50 Burger Challenge: May 2013

Rayzor - In-N-Out Burger - allen, tx - burger #19

Double double animal style. What can i say, it's in-n-out. While i'm not the fanatic some people are, i do think they make a very good burger. The fries were good, too. 8/10.

brownie/Phantom Canton Brewing/CSCO/burger #31

GZ Souths, Cork Ireland Burger #12

They don't call em buns here, they call em baps.

Murphy's and Beamish are better than Guinness.

Burger was only so so but the real Irish bacon and cheese brought this along to my average 6/10.

Co workers are starting to wonder WTF is going on with me with all these burgers this week.

JohnF - Downtown Burgers - Austin, tx - #22

This shack across form the convention center just serves up a couple of basic no frills burger options. They do it well for a basic burger. 7/10

HaVoCLaD - Elevation Burger - ATX - #29

6/10

Good solid hand formed burger

Unlike several other places I've been to, I'm pretty sure they're serving grass-fed beef. It's good flavorful beef.

I had the Elevation Burger, the counter person asked me if I wanted one slice of cheese or two. Good idea, one is enough. I added ketchup, mayo, raw onions, jalapenos and pickles.

The fries were past thin and on to scrawny sized. There was a good amount, but in addition to being thin, they were also short. I had to deduct a point for the fries.

Peter Pepper, Crown Pub, Fort Collins, Co., Burger #23

Relleno burger 7/10

GZ Kirby's Korner Restaurant - Cork Ireland, Burger #11

http://www.kirbyskornerbar.com/

A lot of bun, a lot of lettuce but hidden in there was a good hunk of beef and some real bacon (Irish do bacon way better than the US). 7/10.

HaVoCLaD - Hopdoddy Burger Bar - ATX - #28

8/10

Now that the Hopdoddy's on Anderson has been open for a while it's trendiness has died down and the line looked manageable. Time for me to give it a try. I got there at 11:50AM and had my burger by 12:10, the line was small and moved quickly.

I ordered the Diablo Burger. The folks on Foursquare were saying that it was for serious heat fans only. It's too bad those folks haven't met my friend Jack S., they clearly don't know him.

The ingredients were
- Caramelized Onions - tasty, but not hot. Honestly I prefer the crunch of raw onion though.

- Pepper Jack - nice and gooey, not what I'd call spicy

- Chipotle Mayo - there in abundance. They should trim in down to a smear on the bottom bun, not a couple tbsp worth.

- Salsa Roja - Did not identify this on the burger

- Serranos - I had maybe a half dozen paper thin slices, at most a third of a serrano total

- Habaneros - Nope, not there at all

All in all, it added up to - maybe - the level of the hot wings at a casual dining place like Chili's.

My waiter asked how things were and I expressed my disappointment with my burger and he replied, "We'll make it hotter next time". My question of "How?" went unanswered, directed as it was to his back as he made his quick exit.

The fries were thin and unexceptional.

As a meal, I'd give it a four based on lame spicy burger. However, if I treat it just as a generic burger I have to admit it was a damn fine one. The patty was very moist and done perfectly medium as I had asked. The bun was flavorful and held up admirably against the onslaught of the dripping burger. It was very tasty, I'll probably go back this year and try another burger.

brownie/Ute Pass Brewing/Woodland Park, CO/burger #30

Biliruben - Top Notch - ATX - #26

7 / 10

Name: the Longhorn
Toppings: LTOC(a)Mu "special sauce"
Patty: 2x 1/4 med
Taste: Yummy. Probably biased due to the Dazed and Confused paraphernalia

Biliruben - Phil's Ice House - ATX - #25

7 / 10

Name: i forget
Toppings: usual
Patty:1/4 med
Taste: good. I like the sweet bun

GZ Burger #10 Bulman Pub, Kinsale Ireland

Better than most burgers I get in Europe, 6 out of 10.

JohnF - Moonies Burger Bar - Austin - #21

I searched for 'burgers' on Google Maps to what new restaurants were near me, and discovered this local chain has apparently been creeping down into north Austin from Cedar Park with 2 locations nearby.

This was one of the best buns I've had. It was made of Hawaiian sweetbread, toasted and still dripping with just the right amount of heated butter. glad my yearly cholesterol test was last week.

8/10

brownie/Taos Diner/burger #29

Wimpy / Tequila Jacks / Long Beach,CA / #8

Carne Asada Burger: 8 / 10

Timko - Tennessee Pass Cafe - Leadville, CO - Burger #45

4/10 - gross buffalo burger. More like meatloaf. Bun ok...I guess.

GZ Rock Bottom Brewery Burger number 9, DIA concourse C

Basic, 6 out of 10. Decent brews however.

Wiley - third base - Austin TX - #13

Just a plain cheeseburger. It was decent. 7/10
The waiter said: I highly recommend the sweet potato thick cut fries.
Well, I now highly recommend you not get the sweet potato thick cut fries. They're a sad soggy blah.

Slow Ride - Sammy's Kebab - Cricklade, Wiltshire - kebab #23

1/10: A foul concoction and an insult to the genre (review here).

Timko - Silver Dollar Saloon - Leadville, CO - Burger #44

7.5/10 - not bad. Step up from a frozen patty and perfect toasted bun.

Animoul / Tequila Jacks / Strong Beach, CA / #11

Bacon Burger: 10 / 10

brownie/Taos Mesa Brewing/Taos, NM/burger #28

Timko - NOAA Cafeteria (work) - Boulder, CO - Burger #43

Typical gray frozen patty burger. 4/10

Digger/Fairwinds Golf Club/Nanoose Bay B.C./Burger#15

This is getting stoopid, 15 burgers and maybe 5 of them from this place. I gotta get out more. 8/10.

HaVoCLaD - The Peached Tortilla - ATX - #27

9/10

After seeing The Peached Tortilla written up here today I had to visit their website. Turns out they were stationed right around the corner from my work.

I took that as a sign and made my way there.

The JapaJam burger was very delicious. It had the right amount of fancy ingredients and they didn't compete with the burger.

The burger was advertised at 1/3rd but seemed closer to 1/2 to me.

Jalapeno jack cheese, fried onions, tomato jam, BBQ sauce and a fried egg complete the burger.

Upon my first bite, the egg yolk exploded over my left hand. If I'd managed to get more of the egg into my hungry mouth the burger may have gotten the extra point.

The fries were extra but at $10.50 for the combo it wasn't that bad. The fried desperately needed something to dip them in. The menu lists four options, but I wasn't asked and didn't think to ask or check on the fries before I drove away.

Miles - Second Bar + Kitchen - Austin, TX - Burger #18

The Congress Burger

8/10
House ground brisket + chuck with shallot confit, gruyere, greens, tomatoes, and horseradish pickles. Pretty excellent taste overall.

pjtravels - Park Place - Cupertino, CA - burger #29

7/10. Park Place Burger with truffle fries
Tasty with eggs and pork belly. A tomato purée (?) added brightness to a heavy flavor. Docked a point for being too difficult to eat.

JohnF - The Peached Tortilla - Austin, Tx - #20

This is a roving food trailer that has ended up on a bunch of local and national best food trailer lists. I caught them the one day of the week they were parked downtown.

Their JapaJam burger was topped with fried egg, sweet tomato jam, jalapeño jack cheese, Japanese BBQ sauce and tempura fried onion strips. 8/10.

Miles - Galaxy Cafe - Austin, TX - Burger #17

The Zocalo Burger
7/10
Topped with grilled jalapeños, grilled onions, & melted jack cheese. Pretty tasty, but I think the burger might have had some soy in it. It kinda tasted like a school burger patty.

Miles - Galaxy Cafe - Austin, TX - Burger #17

Miles - épicerie - Austin, TX - Burger #16

Cheeseburger
7/10

This burger is topped with plenty of Vermont cheddar, but it needed to be on a better bun.

Slow Ride - Yummy's - Swindon - kebab #22

6/10, tastes much better than it looks. Picked this one up post-run (to flour bomb a trail in a village nearby) as part of the international G-had. Full kebab write up at http://1pumplane.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/yummys-kebab-swindon-kpw-for-week-20/

JohnF - Your Mom's Burger Bar - Austin, TX - #19

Chi cheng burger. Plus for fresh bun.
8/10

JP - Brewhouse South - Franklin, TN - 25

Burger: Great hand-crushed bar cheeseburger! House made bread & butter pickles are amazing.

Beer: 70 taps plus bottles! Had an Oskar Blues Deviant Dales (now being poured in Nashville out of their Brevard, NC brewery!)

Anthony - Left Bank cafe - San Jose, CA - #24

8/10, mostly driven by the fried egg and great charbroiled taste.

Anthony - Mike's cabin - Bastrop, TX - #23

This burger made the cut mostly from the epic amount of effort it took to grill, using two plastic forks. 7/10

Anthony - Baby Acapulco - Austin, TX - #22

Far behind posting, once again! For a "world famous" burger, this one was disappointing. 6/10

Timko - Boulder Beer - Boulder, CO - Burger #42

5/10

brownie/Milt's/CSCO/burger #27

Rayzor - Mighty Fine Brodie - austin, tx - burger #18

1/2 lb cheeseburger with jalapenos. Good basic griddle-style burger, fresh veggies. 7/10.

brownie/Triple Nickel/CSCO/burger #26

HaVoCLaD - Ski Shores - ATX - #26

5/10

Ah Ski Shores, the memories. You've been there since 1954, but new owners have thrown in a full bar, instituted table service and are hiring a different class of staff. I guess everything changes sooner or later.

What hasn't changed is the "quality" of the food.

I ordered the Border Burger advertised as a 1/3 pound fresh cut burger grilled to perfection topped with Mayo, fresh guac, cheese, jalapenos and grilled onions. I added bacon, which was a good call. The bacon was thick and tasty. The toppings in total were very nice. The onions were only lightly grilled, which I prefer and not done all the way to French onion soup consistency as seems to be the norm lately. The guac was fresh and creamy.

However, if you look at the picture you can see the packet of mayonnaise sitting there like an afterthought. HELLO! The mayo is supposed to be on the bottom bun helping to prevent its disintegration from all the yummy hamburger juices dripping down when you lightly squeeze the burger as you bring it to your eager mouth!

Luckily for me, Ski Shores has solved that bun disintegration problem another way. They've chosen to grill the ever loving sh*t out of that poor hamburger patty. It may have once been "grilled to perfection" but yer supposed to take it off the grill at that point! Maybe they need to spend a little more time on that in training. Leaving it on the grill for another 10 minutes is less optimal.

Fries were cold, the bun came in a bag from HEB. You know the ones - 8 for a buck.

I'm still giving them a five. Mostly for the bacon, the guac and the memories.

Slow Ride - Best Food 2000 - Faringdon, Oxfordshire - kebab #21

6/10, good sauce and chillis, "small" refers to the size of the invading force this could nourish

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Read the Endless British Pub Crawl for all your drinking and running info

Rayzor - 24 Diner - austin, tx - burger #15

Repost to get a picture up.

Burger week special: sauteed spring onions, braised (THICK) bacon, "double cream" blue cheese, garlic aioli on Easy Tiger bun. Very, very good (excellent meat, perfectly cooked), but almost too much with all the stuff. 9/10

Rayzor - Hyde Park Grill Westgate - austin, tx - burger #17

Natural burger with guac and jalapenos, med-rare. Patty was really
good and properly cooked, vegetables fresh, guac home-made. Bun was
decent, but not quite up to the challenge of juices toward the end.
8/10

Timko - Snarfburger - Boulder, CO - Burger #41

7.5/10 - good bun! Light and toasted good. Good cooked bacon. Meh meat. Onion rings good. They've only been open a day and I went during lunch. It's next to the high school. Bad idea. Although they were amazingly fast despite the crowd. Faster than McDonalds.