michaellynn4 Posted June 19, 2021 Share Posted June 19, 2021 @Nrthwnd I love George Motz, few other people have a passion for burgers like him. I highly recommend his book Hamburger America: He also has been a main guest for the Burger Show on the First We Feast YouTube channel (Hot Ones). Many of his videos outline all of the regional burger specialties across the continent, including how to make them (which look to be the foundation for that other book you found). Truly a burger historian! Here are two of my favorites, but there are plenty more, including a cool tour of Texas spots: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 I realized we haven't had a Ju(i)cy Lucy in this thread yet. For those unaware, this burger is a Minneapolis creation that puts cheese on the INSIDE of the burger patty. The exterior of the one I had tonight. And since I forgot to take a cross-section when I first got it like a total idiot, here it is nearly gone, the interior cheese still visible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I couldn't resist getting this book, since we've repeatedly always tried to figure out "what burger" they had on the board, each episode! Usually hilarious puns, or 'themed' burgers. Always fun to figure out. And this will help me reproduce a few of those burgers in question. I got my copy through Amazon.com (.ca for us 'Way Up North'). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Random thought: I find the idea of a "Smash Burger" intriguing. But still a wierd concept, all the same. Our local Safeway, is selling the burgers, as round burger balls, to eventually "Smash 'n Cook" I assume. Example of a Smash Burger. Uh huh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Damn I wish I had a burger (ANY burger) right now! A&W burgers would be fine, right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 I cooked this burger in butter, spread some bacon grease on the bun, and topped the burger off with a little extra shredded cheese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 ^ Ha! Looks a bit messy, and I am sure you enjoyed it, thoroughly! Here's one of Vera's (YVR) best ones. The Canuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 This was my burger; which means it was nacho burger. Literally, I cooked chips and cheese onto this burger as an experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 ^ You are definitely certified CRA - ZY. IMhO. But nonetheless..... <DROOL> I getcha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan the Coaster Man Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 I've been waiting to contribute to this thread, because I ~love~ a good burger, but for whatever reason I have not had a burger in awhile. Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted a good burger. I went to Red Robin and the Cheesy Bacon Fondue Burger caught my eye, but they were out of the fondue So I just settled on the royal red robin, I love eggs and bacon on burgers. Also forgot to take a picture so.... maybe next post I'll do it right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 ^ Two of the franchises here in Vancouver, FAT Burger and Vera's, both provide awesome burgers and easy build-your-own ones, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 "Something's" coming (re: A&W) in mid-March. Western Canada. Stay tuned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 The Beef O'Brady's 5 Cheese Burger (they call it a burger, even though it's presented like a patty melt). American, provolone, cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses garnished with a mozzarella stick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 ^ Ha! Call it a "Confused Patty". Should work. A TV commercial, just released, from A&W (for Western Canada), has the TEEN BURGER for $3.99, a deal for two weeks only. Aaaaand ...... in the commercial, Yours Truly is there..... somewhere! Truth! I swear I haven't seen it yet, but will post a LINK if I can. Amazingly (to me) I was one out of at least 40+ people, who got to be featured in this commercial! Maybe it was the grey hair and beard, hee hee. "Almost Gandalf", right? Who knows. I got the gig! And a free Teen Burger at the time! To be continued.... (Which literally means: "Until I see it, for myself.") 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Well, the commercial was released, a friend saw it and was kind enough to email it to me, since David and myself hadn't seen it, yet. Kind of sorry to hear only one line from me, but it's The Punch Line to it all... "That's not an A&W Burger." It wasn't, and I got The Real Burger at the end of my shoot; as did everybody else in this one. Hmmm. 8 of us picked, out of 40+ who showed up...? Lucky me and us! Here's the link to the commercial and other A&W commercials of the past: (Um, my friend paused it at where I showed up. So you have to restart the vid. No big deal.) My 2 seconds of burger fame. Impressive, huh? I even, sort of, match the food truck! And what I was wearing, was my 700+ Coaster t-shirt! (In golden) And I had The Punch Line, to the whole thing, HaH! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 omgomgomgomgomgomg! Me and David just found out, on tv, that A&W has released a second 15+ second spot for the Teen Burger ad! (Which ends April 3.) And I'm in that one, too! Cool. Will post it as soon as I can find it. Or if somebody else, locally, sees it .....? And just earlier today, I showed David the first (of the two) commercial I was in! We hadn't seen it on tv, to this date, so I figured enough time had gone by, etc. So seeing this second one together, was extra cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invertalon Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 So over the past few months, the girlfriend and I went on a mission to carefully rate and come up with our end-all-be-all list of the more 'iconic' burger places... Since we had trips out to CA/Texas, and living in the Midwest, this has included In-N-Out, Culvers, Five Guys, Shake Shack and a local place Swensons here in Ohio. All double cheeseburgers judged with similar toppings primarily (fully loaded, basically), but also animal style, w/ peppers and other variations as well offered. Not judging fries or anything, but some notes on that in the misc. areas. At the end of the day, it's hard NOT to include price as a factor… Especially when some of the more ‘upscale’ options if you will, can be nearly double in price, but not twice as good if you catch my drift. So I will say this, #1 and #2 are basically neck and neck. One strictly overall quality/taste, while the other because the value and quality offered. So it’s tough. So some of our comments/notes/scores below, in order from our favorite to least favorite, with notes. #1 – Shake Shack At the burger level alone, they reign supreme. The best flavor, thanks to their cooking method and seasoning. Does not taste processed. The cheese factor here is excellent. Melty and compliments the patties perfectly. It was a gooey, delicious mess. Toppings were all fresh. Really dig the cherry pepper option for some acidity/mild heat added. Bun is really soft, tastes great. While toasted, did not notice any real ‘flavor’ from the bun, in terms of char or anything. Burger is juicy, meaty/cheesy and is exactly what you want/expect in a burger. I think out of them all, this takes the grand prize for sure. Misc Notes – Pricing is high… Probably double that of In-N-Out, Culvers and Swensons. Menu is a bit more diverse. Shakes are good. Fries are decent, nothing special. #2 – In-N-Out At the patty level, the beef does have a bit more processed/fast food character than say Shake Shack or Five Guys. But it’s not a negative, just a flavor characteristic. Overall, the complete burger is delicious. Very fresh toppings, fresh and crisp, always looks ‘perfect’. Cheese melts really well… No complaints here! Animal Style, Peppers, 3x3’s and 4x4’s offer more flexibility. Love me some animal style or traditional with the peppers added. Both delicious! Price is excellent… You get a lot for the money. Bun is the best of the bunch. For some reason, the buttery/char character is always prevalent and adds so much depth to the entire burger. Misc Notes – I dig the atmosphere of these… The hustle/bustle inside, watching them fresh cut potatoes in the window while waiting in the drive-thru and the long lines wrapped around the building. It just has a cool ‘vibe’. I also really dig the neapolitan shake… For me, it beats the shakes I have had at Shake Shack… About half the price, to boot! Fries are ‘boring’, I wouldn’t consider them better or worse than Shake Shack plain… But animal style? Yeah, easy win. #3 – Five Guys Very close to Shake-Shack on the burger patty front… High quality patty with a *touch* of that processed/fast food taste. Not as much as In-N-Out, but certainly more than Shake Shack. Slight smash burger char character, but not as much as Shake Shack in that regard. Bun is good, but offers nothing to the rest of the burger. Cheese melt is fantastic. Becomes another beefy/cheese goop of wonderfulness. Veggies good, but a bit more subdued compared to the top two. Doesn’t seem to ‘pop’ as much in visual or taste. Nothing special. Overall, can’t go wrong here! I prefer the top two more, but this is a damn solid burger at the end of the day. May not look as ‘commercial ready’ when served, but it’s the taste that matters here! Misc Notes – More pricey like Shake Shack. Plenty of topping options to customize. Best fries of the bunch, IMO. #4 – Culvers Beef reminds me of In-N-Out, salt/flavor wise, but with some additional complexity from being a smash burger (char). So +1 there. Cheese is weird here, doesn’t want to melt well. The whole point of processed American cheese is to melt well, what is going on?? Intense raw onion (way more than other places), multiple visits. Getting the caramelized onion helped… I don’t like it lingering for hours, as much as I love onion. Just behind In-N-Out in the value front, pricing is good. Bun is soft, but doesn’t add any real char/flavor to the rest of the burger. Nothing special. Overall, Culvers comes across a bit ‘boring’ overall. Good, solid burger, but I’d pick any of the others if I had the option and price was not an influence. They are just better. #5 Swensons Local place here in Ohio, dating back to 1930’s. It’s a Drive-In style place where they run out to your car and all that… So wanted to throw them into the mix! Beef is the most processed/fast-foody of them all. Most like say, Mcdonalds in texture/flavor. No char/grill flavor. Burger is smaller. Bun is soft and quite sweet… Not a bad thing, just quite different to the rest. Veggies OK. I do like the green olive toothpicked through the middle of the burger. Nice touch! Price/value is good. Overall, the burger comes across more sweet/salty mix, which is interesting. Not bad, just again, different! Not the same caliber as the other four. But it’s fun and unique in it’s own way, it’s taste is quite unique. At the end of the day when you do factor in price, In-N-Out is our overall winner. Always solid, value is great, burgers are delicious. Can’t go wrong and always a must-visit (or a few visits…) when one is nearby. Yes, it’s still fast food (any of them are), but it is just a special/fun treat for us to splurge on junk food wise on trips/vacations because it’s super rare we ever get burgers/fast food in general. But man, Shake Shack burgers are something else... Ignoring price/value, it’s the clear winner. The beef quality, cooking method, veggies/sauce. Five Guys is also an overall better quality beef/taste in that regard, but lack in the veggie department and presentation compared. Shake Shack or Five Guys for overall burger quality if you want no/minimal fast foody taste, but In-N-Out as the well rounded all-star. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 ^ You described it a bit, but I am really curious what "animal style" really means? Honestly, I've never heard of a burger described that way. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invertalon Posted April 15, 2022 Share Posted April 15, 2022 At In-N-Out, "Animal Style" is a not-so-secret special request that changes how the burgers are made for your order. It's not the menu when you go, you just have to know ahead of time (word of mouth and such). Normally, their burgers (single or double patty) come standard with lettuce, tomato, raw onion and special sauce. For animal style, they cook the patties in mustard, use chopped/sauteed onions instead of raw, add pickles and extra special sauce. You can also apply "Animal Style" to their fries, in which they top your fries with special sauce, cheese and the cooked onions. Which is really awesome. Lots of "hidden" menu items of In-N-Out not listed on their menu, which is quite small and to the point. But a quick look online will show you a bunch of 'hidden' items from "Protein Style" (lettuce burger), to the addition of spicy chopped peppers (delicious), animal style options, 3x3 and 4x4 (3 or 4 patties) among others. It's a fun time at In-N-Out! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 ^ But ...... cooked patties in mustard? That's definitely a different way to do it, lol. Whatever it's all about, it's certainly intriguing to try. Thanks for the explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainUnknown Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 In trying to clean the fridge out a bit before vacation, I present this monstrosity. I believe it has 4 layers of cheese, two layers of bacon bits, and some pepperoni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 ^ You are so dedicated, aren't you? I admire that, in a true burger lover. What I hope to enjoy, soon. A Vera's burger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 After my "successful run" as an A&W Teen Burger Lover ("That's not an A&W burger." was my 2-second punchline) in two weeks of local commercials ...... ....... they're now running ads for a "Best Burger Ever" ...... thing. Here's their PR quote. In the Western Canada franchises, btw. Quote It’s not a typo. It’s the name. We found the best ingredients and made the Best Burger. Ever. Burger. With grass-fed prime rib* beef, real cheddar cheese, garlic aioli and fried pickles, it's the be-all-end-all of burgers. Experience it yourself for a limited time only. We're buying a couple of them on Tuesday, after grocery shopping. Hope they're good. The fried pickles were a main draw for us. I forgot what the * beside the words "prime rib" meant. Hmmmm. EDIT To Review: It was fine. Not overwhelming in any way. And <gulp> only $9 each! Cdn. but still. And the fried onions were a part of it (left out of the commercial) which helped. Burger thick and meaty. Fried pickles were great! The bun was different too, and not their usual blah blah one. More of a brioche kind. They should use this type bun for all their burgers. No other condiments added. There was enough sauce on it, but at times, it still tasted 'dry' but nonetheless it was a full meal deal type burger. W/onion rings. This was a One-And-Done burger for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 ...... And from the 'This Is Really Cool' Dept .... And it only cost nearly $19 Cdn. to get it. Should be cheaper in the U.S.A. Link is below the photo of it. Soooo cute! https://www.amazon.ca/Bobs-Burgers-Talking-Burger-Button/dp/0762462760/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2M0C7NH7O2113&keywords=bobs+burgers+button&qid=1651459144&sprefix=bobs+burgers+button%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1 We actually have a number of these "Little Box" stuff things .... including I kid you not, a "Desk Top Titanic" to display, iceberg and all. Will "show all and tell all", another time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Almost forgot! Happy National HAMBURGER Day! Now, go get one. and eat/enjoy it! Image courtesy of Disney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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