Monday, April 11, 2011


This is a free-for-all meat forum where anyone can submit their most intimate experiences with burger shacks and grills around the globe. Although it's named after Hamburg Germany, there's nothing more American than a patty of nicely grilled meat dressed with your favorite condiments placed neatly in a bun. Yum. Let's eat...

IF YOU'RE NOT BLOG SAVVY - THE IDEA IS TO MAKE COMMENTS ON EACH AND EVERY POST YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO CHIME IN ABOUT. WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE BURGER JOINTS AROUND THE GLOBE. WHICH PLACE HAS "THE BEST BURGER" IN YOUR OPINION? SEND AN EMAIL TO PAT@BRAINBLAZE.COM WITH THE NAME AND CITY OF YOUR FAVORITE BURGER SHACKS AND I'LL ADD THEM TO THE LIST!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

TOP SECRET : In-And-Out for those in the Know

At In-N-Out you can order custom-made food. Some customizations are available at no additional cost; those that use inventoried items such as cheese, meat, and buns cost extra. While it's not on the printed menu, there are buttons on the cash register for these items. You can pretty much order anything you want, as long as they have the ingredients (e.g., putting onions in a milkshake). While the "secret" menu is listed on the In-N-Out corporate site, it is far from complete.

Also, keep in mind that since you can customize anything, you can feel free to order whatever you want and create your own "double-secret personal menu". Get a 0x3 with four slice of tomato on a double toasted bun and call it a "cheesy wiki". The following are just the custom orders that are popular enough to go by well known names.

Burgers

Stock: If you ordered your burgers off the menu they would come with:
  • a spread similar to thousand island dressing.
  • one slice of tomato (two if one won't cover the entire bottom bun)
  • a portion of lettuce
  • Onions are always offered when you order. They come as a fresh slice by default, but chopped and grilled onions are available by request. The amount is constant regardless of the number of meat patties unless you ask for extra or lite of a condiment.
but instead consider ...

Custom Burgers

Note: Many of these styles can be ordered in combination (for example, Double-Double Animal Style No Salt).
Animal style is the most popular "secret" style. In addition to the standard toppings, animal style burgers include:
  • pickles
  • extra spread
  • extra grilled onions
  • mustard fried onto each meat patty.
Protein style, popular among Atkins dieters, no/low carb eaters and people who just like lots of lettuce:
  • replaces the hamburger bun with large leaves of lettuce.
  • It can be combined with other special orders, e.g., animal protein style.
  • Lettuce is generally colder than buns, so beware of quickly-congealing beef grease in the sandwich.
3×3, 4×4, or generally M × C refers to a burger with a varied number of meat patties (first number, M) and slices of cheese (second number, C). For example, the popular Double-Double would be 2×2 (pronounced "Two-by-two" when you order it), while a burger with 3 meat patties and 1 slice of cheese would be a 3×1 (a "three-by-one").
    As of August 2006, the largest burger that can be ordered is a 4x4. Only four slices of cheese maximum may be permitted on a single burger. That may be a Davis-specific rule, as somebody checked and officially the largest you can order is a 4x6. If you are wondering about ordering a 20×20, look at this link to deter you. It is a photo essay of the terrible 20 patty journey. Or, to even better satisfy any curiosity you may have, the 100x100.
Double-Meat (a.k.a. 2×0) is a Double-Double with no cheese.
  • By definition a Double-Double automatically includes two slices of cheese; for two patties without the cheese, a double meat burger must be ordered.
The Flying Dutchman:
  • Two meat patties
  • two slices of cheese
  • no bun
  • Note: other condiments (including lettuce, tomato, spread, and onions) are not included unless you request them.
  • This is a great way to circumvent the burger size rules. i.e.: order a 4x4 and two Flying Dutchmans and you have essentially an 8x8
Grilled Cheese:
  • a sandwich with two slices of cheese
  • no meat
  • the grilled cheese comes stock, with spread, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions if you would like.
    • Like most orders, this can be combined with other styles such as animal style.
    • FYI: The grilled cheese used to be cooked on the side of the grill that was reserved for toasting buns (so that it wouldn't get contaminated from being cooked on the same surface used to cook meat). They now have two separate grills, one for meat, and the other for bun toasting. However, the bun grill is coated with a special non-stick surface that doesn't allow them to cook grilled cheeses on it any longer, and they have to cook them on the same surface as the meat.
Wish Burger or Veggie Burger:
  • A sandwich containing only vegetables, and no meat or cheese.
  • "Wish burger" is a reference to [wikipedia]Rubber Biscuit, which was a massive cult hit due to [wikipedia]Dan Aykroyd's performance of it as [wikipedia]Elwood Blues. The song is a lament about not having enough money for food, and going hungry. The majority of the lyrics are nonsensical vocal sounds, with one of the four actual lines being: "Have you ever heard of a wish sandwich? A wish sandwich is the kind of a sandwich where you have two slices of bread and you — hum hum hum hum — wish you had some meat!"

Burger Options

Mustard Grilled patty spread with mustard, then cooked.

Chopped Chilis
adds some jalapenos to the bottom of your burger.

Mustard
and/or ketchup can be substituted for the spread. Only designates no spread. Cashiers may ask if you want ketchup or mustard instead.

No-salt
has no salt added to the the patties. Once you add the condiments and cheese, you don't need the extra salt anyway and you can leave without feeling like a dried-out-but-satisfied lump.

Extra toasted bun/lightly toasted bun/untoasted bun
. The bun come toasted by default, but you can ask to have the level of toastyness varied. The buns are toasted to add some rigidity to the burger, as an untoasted bun is flimsy under the weight of all the meat/cheese/condiments. This also prevents sauces and toppings from excessively soaking into the bun, thereby avoiding the last-bites-are-soggy problem. This needs to be the first modification requested, based on keystroke order into the register.

Extra tomatoes, extra lettuce, extra onion
You can ask for all of these at no extra charge. They'll really fill out your burger and make it a more balanced meal. Especially if you're a veggie fan. I find extra raw onions to be a bit much, though. You can also ask for both raw and grilled onions.

Custom Fries

  • Fries well-done are extra crispy fries.
  • Fries light well are a little more done than regular fries, but not as crispy or greasy as the well-done fries.
  • Fries lite are fries that have been cooked less than normal.
  • Fries animal style include two slices of melted cheese, grilled onions, and spread as toppings. You'll need a fork to eat them.
  • Cheese Fries are fries with one or two slices of melted cheese.
  • Fries no-salt have no salt added to them.
  • Lemon fries you can make your own lemon fries—just grab a lemon slice from next to the ice tea machine, and squeeze it on your fries. It really livens things up.

Custom Drinks

Milk Shakes

  • A root beer float is a concoction made of half vanilla shake and half root beer soda. Be sure to specify whether you want it more creamy or soda-ey.
  • A neopolitan shake is a mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavored shakes. If an order contains a shake of each flavor, this is called "Around the world."
  • Strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla can be combined in any way, ie, just chocolate and vanilla, chocolate-strawberry, etc.
  • You can ask for extra syrup in your shake (ie extra chocolate or strawberry) — not all employees know how to do this, but this option is available as of 9-05 in Davis
  • Large and extra large shakes are also available. The cup sizes for these shakes are one below soft drinks (i.e. a large shake is a medium soft drink cup, while an extra large shake is a large soft drink).

Other

  • Milk. 2% lowfat is your only option. Yaaknow, it's for da kids.

Side Items

These items are free:
  • Spread - good with fries
  • Side of pre-packaged jalapenos.
  • Water comes in a clear plastic cup to distinguish it from soda/shake cups.
  • Creative Lemonade. Take your water cup, squeeze several free lemon wedges in, add a few free packets of sugar, stir well to blend. Fresh and tasty!

Monday, March 29, 2010

brgr





from DannyB in NYC

Friday, May 29, 2009

Obama stops at Five Guys for cheeseburger


Obama stops at Five Guys for cheeseburger

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – For a health food nut, President Barack Obama sure likes his burgers. Obama made a surprise lunchtime stop at Five Guys, a fast-food restaurant in Washington. The president ordered a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, jalapeno peppers, and mustard as well as several other cheeseburgers to go. He also ordered a cheeseburger for Brian Williams, news anchor for NBC. The network was filming a day-in-the-life program at the White House.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president wasn't showing off for the cameras. "I can assure you it was done simply for the benefit of the appetite of the commander in chief," Gibbs said. The president snacked on peanuts, and chatted with surprised customers while he waited for his order.

There are "more problems than we thought," Obama told a man who asked him about his first months in office. Early this month, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden took a short motorcade ride from the White House to Virginia and ordered lunch at a small independent restaurant called Ray's Hell Burger. Gibbs joked that while the cheeseburgers at the White House are pretty good, the president likes to "get out of the gate a little bit."

First lady Michelle Obama has also proven herself to be a burger fan. She recently said she snuck out to a Five Guys restaurant without anyone noticing.

Despite their burger runs, the Obamas are big believers in exercise and healthy eating. The first lady has started a vegetable garden at the White House. Some of the crops will be served to the Obamas and to White House staff and guests, while some will be donated to a local soup kitchen.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Mich. baseball park to offer 4,800-calorie burgers

Mich. baseball park to offer 4,800-calorie burgers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Well, at least the salsa is low-cal. The West Michigan Whitecaps, a minor league baseball team, will be offering up major league cholesterol, carbohydrates and calories in an enormous hamburger being added to the menu this year at the Fifth Third Ballpark.

The 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips, all on an 8-inch sesame-seed bun. That's a lot of dough!

The Grand Rapids Press reports that anyone who eats the entire 4,800-calorie behemoth in one sitting will receive a special T-shirt. Saner fans can divide it up with a pizza cutter and share.

The Midwest League team is a Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Friday, March 20, 2009

The regular: The Quest for the Best Cloth Napkin Burger in SF

My friend P-Boyle sent this article. BIX has the best fancypants burger in fog-town...

From TableHopper.com

The regular: The Quest for the Best Cloth Napkin Burger

There’s nothing like a good juicy hamburger, and in the middle of “damn, my wallet is empty” times, burgers are (usually) an inexpensive beacon on restaurant menus everywhere. And leave it to San Francisco chefs to up the burger ante, with everything from homemade buns to pickled onions to one-of-a-kind condiments.

Since people still want to go out, but not shell out the usual dough needed to do so, I was inspired to do a roundup of the best beef burgers in San Francisco. But here’s the catch: they had to be at places with cloth napkins. You know, fancy-ass burgers.

The City is full of them, as I painfully came to realize. Really now, what on earth was I thinking? In the end, I hit 15 places. In a little over a month’s time, mind you. I tried ‘em plain, with cheese, with truffles, with mustard, without, but always asked for a true medium rare. I didn’t get to make it to every place in the City, because I had to wave the flag at some point. Like, ow, enough already. It’s a miracle I don’t have gout.

Read the winner list here...
http://www.tablehopper.com/2009/03/regular-quest-for-best-cloth-napkin.html

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Gigi's Burger Tips : #1

Gigi has come up with a great piece of burger science and advice. Our family realized that burger buns tend to get soaked, squished and fall apart under the juicy goodness of a grilled burger. The solution my six year old came up with? Put your lettuce BELOW the burger to create a moisture barrier that the grease can't seep through. The result? More burger greasy goodness and a bun that will last to the final bite.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Words of Wisdom from Gigi

Gigi, my 6-year-old, offered words of burger wisdom to me last night as we dove into our dinner. She said :

"Daddy, the burger is the most important part of a hamburger. Without that, it wouldn't be a hambuger." Which totally confirms the BurgerTour.org tagline, "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MEAT."

Sunday, February 24, 2008

That's one big burger.


134-pound burger is savored in Southgate; then it's sold and eaten

Detroit, Michigan - Saturday was probably the first time the line at the back of Mallie's Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate wasn't for the restrooms. Dozens of customers -- some with a cell phone in each hand ready to take a picture -- jockeyed for position just outside the entrance to the kitchen. They wanted to get the first glimpse at a 134-pound hamburger that could break the Guinness world record for the largest commercially available hamburger. "Whoa, that's a big burger," said Marvetta Howard, 51, of Detroit, who had a seat near the kitchen. "I'm impressed. You don't often see a Guinness record broken, so I'll be buying a copy of the book when it comes out." The previous record was 123 pounds.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

SAVE THE BUCK -------------------------------------------- RED SHAG ON THE WALLS FOREVER!




Please COMMENT on this post with your fondest memories of cheeseburgers and schoopers of PBR from the Buck. I'l bury this in a time capsule made of seasoned french fries wrapped in red shag carpeting only to be opened when "The Head of The Class" rises from the grave...

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

OLD MEAT : History of the Tour...

The BurgerTour is something Brad German and I (Patrick Yore) thought up one day, probably on Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan. It might have gone something like this... "Hey Pat," "Yeah" "You hungry?" "Yup" "Wanna see how many burgers we can eat?" "Um-hmm." So this is the deal, every year or so (this is by no means a tightly structured event) Brad and I hop in a car and head off into the local meat environment to sample the local beefy faire. We show up at a place, order the house burger and a drink (some places serve beer - sweeeet) eat, then move on to the next burger shack, Et Cetera. We've found the limit is usually 4 consecutive burgers, then it's time for siesta.

So You Wanna Take Your Own Tour?

If you're planning a tour yourself here are some tips : (1) Plan it. Pick five or six places to hit on a logical route. You don't want to be wandering around when there' eating time a wastin' (2) Take one or two friends that really love burgers, no whiners, no whimps, one car (3) Go Hungry (4) Savor every bite and take notes for your BurgerTour blog submissions (5) Don't discount any place that serves a burger, you'll be surprised how the dingiest, tiniest funky places can kick out a great burger (6) Stop when you're full. Nobody wants to see the results of the BurgerTour on the floor of the last place you visit.

Scamburgers = That's not meat!...

Have you ever noticed how every type of meat that isn't beef wants to be a burger? They all dress up like a burger like it's f'n meat Halloween or something. Beware of these impostor burgers. Remember, just because something looks like a burger, doesn't mean it's a burger.

Turkey Burger
Soybean Burger - you're kidding right?
Salmon Burger - Actually pretty tasty but alas, not a burger
Buffalo Burger - (see Salmon burger)
BratBurger - Can you picture this? My invention that I applied for a trademark on... and lost.
Bubble Gum Burger
Boca Burger - Shoot me a Boca and maybe I'll try one
Ostrich Burger - Does this sound appetizing to anyone?

Big Mike was a Burger Maniac...

My Dad was a burgerholic if there is such a thing. You know that T-shirt that says "I put ketchup on my ketchup."? well, he died before I could get him one, but you get the picture. I remember many family trips and precious moments between he and I that centered around the ground meat sandwich. He liked 'em big and juicy. I think for some guys the burger can be a challenge to their machismo. "Can he do it?" How the heck is he gonna pick that thing up, let alone eat it?" You didn't want to blink either. He could have the biggest one down the hatch in a matter of seconds. Speaking of seconds...

Monday, March 26, 2007

FISHER'S HAPPY HOUR TAVERN - Leeland, Michigan

Posted by Little John - This is a family owned business that is located 5 miles north of Leeland, MI on M-22. It has a double cheesburger that is second to none and will bind you up for days. Big John is frequent flyer there and can attest to the burger's quality as he usually orders 2 to 3 double cheesburgers to go.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Friday, July 21, 2006

The Peanut Barrel - East Lansing Michigan

Ollie's Trolley - Washington DC

Ben's Chili Bowl - Washington DC

Shake Shack - New York New York

Corner Bistro - New York New York

J.G. Melon - New York New York

Redamak's - New Buffalo Michigan

Casey's Tavern in Ann Arbor - Michigan

Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger - Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Best Burger in Beeftown - Chicago's Top Beef

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/dining/guides/summer/mmx-050614-chicago-burgers,0,4552171.story?coll=mmx-dining_summer_top_heds

Thanks to TD "Thick N Juicy" Butzbaugh

WEBER GRILL - Chicago Illinois

STANLEY'S KITCHEN & TAP - Chicago, Illinois

SMITH & WOLLENSKY'S - Chicago Illinois

ROSEBUD STEAKHOUSE - Chicago Illinois

PJ CLARKE'S - New York New York

THE BEST BURGER IN THE WORLD! - Add your favorites using the comment link here...

THE SILVER DOLLAR - Saint Joseph Michigan

THE CHATTERBOX - Benton Harbor Michigan

Test

M & G BURGER - Fairfax California

THE WELCOME INN - Stevensville Michigan

IN & OUT BURGER