MetaChat - Let's talk Burgers

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

18 August 2006

Let's talk Burgers →[More:]Inspired by food threads today.

Best "Commercial" Hamburger.

I like In & Out. Obvs.

Also, Culvers.

Mike mentioned Five Guys...which I've never had...

Discuss.

(And I love you vegan/vegetarians but don't rain on my burger parade...)

post by: Lola_G at: 14:59 | 29 comments

Find a way to get a Five Guys burger, Lola. You won't be sorry. I'm going tonight, thanks to you.

posted by mike9322 18 August | 15:00

Oooooooh, Avon, CT might be doable.

posted by Lola_G 18 August | 15:03

Lola, by commercial, do you mean fast-food? Around here, I'm rather partial to Burgerville.

i'd hit it!

posted by pieisexactlythree 18 August | 15:07

I have this book. I don't buy burgers when I'm outdoors because they're one of the few things I can make really well at home. I like Johnny Rockets for the retro wax paper, but really, the meat tastes the same pretty much everywhere I've been. You can put different stuff on it at home.

posted by Eideteker 18 August | 15:08

Best Burger in NYC.

Best of the chains

posted by jonmc 18 August | 15:13

Ugh, Sliders. I agree they taste good but the repeat is not worth it. (And by repeat I mean burping, aftertaste not the other thing they are famous for...)

Johnny Rockets. Those are good. I forgot about them.

All my favorite fries are the crinkle cut ones like those at Culvers and White Castle. Not really a huge fan of In & Out fries.

And Burgerville better be good if its a "ville". You know?

posted by Lola_G 18 August | 15:18

Eids, I like the thinness and griddle flavor of a fastfood hamburger.

The ones my parents always made were ginormous.

posted by Lola_G 18 August | 15:19

Paul's Place is pretty good - we used to go there reasonably often. For an In & Out style one go to Blue 9 Burger on 3rd Ave/11thish St. They are solid.
The Falls in Soho used to do a really good burger, before, you know, their bouncer murdered and dismembered that college girl (ALLEGEDLY), and they closed.

posted by gaspode 18 August | 15:23

Round these parts, Vera's Burger Shack, hands down. As they say, you can't beat Vera's meat.

posted by elizard 18 August | 15:28

West coast: In & Out burger rocks. I wish they'd cook their fries longer though. Not much worse than undercooked potatoes. In Marin, Joe's Diner on the frontage road in Terra Linda by Mary's Futons.

East coast: It's been far to long - I can't remember a single place. It'll be 8 Years in December!

Toppings: Lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup on the bottom, mayonnaise - NOT MIRACLE WHIP... - on the top. Baby dill pickles on the side.

posted by getoffmylawn 18 August | 15:29

Ah, but I like 'em ginormous. Actually, though I confess to using a Foreman Grill, I'm pretty good at making them whatever size I'm in the mood for. I'm not a bad cook as much as I am untrained; I only have a few dishes but I can make them to almost anyone's taste. So while I completely understand and endorse your love of the fastfood burger, I promise that if I ever have to, I'll make it the way you like it. I'll try not to make it so good that you're ruined for all other burgers (the way I accidentally did with my girl and bacon, oops).

posted by Eideteker 18 August | 15:29

I'll second mike9322 here, Five Guys is the dog's bollocks, I mean really, truly the best. The fries, too. They tell you where the taters come from on a chalkboard near the register, too (in case you're from Idaho and can't stand the taste of Maine spuds, I guess).

posted by Hugh Janus 18 August | 15:31

jon, one of the things George loved best about me was that, unlike his ex-wife and other women he'd dated, I was happy to share a sack or two of White Castle sliders with him.

I also learned that it is best to be no more than 10 minutes from home after eating said sliders.

We joked to his family that we were going to have a wedding just like this.

posted by essexjan 18 August | 15:36

EJ, that is the best picture ever.

posted by Lola_G 18 August | 15:43

jon, one of the things George loved best about me was that, unlike his ex-wife and other women he'd dated, I was happy to share a sack or two of White Castle sliders with him.

essexjan, my parents' first date was at the White Castle on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside, NY. So you have murderburgers to thank for the beautiful hunk of manhood posting before you.

I also learned that it is best to be no more than 10 minutes from home after eating said sliders.

You don't have to tell me. After eating 8 of them, I burst into a bar and finding the mens room occupied, I burst into the ladies and emptied myself there. Sliders lead me to toilet transvestism, but they're still worth it.

posted by jonmc 18 August | 15:47

In N' Out burgers are great, especially because they're extra salty, the buns are fried, and you can special order them. I can only have a few a month though. I don't like the fries, either.

Johnny Rockets is very good. The cooks are better at some locations than others. I worked right next to one where the cooks were very good and it made a difference over two more that I went to sometimes.

I also like Fatburger, especially because you can get egg put on a Fatburger. That's nuts! I think the meat tastes better than Johnny Rockets, but maybe I'm wrong.

posted by halonine 18 August | 15:56

Sliders are the only thing that have made my stomach gurgle both audible and visibly, the way Homer Simpson's sometimes does. They are worth eating for that phenomenon alone.

posted by essexjan 18 August | 15:59

I also like Fatburger, especially because you can get egg put on a Fatburger. That's nuts!

Here on the east coast, it's fairly common and usually called a 'Texas Burger' in most diners. I usually add bacon and cheddar and have a side of disco fries.

posted by jonmc 18 August | 16:01

Did somebody say Burger?

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Rhomboid 18 August | 16:19

the buns are fried
What are you talking about?

posted by getoffmylawn 18 August | 16:41

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by hemanhasamullet 18 August | 16:47

I *heart* In N Out. Here in Texas, I've found Whataburger to be an acceptable substitute.

posted by muddgirl 18 August | 16:51

I just got home from Five Guys. NUMMY!

But, as always, I ate too much

posted by mike9322 18 August | 17:29

I find the appeal of In-N-Out difficult to quantify. I don't find their burgers or fries especially tasty but about once a week I get The Craving... as a matter of fact, I'm getting it now...

Nations makes a damned fine burger. I don't know if they exist anywhere outside of the Bay Area though. They make American Cheese and Miracle Whip taste so damned good. Lately they've taken to offering salmon patties too, yummmmmmmmm.

One of my regrets is that I've never sampled a White Castle burger, despite having lived on the East Coast for a year and a half. They're referenced so often in this horrified whisper that I have to find out what it's all about.

posted by lekvar 18 August | 17:54

Miracle Whip is just WRONG.

posted by getoffmylawn 18 August | 17:58

I'm having burgers for dinner tonight. I blame you!

posted by Eideteker 18 August | 19:10

Now that I'm back in AZ, I enjoy me some Whataburger. It's a 24 hour place in TX, AZ and some southern states. I don't know about the entire chain, but my nearest location sports some insulting Christian messages on the windows, which I like with my late night fast food.

When In-n-Out first opened in AZ, I thought it was overrated. The hype was outrageous. But I've come around. It it is still overrated, but the burgers are damn good.

The burgers at the Shake Shack in NYC tastes pretty similar to In-n-Out. Slightly better even.

posted by mullacc 18 August | 21:17

I just got back from this place and while Red Mill usually gets the local props, I find I really don't care for their stuff...I'd rather go to Red Robin. Or Dick's (best drunk food in town!)

However, CC's was friggin' awesome...Thick, meaty patties and the bacon was just right. Everything tasted pretty close to homemade just...better.

posted by black8 18 August | 22:25

I strongly second Fatburger. and I love Proud Marys in Dana Point

posted by matteo 19 August | 08:53

← Question || I still miss A Common Reader. →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN