recommended it "medium" and it was cooked perfectly. 

I devoured every bite.   Then the three of us fought over the last few crispy fries.  Definitely a winner.

Flip Burger Boutique, Atlanta, GA (February 2012)

 

I think the first time we tried Flip Burger Boutique was well before I started my blog, shortly after it opened (early 2009, maybe?)  Weekend before last, we were downtown and decided to give it a whirl, iPhone in hand.  Flip is the brainchild of Top Chef season 8 winner Richard Blais and is designed around his "new American" food sensibilities.

This place is almost always packed, so we figured that 3:00 pm on a Saturday might be a time to get in fairly easily, and we ended up with the last two seats at the chef's counter.  

Jo had the Veg burger - house-made black bean patty, avocado puree, bibb lettuce, grilled onions, pico de gallo, cilantro and lime juice - and aside from the fact that it fell apart as she tried to eat it, found it to be good. 

Making the healthier choices of the two of us, she had a side red & gold beet salad with goat cheese and and trail mix.

I, on the other hand had gone for a "burger", so I had the RBQ - pulled brisket, (hold the) cole slaw, rbq sauce and smoked mayo - 

A culinary winner.  The pulled brisket was excellent, the sauce was just right (for me) and the burger was cooked as I ordered it.   And the smoked mayonnaise?  Decadently tasteful, especially on the fries.

So the burger is really good, but what elevates Flip to the level meriting a return trip is "the shake":  a Krispy Kreme shake, fueled with liquid nitrogen.  Imagine what a Krispy Kreme doughnut would taste like if you could fill it with ice cream, freeze it and then throw it in a blender.  That's THIS shake.  Oh. My.    This is the reason I return - one of my favorite desserts in the city.  (Notice the two straws - I did share.)

Bonnie's Place, Lansing, MI (December, 2011)

It's a been a while since I've posted, so I was checking to assure that I hadn't missed one.  And, sure enough, I had.   Bonnie's Place is a bar (there's really no other description for it) in Lansing, MI, just off the campus of Michigan State.

I was in Detroit on business and realized that if I left the office by 5:00 pm, I could make it to Elderly Instruments, over in Lansing, for an hour or so before they closed.  Elderly is one of the guitar meccas in the country and I had never been so I jumped at the chance.  As these guys seem to know everything about vintage music, who would be better to ask about a good burger?  They gave me a series of turns to follow that led me to the gravel parking lot in front of the building above.

Walking in, it was Wednesday night and all of the regulars were carrying on lively conversations at the bar.  Did I mention that this was a bar?  The seating, to the right, was more like a Denny's, with a bar down the left side.  The waitress led me to a table, and listening to all of the folks around me, they all seemed to be ordering the same thing.  So I ordered a Bonnie Burger (1/2 pound cheese-burger with 1/4 pound of shaved ham on top (??)).

I've never had a burger with ham on it before.  Bacon?  Sure.  But, it actually was good.  Not great, but good.  Industrial (read: Wendys-like) fries, but it sure beat eating in the restaurant at the hotel.

Five Napkin Burger, Atlanta, GA (October 2011)

Several months ago, I read in the local news about a new burger joint coming to town, Five Napkin Burger, in the old space where Nickiemoto's was located at the corner of 10th and Piedmont.  This New York based restauarant, with outposts in Boston, Miami and here, is an up-scale burger joint.   They even take reservations, for crying out loud.

Looking at the options for appetizers, Jo decided that we needed to try to the onion rings, so we ordered a "stack".  The corn meal crusted rings appeared atop a skewer with two dipping sauces - bleu cheese and a 5N sauce.  Not being an onion ring guy, I abstained, but Jo, and the couple we were dining with, said they were mighty tasty.

On to the entrees, I ordered a burger - what else?  Jo went with the fish tacos - always a suspect choice.  You never know what you're going to get.   So with the big choice out of the way, I had to decide on a side - french fries, tuscan fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries or rings.   

 


I'm a sucker for tater tots. But let's talk about these suckers.   They were HUGE.   Hard to tell from the picture, but they looked like jalapeno poppers (roughly 2" x 1" x 1").  So I took a bite and was I surprised.  First it was HOT.   After the cooling off period, I began to explore the taste.  These are fried blobs of chive mashed potatoes.   What a novel idea.  And a really good taste.



And then came the burger - ten glorious ounces of fresh ground beef, with pimento cheese (their standard burger has gruyere cheese - ooh-la-la) and a rosemary aoli on a buttered white roll. 

Wow is the only word that comes to mind.   It is one of the best burgers in the city.  I need to make a second visit to determine its place in the top five.   Let me get on that..
 

Grindhouse Burger, Atlanta, GA (October, 2011)

Looking back through my lists, I also realized that I've never blogged about Grindhouse Killer Burgers.   We ate at the original location (in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market) some time in mid-2009 and I'd been back to that location for lunch when I was in town on a couple of occasions.  They've opened a second location on Piedmont and I've eaten there twice over the past six months.  

The original location has a great "vibe", located in the market.    The counter is built out the wall of the West end of the Market and there's always a 50s or 60s "B" movie - think "Plan 9 from Outer Space" - projected onto the wall, sans sound.  You order at the register and find a place to sit at the counter after you get your order in.  CAUTION:  You do have to pay attention to where you sit at the counter so you don't have the pig parts at the butcher counter across the way in the view when you look up over your fries, but it is a good place to dine. 

The burger selection is typical (beef, veggie, turkey) with all the accoutrements and potato choice.

But the new location leaves me "flat".  It feels like it is trying too hard.   The movies are on the wall.  The burgers are fine, but not really worth the effort to drive there.   If I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stop in, unless I have a better idea...

Below?  A simple cheeseburger.

In -N-Out, Berkley, CA (October 2011)

No trip to California would be complete without a stop at the BEST chain restaurant in the West: In-N-Out.  


Heading back into San Francisco, we realized that we needed to eat and had no earthly idea what we wanted.   And then we saw the sign on the side of the freeway.  The clouds broke, a beam of sun shone through and trumpets sounded.  Take a quick look in the rearview, slam on the brakes, flip on the blinker and up the ramp we go.

"Quality you can taste" is their motto.  We were in the mood to taste the quality.  You see, we first discovered In-N-Out in 2004, when we took the girls and went to San Fransico and Yosemite.   We were staying at a hotel near Fisherman's Wharf and after a long day of sight-seeing, we were hungry and looking for someplace to grab a quick bite.    Just around the corner we saw something that resembled the golden arches and figured that we'd give it a try.

That night,  we first sampled the glory of the Double-Double.  Two 100% beef patties, two slices of American cheese, lettuce (off mine, on Jo's), tomatoes (look at the extra stack on mine!) and optional onions.  It's hard to describe what make an In-N-Out burger different.   In terms of great "chain" burgers, there are at least three - In-N-Out, Five Guys and Steak and Shake.   My buddy David would argue that Whataburger should be included, but I don't think they use beef ground fresh daily - an automatic disqualification in my book.  Back to In-N-Out:  the Double-Double is really good.  But the fries are great!  They're like thick Steak and Shake fries, cooked to a glorious gold.  Maybe some (glorious) day, they'll make their way this far east.

A parting photo for posterity...


Check out this gem that I just discovered from 2007

As I said above, we discovered In-N-Out in 2004 when we were out west.   When Madison and I went on her Excellent 16th Birthday Adventure, she and I found an In-N-Out drive thru and swung through for burgers and fries.  I just ran across this photo looking for something else.  Serendipity!

Nation's and Andie's, Napa, CA (October, 2011)

Since we'd already hit all of the burger spots on my list, I did some wandering around town while Jo was antiquing.   The first place I stopped in was Nation's Giant Hamburgers.  With a name like that, how could I drive by?    I didn't know this going in, but they're a chain out of the Bay Area with 25 locations.   

The first thing I noticed was the pies.  They sold pies by the slice, along with half and whole pies from behind a giant cooled baker's shelf (on the right side of the photo).   Lots of pies.  In fact, most of the people that came in while I was eating my burger ordered some part of a pie (or more) and left.   

I refrained from the call of the pie and went with a basic burger.  The sign said that they were 3/4 pound burgers.  That would qualify as a GIANT burger, if that was the patty.   But that's the entire burger loaded (and their tomatoes were HEAVY.)

It was perfectly fine - kind of like a Sonic burger.  Nothing awful, nothing spectacular.  I ate half, saving room for whatever came around later.

So I wander back and find Jo in an antiques shop and while she's wandering through, I strike up a conversation with the store-keep.  Chat-chat-chat-chat and in the midst of the "what brings you here" and "weather-talk" and all, I mention the burgers.   She says, "Have you been to Andie's?  I'm a vegetarian, but Susan swears they're the best burgers in the Valley."   I get directions, find Jo another spot to shop and head off in the car.

As I follow the directions (turn by  the car wash), I dreve right by it.   Then I look back and realize that it is actually in the parking lot of the car wash.   Right there under the "Drive Thru Espresso" sign.  How could I have missed it?   I find a place to park across the street and walk back.  It is late for lunch (3:30-ish) and there is no one else inside.  Good thing - I don't think they'd have fit.  

Oddly, there are four people behind the counter with some kind of running dialogue that apparently has been going on for quite some time.  They actually were debating, while cooking my cheese burger why one of the ladies wrote "CH burger" on the ticket and the other wrote "CH burger with cheddar."   The cook insisted that they were the same, but the owner settled it - CH = chuck, so only one of these two (mine) actually had cheese on it. 

On to the burger (a chuck burger with cheddar).  It was good sized, cooked like I ordered it and fairly tasty.    The bun was really good.  It was definitely better than Nation's.  I don't think it was as good as Gott's, and there was one of those in town, so Gott's gets my vote as the best burger in Napa.  I ate half of this one, too, and went back to pick up Jo.   We were heading into San Francisco to fly out the next day and I didn't want to spoil my dinner.