I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
-Wimpy
I was in Las Vegas for a conference last week and had dinner one night at Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay Casino. For those not familiar, Burger Bar serves a large variety of burgers, many obscenely expensive (there is a Kobe burger with foie gras on the menu for $60; only in Vegas!). Burger Bar is a favorite of mine for its beer selection; however, the burgers are pretty good. We ordered the American Classic (cheese and bacon), medium please. On the plus side, the burger was cooked a perfect medium, with a pink center. On the minus side, the fries were pretty terrible and there was no mayo on the bun or in the condiment trays on the bar, although they did eventually bring some when we asked.
Here in Houston, we are both blessed and cursed on the burger front. Blessed, because we have a ton of quality burger shops who understand how we like it. "All the way" means what we all expect. Cursed, because the number of places that will cook a burger to order is the rare exception rather than the rule (no pun intended).
A Hamburger Today has come up with a much more extensive categorization for burger styles, but for simplicity sake, I've come up with two categories: thin and thick. Note to all burger shops, if you serve a big thick burger and either refuse or just plain fail to serve it under well done, you're really screwing up.
I also judge a burger place by its container (the bun, extra points for a slight griddle crunch) and its fries. The french fried potato... why is it so hard to get a good burger AND fries? Consider this list: Lankford, Christians, and Hubcap. All serve crappy fries. Why? Why?!?!
I know there are some great burgers out there in the Heights. What are your favorites? Pros and cons? There are quite a few great burger spots just north of 610, so I'm adding that area to the discussion, but let's keep it somewhat close (note the gradient).
I'll start. Stanton's. Pros: Great hand formed burger, bun, and condiments. One of Houston's best. Cons: was cooked past requested medium rare and the fries are awful.
The veggie burger at Dry Creek - not a traditional burger, but an awesome go for us vegetarians. A veggie patty served on a wonderful herby roll with avocado, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle with a killer aioli. The fries are not great there, it's better served with onion rings.
ReplyDeletewe first have to define theconfines of the term "burger." texas monthly did a half-assed cover story on the subject and it was a straight up JOKE! if the words BURGER and BRIOCHE are EVER used in the same article - SOMETHING IS WRONG!
ReplyDeleteas far as "fries" go. i SO MISS "fry's" are there any more of them around?
i'll follow up with more of my "burger" criteria. a burger is a burger - it ain't a steak. its ground and its cooked. that's all there is too it. if you want to custom order the "pinkosity" - GO TO A FUGGIN STEAK HOUSE!
ReplyDeleteMytiburger is delicious! And since you are correct about good fries being hard to come by, I opt for the "tater tots"! You have to try it if you haven't already...
ReplyDeletethe best burger i'd ever had in houston was a place way out west at I10 and hwy6 called paddington station. it was a fried patty as opposed to grilled and they had skin-on wedge fries (dont know how that factors into the fry discussion?)the bun had the above mentioned "griddle crunch"bonus points as well.
ReplyDeletethe place was real divey with a big BIG patio. anyway, i went there one day a couple years back and the place was just GONE. dozed. not there. which was odd because they had been there for years and seemed to be doing quite well...
with paddington being no more, id have to say my current favorite is christians.
Kelly, thanks for the onion ring rec. I've had one burger at Dry Creek and it was pretty terrible, although they did cook it to order. Obviously less a problem for you with the veggie burger.
ReplyDeleteCynthia, I tried Mytiburger on 43rd a few months ago and was less than impressed. I don't know why, I'm just not a tots fan.
wgzn, I'm not even all THAT picky about my doneness, but don't agree to cook it to medium rare and have it come out well done.
ReplyDeleteSome places require less doneness by the size of their patties. Try eating lankford well done. Talk about sawdust.
You should try Rovnoskys(sp?) and/or Millers then...
ReplyDeleteCynthia, my Mytiburger experience occurred during dinner and it was empty. Are they hopping for lunch? I imagine burger places are a lot like bbq places: larger lunch business.
ReplyDeleteBest two dive burgers in town are in the area.
ReplyDelete#1. Christian's Totem on Washington @ I-10. Superb tasty hand-formed patty. Perfect meat-to-bun ratio. Eat upside down to keep the bun alive as they are so juicy.
#2 Stanton's City Bites just off Houston Ave, 4 blocks north of Washington. Another great burger. Ask for it medium rare. Only con is it is take-way only, so have a plan.
My $.02, who cares about sides. This is about the sandwich.
I like Christian's and I'm fine with Rosnovskys. Rosnovsky's fries are terrible, but there you go. Last time I ate at Little Bitty Burger barn we all got terribly sick. I am not blaming the restaurant, but the association means I haven't been back to try it again.
ReplyDeleteI am still dreaming of the sliders I had at Little Bitty Burger Barn this summer. Sorry, I know some burger purists bemoan sliders.
ReplyDeleteStantons and Little Bitty Burger Barn are the two best. Roznofskys is easily the worst burger in the city. I still cringe thinking about it. Dry Creek is not good either. Onion Creek brings over trays of already overcooked burgers from Dry Creek every morning then microwaves (I think?) them, creating a perfect combination of awful. Someburger and Poppaburger will do in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteThe burgers at Petrol Station need to be given consideration. The RANCOR is a monster befitting the name. Fries, while fresh cut it seems, are unfortunately a little limp.
ReplyDeleteBut like I always say, a place with bad fries can redeem themselves with good onion rings.
Preston, will have to try petrol station's burger. Never got around to ordering the food there. Oh, and hilarious statement about onion rings.
ReplyDeleteIt appears most people don't care about fries. So there you go.
I can't speak for any burgers at the moment, but if you want good fries go to Pappy's, along I-10 (South side), Spring Branch area. They're fried crisp and brown, and yeah, are occasionally a little oily, but are just mad addictive.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Texas Monthly story was extremely half-assed, there are several burgers that are worth mentioning: Petrol Station-I've tried both the Pub Burger and the Lambburger, both are absolutely fabulous and the fries are hit or miss. But the burger is so big, I normally don't have room for the fries. Secondly, Robb Walsh reviewed the King Bubba at Rockwell Tavern out toward Cypress. My husband and I had to stop even though we live in the heights and it was worth the drive and more. Juicy, thick, handformed with lots of toppings and the jalapeno-cheese bun was just the thing to put this burger over the top, not to mention the best onions I've had so far in Houston.
ReplyDeleteer Onion rings, sorry
ReplyDelete