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(2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)Register to vote. Loading ...
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Cowbell www.cowbell-nola.com 8801 Oak Street New Orleans, LA 70118 (map)
New Orleans. How you’ve stepped up your game. While in town to see an Andrew Bird show, a few friends and I set out to find another recently lauded burger in the awesomely named Leonidas neighborhood near the Riverbend area. Cowbell is set up in what appears to be an old service station on the corner of Oak and Eagle. On a street like Oak it takes a lot for an eatery to stand out and Cowbell was voted as New Orleans’ Best New Restaurant in 2011 by Gambit. That’s good enough for me for another Big Easy Burger Tyme.
So on one of the more lovely South Louisiana Friday evenings, we meandered our way through the narrow, poorly paved streets. Luckily, we found a spot in the Cowbell parking lot, which seems to have a maximum capacity of four cars. All of the outside seating was full and we were told that the wait would be about a 30 minutes. Time was pressing as the show started in about an hour but having peered at other diners already enjoying burgers, we quickly confirmed that it would be worth the wait. True to expectations, we were seated outside after 25.
Our server, wearing a vintage looking apron, was friendly and gladly answered our questions about duck fat fries and what ‘Agogo’ sauce is. She took our drink orders and quickly brought them out. Each burger comes with the usual toppings and fries. Anything extra, well, would be extra. I ordered mine with added american cheese, a farm egg, and bacon and onion compote. All added up this would be a $15 burger and fries. With our orders in we had time, lots of time, to chit chat and enjoy the weather and people watching. The servers remained attentive and friendly but it became a noticeably long wait. Three refills and another 25 minutes later, our burgers arrived.
Each basket was filled to the brim with the open face burger components and fries. At first glance, the vivid red of the tomatoes with the bright yellow of the melted cheese and the caramel brown of the buns made this a very appealing looking burger. Did I also mention that this burger was rather large? With a little effort I managed to fit the majority of the burger between the two potato roll halves, but only just. I took a bite and instantly was in heaven. This burger had it all. Sweet and savory onion and bacon compote. Buttery, crispy bun. Rich egg. Big beefy patty that was well seasoned. Perfectly melted cheese. Veggies with actual flavor. It was big, it was messy, and it was good! It was New Orleans incarnated in a burger. The fries were also pretty great. They were fresh cut, crisp, and tasted like they were fried in duck fat. The waitress was not able to confirm whether they were on not but they were good so I didn’t really press the issue.
It just got real. Thanks to places like The Company Burger and Cowbell, New Orleans is two for two in recent Burger Tymes. Cowbell has what I think is one of the tastiest burgers anywhere. It also is one of the priciest when you add in all of the extras. Burger & fries + drink + tip = roughly $20. That’s a lot to ask of the general burger eating public. However, on special occasions, or when I find myself craving this burger (like I am right now), I would pay that in a heartbeat. It was that good that it sticks in my memory like my 8th birthday. If in the area, and if you want a burger, and if you have the money, ring the bell.
PS – In case you were wondering, service at Cowbell did take a while, even for a Friday night, but we still made it to the show in time. All in all, a great evening.
(2 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Register to vote. Loading ...
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The Shack www.theshackcypress.com 16602 Cypress Rosehill Rd Cypress, TX 77429 (map)
Finally! The Shack, originally called The Love Shack, has been on my burger radar for some time now. Consistently raved upon and touted as one of the best new places to get burgers near Houston, the Shack keeps what some would call slightly irregular hours. On several occasions I’ve rounded up coworkers for a Burger Tyme lunch only find out that the weren’t serving lunch during the week or they were closing to work on their garden. As I am writing this, they are closed while they switch water wells. Well, on a crisp Saturday evening, I cracked the code! My wife and I made the long drive to Cypress just outside of Houston. Just when I thought I may have gone a little too far, I saw an old bath tub by the side of the road. We made it and this place was hopping, not surprising given that it was a Saturday night. When you walk in to the Shack the entire spread opens before you. There are covered tents, open air seating, an outside bar, dining areas that look like living rooms, fireplaces and fire pits all with people gathered together, enjoying burgers, and having a great time. This seemed like a burger lovers resort!
We were seated near the entrance where we could take in the entire scene as well as see the bustle in the kitchen. Our waiter, who happened to be the manager, introduced the menu to us in a rather laid back way and recommended we try the fried pickles. So I ordered some to tide us over while we reviewed the burger offerings on the menu. The Shack’s claim is that they give customers the freshest available local ingredients and all natural hormone free Texas meats. As they put it, “All burger, No Bull”. Well we were going to put that claim to the test. Many burger places claim to be fresh, be local, be all natural but what does that translate into in real terms? If it is not delicious burgers, than what is the point?
The menu has a very interesting array of burgers. There was brisket, caramelized onions, fried eggs, slab bacon, and pulled pork. Some burgers were “crunchified” with the addition of Cheetos, Zapp’s BBQ Chips, and chicharron. The one that caught my eye was the “Grease and Weasel”. It was beef, slab bacon, and Tillamook cheddar…. served between two glazed doughnuts. Ever since the phenomenon of making burgers with doughnuts began, I’ve wanted to try it. Maybe it was the atmosphere but I felt a little more brave than usual, and ordered it! My wife went with the 1015 which had beef with “Texas 1015 onion pile” cooked into the patty, pepper jack cheese and “crunchified” with Zapps BBQ chips. We ordered a side of fries to split and I asked for a Coke. The cokes come in a can and are poured over ice, my second favorite next to coke in a bottle. The only thing left to do was relax. A common theme it seemed.
While we waited our order of fried pickles arrived. The were very savory but good. They came with smokey, horseradishy dipping sauce that was a nice compliment to the sour pickles. Our burgers arrived shortly after and they were quite a sight. You could definitely sense that someone was having fun when they put them together. The first thing I noticed is that my doughnuts had been replaced with Honey Buns that had been slightly griddled. I’m not complaining but I rarely eat one honey bun… much less two… on my burger. The cheese was perfectly melted over the big patty and was making my mouth ache just looking at it. My first bite was as I expected. Beefy, bacony, savory, cheddary, sticky and sweeeeet! This was in no way a healthy burger, but it was tasty. The veggies were nice quality and did there best to lend nutritional value to this wife dissappointer. My wife’s burger, while more traditional in structure, had it’s own bit of odd goodness. The BBQ chips added a texture and flavor to the already flavorful patty and onions. My wife loved the bun. I honestly don’t recall specifics about it, perhaps because my mind had been blown with the buns on my burger. While we were both enjoying our selections, the fries were also were worth noting. They were fresh cut and cooked well. A perfect compliment to the order.
Fresh, local, all natural. Did I get a sense of this from The Shack? Not really. Nothing really fresh or local about honey buns, Zapp’s BBQ chips, or Tillamook cheddar cheese. However, I did find the whole experience to be a fresh take on dining and burgers. The local flair permeated the entire evening. It was very Austin-esque in a city where no one is really trying to be like Austin. The Shack offers what many fail at delivering. An experience. The food is good and if you are there with friends or family, they seem more than happy to provide a place to relax and enjoy yourself. The burger creations were fun, inventive, unpretentious, and frankly worth the trip. This may not be my go-to burger place on a regular basis, but if I have an evening to kill, this is the burger place that I want to go to.
(2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)Register to vote. Loading ...
The Company Burger www.thecompanyburger.com 4600 Freret St Ste A New Orleans, LA 70115 (map)
Louisiana is great. The food is great, people are nice, and life is a little more laid back. Having grown up in Baton Rouge and since moved away for work, I find myself always comparing things to what it would be like back home. In almost all cases I would prefer Louisiana…. all except burgers. All around this great country, there are fantastic burgers. The assumption that great food traditions should easily translate in to great burgers is not always valid. This is even true in the culinary mecca that is New Orleans. Until recently, the “Best” burger of the crescent city was the beloved, but less than impressive burger at Port of Call. Straightforward, beefy patty, with a baked potato on the side. That has been the standard for years. Recently, however, there have been some exciting burger developments. One of which is The Company Burger.
On a day trip to New Orleans over the holidays, I wanted to sample what a quick internet search has revealed as one of NOLAs new favorite burgers. South of I-10 from downtown, in the revitalized Freret area, The Company Burger sits unassumingly in the corner of something like a strip mall. The line of people waiting extended out of the door at only a quarter to noon. The menu was simple and made from locally sourced ingredients (noticed I didn’t say ‘organic’… neither do they). You can get the standard double burger or a single, both simply dressed with american cheese, red onions, and house made bread and butter pickles. The only options are; add bacon… add fried egg. Nice. If you are not feeling beef,they also have a turkey and lamb burger and a riff on a corndog made with porkbelly which I recently learned comes from a friend of mine’s farm. As with all pondering, my thoughts of burger eutopia was soon disrupted, and it was our turn to order.
I love love love simple menus. I ordered the ‘Company Burger’, added a fried egg, and ‘Company Fries’. Simple. Lot’s of drink options and I went with bottled, mexican Coke. My wife opted for the turkey burger and a glass of water… After exchanging awkward looks with the cashier, I paid and I found us some great seats at the counter overlooking the burger prep / kitchen. It was awesome. In front of us was an orderly yet fast paced crew churning out burger after perfect looking burger. Each station operator knew their tasks; season, grill, and top the patties with cheese, toast the buns, fries, pickles and onions… and when they came together to assemble the burgers, each had the look of a surgeon in the operating room. Precision. I watched as this process repeated itself over and over again. It was mesmerizing. At the end of the counter, a guy was forming the meat patties from freshly ground balls of meat. Next to him was a complete set of Nathan Myhrvold’s opus to gastronomy, Modernist Cuisine. Suddenly, all of the attention to detail began to make sense.
The wait was not short but this was due to the long queue of orders ahead of mine. Plus, I was enjoying myself. Our order came up and the anticipation couldn’t be greater. Even my wife’s turkey burger looked great! I picked it up and took my first bite and simultaneously my taste buds sang while hot egg yolk shot from the perfectly cooked over medium egg on to my arm. This was only disappointing in the sense that some of the egg yolk went to waste. Classic. That is the best way I can describe the taste. No gimmicks. No pork belly or doughnut buns or even ketchup or mustard needed here. There was a mayo bar with house made this or that but I didn’t even bother. The cheese was perfectly melted over the patties which were seasoned with the right amount of salt and crusty sear. The fresh baked bun was great. It held it’s texture and was buttered and toasted well. The house made bread and butter pickles were excellent too. They lent just the right amount of sweetness to counter the savory components, while the red onions had just enough bite. My wife said her turkey burger was also really good. After eating mine, I believed her. The fries, while great and hand cut and double fried, were dramatically overshadowed… but isn’t that how it should be?
In case you couldn’t tell, I loved this burger. It was great! Not just great for New Orleans or Louisiana, great for anywhere! And I couldn’t have been happier! Whenever you hear about Louisiana in the news, on travel shows, or even when talking to new acquaintances, it seems as if the rest of the country is under the impression that we should all still be in a post-Katrina shock. But the truth is people are resilient and life moves forward. The Company Burger is a perfect example of that. Finding the best of what is available and turning it in to something special. Nothing fancy. Not complicated. Not gimmicky. Simple and for everyone. To me, that is what being from Louisiana is all about.
Fat Cow www.fatcowburgers.com 4350 Highland Rd Ste B1 Baton Rouge, LA 70808 (map)
Back in Baton Rouge for the Holidays and there is news… Burger News! There is a “new” burger place near the south gates of my old alma mater, Louisiana State University, and they serve what I consider to be Baton Rouge’s first entry into the gourmet burger category, Fat Cow. When I asked a few friends about this place the response was always the same, “Good but a little pricey”. Well, let’s see; Fat Cow’s menu has all of the key words that would suggest to the discerning burger lover that their burgers are not typical to the straightforward burger traditions found in Baton Rouge so far. Duck fat fries, foie gras, gruyere, and red onion marmalade are all options on burgers at this place. No one loves a good gourmet burger and is more willing to pay for the privilege than me so on a cold and wet south Louisiana evening we headed out.
I managed to convince a my Burger Tyming wife and sister in law to join in and we made our way to Tigerland. Walking in Fat Cow you are faced by the large chalk board menu. There were way more salads than I anticipated for a burger joint, to the point that I was actually impressed. If I wasn’t there for the burger I might have tried one… might. Additionally there was an impressive assortment of creative milkshakes, many of which used creole cream cheese as a main ingredient! They had me at cheese… Being that it was around 8pm on a weeknight and the weather wasn’t particularly pleasant, there were quite a number of people enjoying bowl games and burgers. After mulling over what has to be the least expensive foie gras burger I have ever seen ($15?! every other gourmet burger joint seems to think it should be in the $30 range), we were ready to order.
I made my mind up on getting the Wentworth burger. It had a snobby kind of name with some snobby kind of ingredients that were right up my alley; black forest ham, arugula, slices of apple, red onion marmalade, brie for the cheese, all on a sweet bun. Mmmm mmmm! If that doesn’t sound good! I added the Fat Cow fries and a tiramisu milkshake. The ladies ordered a 120 burger to split which comes with bacon, gruyere cheese and caramelized onions. The wait was about ten minutes and was easily passed watching the bustle behind the long counter. During this wait I noticed that the burgers here were flame grilled instead of fried which is not necessarily a bad thing. While we waited and had more time to consider our orders, my sister in law decided she had to have the chocolate and peanut butter malt.
With the extra shake ordered, our food began making its way over the counter. Served in what looked like a cookie sheet, my fancy pants burger and about three potatoes worth of fries began intimidating me. I took Wentworth with both hands and dug in. The bun was soft, substantial, and lightly toasted. It had a nice chew and a sweet quality but was slightly more bread than the whole burger needed. The patty had a nice texture but was overpowered by the odor of the brie and saltiness of the ham. While I was seduced by the list of ingredients on this burger, the combination provided for more of a thick sandwich experience rather than a burger with toppings. The fries were great! You could easily split this with four people. I sampled the 120 burger and the bacon, gruyere, and caramelized onions blended nicely with the salty, beefy patty. I have to admit, I was a little jealous.
Lastly, the shakes. My tiramisu shake was quite a jolt. It was beautiful with the lady finger and powdered coffee sprinkled on top. I don’t drink coffee so the shot of espresso in the bottom was like jumping headfirst into a pot of coffee… with about 12 oz of creamy, delicious milkshake on top. It was a great interpretation of one of my favorite deserts. Additionally, the chocolate peanut butter malt was fantastic. Like the menu says, the name says it all.
Gourmet burgers in Baton Rouge… I think I have been using the term ‘gourmet’ too loosely. To this point I have referred to burgers at a higher price point as gourmet but in this instance maybe I should clarify. Burgers with quality ingredients which are combined creatively, in Baton rouge. Were they good? Absolutely. Does Fat Cow beat the cross town favorite, Dearman’s? It’s a different competition all together. For a great straight up burger, you are better served for less money at the Soda Fountain. For a good, creative burger in the BR, Fat Cow has you covered.
(1 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)Register to vote. Loading ...
Matt’s Bar www.mattsbar.com 3500 Cedar Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407 (map)
If you ask anybody in the Twin Cities area about the best burgers in town several names will come up on just about everyone’s list – one of them is Matt’s Bar and another is The 5-8 Club. You might remember reading about a previous Burger Tyme Minneapolis review of The 5-8 Club. Their claim to fame is their delicious Juicy Lucy burger. Today’s Burger Tyme review, Matt’s Bar, and The 5-8 Club have an ongoing battle over who invented this burger with a molten cheese core. Having enjoyed my first Juicy Lucy over at The 5-8 Club, I decided that I owed it to myself (and the Burger Tyme readers) to investigate. Of course, this is nothing new. Last year, the Travel Channel’s program, Food Wars tried to answer the question of who has the better Juicy Lucy. The battle over who actually gets the credit for creating this beauty is still ongoing but it seems to me that Matt’s Bar is taking full credit, as their sign tells all who pass.
After a short drive across town we arrived at the corner of 35th and Cedar. No parking lot here – only street parking. It definitely looks like an old neighborhood bar from the ’50s – on the inside and out. Even at around 2pm on a Thursday the line was nearly out the door in this dark and pretty cramped location. We waited about 20 minutes for a spot at the bar but we were entertained by reading all the newspaper reviews and old advertisements on the walls. This place has a great reputation. It seems like this bar is now much more burger place than watering hole. Where bottles of liquor normally line the back of the bar, Matt’s bar space is reserved for burger building. The menu isn’t complicated – burgers, a few sandwiches and fries, no malts or shakes, and even the soda is served in a can. I already knew I wanted the Jucy Lucy (that’s how they spell it here) and fries but what I didn’t know is what kind of toppings were available. The only topping the waitress offered was onions – raw or fried. I ordered them fried as I always do when available. After a pretty long wait (hey, only one grill here serving up dozens of people crammed in) the burger and fries arrived.
The waitress offered one piece of caution – beware of the hot cheese. Given that piece of wisdom I start on the fries. These fries are simple but have a great crisp to them. Cooked perfectly in my opinion. The full order of fries is enough for 2 or more people depending on your appetite. I decided to brave the molten burger. After one cautious bite I noticed what absolutely sets this burger apart for me – the grilled onions. These aren’t your normal grilled onions but are actually minced like McDonald’s does on their small hamburgers (by the way, I love those little burgers). The small size and the fact that they are grilled on the same griddle all these burgers are cooked on results in a powerful flavor. The burger itself had a perfectly salted and slightly crispy exterior concealing a medium well burger and a fair amount of melted cheese. The waitress was right – be careful of that hot cheese or it could ruin your meal. If you put the burger down facing the wrong direction you’ll lose some of that precious cheddar so beware of that as well. My wife didn’t order a burger but by the time she saw how much I was enjoying my Jucy Lucy she wanted in on the action, meaning I had to share what has to be the best burger I’ve had in a very long time. This burger is simple. No mustard, ketchup, lettuce or tomatoes. Just beef, cheese, onions and a few pickles. And you know what, you don’t even miss the extras. This burger stands on its own and stands tall. I agree with Food Wars – Matt’s Bar definitely has the best Jucy Lucy in the Twin Cities. I’m not trying to take away from The 5-8 Club because they have a very solid burger but Matt’s Bar takes the prize. If you make it to Minneapolis and can only eat one burger, make it this one.
