*Editor’s note: Freelance photographer and longtime friend of The Hamblogger, David Paul Morris, continues his burger adventure as he fills in while Justin takes a break from the daily burger grind. David is a recovering vegetarian with a keen appetite for well made burgers, steak, chicken and fish. He is a photographer who covers news, features and sports as well as commercial and corporate assignments based in San Francisco with frequent trips to Asia.http://www.davidpaulmorris.com

Some things are better left unchanged.  This holds true for a lot of things – including burgers and venues to eat burgers. This has been the philosophy for Bruce Chapman and his sister Sheila Chapman, co-owners of It’s Tops Coffee Shop in San Francisco, who think they’re doing something right – and they are. Celebrating 25 years in business after taking over from their father Richard “Dick” Chapman, the brother and sister team plan on keeping everything the same. Originally opened in 1935, It’s Tops has been in the Chapman family since Dick Chapman bought it in 1952 and instilled a tradition of quality food and great service set in a relaxed atmosphere. The retro eatery is on the fringe of the Castro on the corner of Market and Octavia streets sandwiched between Grooves Vinyl Attractions and Al’s comics.

When you first walk into It’s Tops you immediately get it. It feels like you’ve just taken a ride in Marty McFly’s time traveling DeLorean going back in time and landing in a 1950’s diner.  The ambience includes several working coin operated soda fountain wall mount jukeboxes and every square inch of wall space is covered with a mix of photographs, signs, posters and items spanning over 70 years.

Upon opening the menu, it didn’t take long for me to spot the  #6, the California Burger ($10.75, $12.25 with sautéed mushrooms).  Made with a 1/4 pound of organically grown beef that is blended special by Golden Gate Meat, the burger comes with avocado and cheese.  I read recently that adding avocado to your diet will help lower your cholesterol. Not sure how the cheese and beef would counter that, but I felt somewhat healthy about my choice.  I chose Monterey Jack cheese over Swiss and Cheddar and declined the mushrooms and  the mayo.  For my beverage of choice I went with the first thing that moved me, a Bloody Mary made with Soju from South Korean distiller, Jinro.

I sat in a booth but soon after I was served my perfectly spiced Soju Bloody Mary, I moved to the counter so I could peruse the environment from a better angle. As I sat on the stool scanning the Seeburg Wall-O-Matic 100 jukebox with tunes from Fats Domino, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry, I was imagining what it was like to be here 50 –60 years ago. From the art on the wall, the red vinyl covered seats and the uniforms Sheila and Bruce were wearing it was evident that everything is pretty much the same now as it was back then.

Sheila delivered my burger surrounded by a load of the most beautiful golden brown fries I had ever seen.  They were long and lean and the skins were left on – which in my opinion adds so much flavor to the spud.  Bruce didn’t give away too many secret when we talked, but when I asked him what made his fries so good he would only comment that the potatoes are freshly cut daily and he has a technique of soaking and seasoning the potatoes that was passed down from his “Pops”.

That was all good, but I was here for the burger, which, according to their sign outside, was voted “best burger”.  I looked around the burger trying to figure out the strategy of my first bite.  I picked my angle and chomped down on what I thought was burger heaven.  The ratio of fat to meat on this burger was perfect and it was mildly seasoned with just the right amount of cheese that melted evenly on top of the meat.  The avocados were below the burger, which I thought was clever and stayed within the bounds of the bun.

And this brings me to the thing that keeps burgers together, the bun. I think, second to the meat, the bun is very important and the bun used on this burger was soft enough to melt in your mouth.  Once again I tried, but I couldn’t get name of the bread they use from Bruce. It’s another secret, but my guess is that is made locally and delivered fresh.  As I grazed on this burger delight, I knew that I found a place I would be coming back to again and again.

If you are looking for a place in the heart of San Francisco that offers a frozen-in-time décor and great burgers done right then I would recommend going to the place that lives up to its name – It’s Tops Coffee Shop.  Parking is relatively easy and if you’re coming from out of town it is right off the 101 freeway. If you’re a late afternoon/early evening eater, be aware that It’s Tops closes for a break between the hours of 3pm and 8pm on Monday through Saturday but reopens for the late night crowd on Wednesday through Saturday staying open until 3am.

RATING: 5 out of 5

It’s Tops Coffee Shop
1801 Market Street
San Francisco, Ca 94103
(415) 431-6395
Hours: Days: Monday – Saturday, 8:00AM-3:00PM
Nights: Wednesday-Saturday 8:00PM-3:00AM
Sunday: 8:00AM-11:00PM
http://www.itstopscoffeeshop.com/

Nineteen hours in Ulaanbaatar and my need for a burger was burning. Normally when I travel I do my best to avoid Western food and eat as many indigenous delicacies as possible, but the coming day was Tsagaan Sar (the Mongolian lunar new year celebration) and I would be up to my nose in buuz and airag. The time for a burger was now.

Skimming the English language materials where I was staying, I found a few burger purveyors, all of which were located in the central part of the city: Big Burger (a chain that offers “the American standard” of burgers and appears to be modeled after McDonald’s), American Burgers & Fries (but I’m looking for something not American!), and Berlin Burger (well, at least it’s not American). I kept looking and found a mention of a burger joint far from the tourist trail without an address but near a landmark – the only Volkswagen showroom in UB.

I jumped on a bus from Sukhbaatar Square and made my way to the dealership. Once at UBVW, I walked along the commercial stretch of Chinggis Avenue for 300 meters in one direction and then 600 meters in the other. Unable to find Joe’s Corner, I returned to UBVW and went inside ¬– cops and car dealers always know where to find a good burger. Except this time. No one at the dealership had heard of Joe’s, but someone was able to come up with a phone number. Five minutes later I was standing in front of an apartment building without any commercial signage, and another 60 seconds after that I was standing in front of a menu with Joe himself by my side.

Joe walked me through each item on the menu and I requested the most popular burger as ordered by his regular customers: the JC Royal (4000T, about $3.20). But who exactly are his customers? Located off the beaten track in a residential building without any signage proclaiming his presence, Joe is clearly not targeting the tourist dollar, but with a menu of hamburgers and hot dogs he’s not exactly aiming for the local tögrög either. Joe settled into the seat across from me and told me his story.

Joe relocated from his home country of South Korea to Ulaanbaatar in 2007 with his company. By the time his contract expired two years later, he had met a lovely local lady and decided not to return to Seoul. There were only a handful of things he missed from home, one of which was burgers. He was tired of the Mongolian interpretation of the hamburger and longed for what he had known in Seoul and his visits to California. He went into the kitchen and began to tinker. For a year. When he came out he had created a number of recipes – enough for a menu – and decided to put them to the test. Joe opened the aptly named Joe’s Corner in the corner of a building located in the development and mining district, an area with many foreign workers but not much foreign food.

Joe’s wife poked her head through the curtain from the kitchen and Joe jumped up. He returned a minute later with a basket containing a half-dozen potato wedges and the JC Royal burger.

The aroma of the burger had my head spinning. The combined scents of the patty, cheese, fried egg, bacon, and barbeque sauce made it difficult to take photos – all I wanted to do was put down the camera and pick up the burger. And so I did. The first bite was incredible. (Keep in mind that it wasn’t like I had been wandering the Gobi Desert for weeks and that this was my first burger; I had eaten one in Seoul just a few days before.) The taste of the beef held up to the other ingredients, all of which contributed happiness to the flavor of the burger. The patty was flavorful and juicy thanks to a higher fat percentage, and was delectably seasoned. The fried egg and bacon slab could have been a meal by themselves and added a pleasing savoriness. The lettuce was green and crisp, the onion was sweet, and the pickles were perfect. The homemade barbeque sauce was tangy and tasty, although the volume of it was a tad too much for me. And the cheese, I almost shed tears of joy over the simple fact that it was not yellow.

Joe’s experiment in burgerdom has been successful. The feedback and encouragement he has received from the expatriate community has inspired him to consider a change of venue to a more commercially friendly location – hopefully with signage. Until then, you can find Joe by taking the number 11 bus (300T, about 25¢) from Sukhbaatar Square in the direction of the airport and get off at the Volkswagen dealership. Walk north from the bus stop (perpendicularly to the main road you just arrived by) toward some large green pipes that cross over the road…

On your left as you arrive at the pipes you will see a three-storey building set back from the road with the upper two floors painted yellow…

Enter the building and find door number seven. What’s behind it is worth the effort.

RATING: 4.5

Joe’s Corner
150m from Chinggis Avenue
Khan Uul District
Khoroo 3
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
+976 (0) 9908 8007

http://burgersanddogs.blogspot.com

Hours: Monday – Saturday 12:00PM – 7:00PM
Closed Sundays

*Editor’s note: Today’s burger review comes to us from Matt Mills McKnight, a freelance photojournalist based in the Inland Northwest town of Sandpoint, Idaho. To see more of Matt’s work, check out his website www.mattmillsphoto.com

Before I ever moved to the Inland Northwest my mind had conjured up ideas of the region with help from David Lynch’s television series Twin Peaks. For those not familiar with the series, it was supposed to take place somewhere in the no man’s land north of Spokane, Wash. moving towards the Canadian border.

On numerous occasions while driving back to my home in Sandpoint, Idaho after visiting Spokane, I couldn’t help but lock eyes with this establishment’s looming sign along Highway 2. The whole place seemed like it was meant to be on a Universal Studios back lot, next door to the Bates Motel. And it turns out the place has been in business at the same location since 1933, likely with a few ghosts of its own.

So finally one day after picking up my San Francisco-based reporter colleague Matt Shechmeister at the airport for a week’s work on our project about militia culture in North Idaho, I knew it was time to check this spot out before crossing the border. This time I was taking a backseat on the big burger consumption, and allowing him to step forward to the challenge of their kingpin, the Breakfast Steak Burger ($8.50, includes fries).

Burger aficionados, introducing Mr. Shechmeister…

After a few tentative steps into the dining room, a blond woman popped out from the kitchen and stopped a little short. We thought she might have been wary of our slight city slicker vibe, but realized later that we had arrived about 2 minutes before the kitchen was supposed to close.

She went ahead and seated us anyway and didn’t rush us at all.

We later learned that her name is Shaena Reilly, she has owned the Chattaroy Hills Restaurant for 3 years. She took great care of us, and I was moved to do some mental math. First, she was really cool about keeping the kitchen open. Second, she owns an awesome restaurant. And third, (ladies: earmuffs!) she has that “dude your mom is HOT” look in full force. Any way you count it up, Shaena is a 10.

And so was the burger. Just the list of ingredients blew my mind, so brace yourselves dear readers.

The bun is sesame seed, served without any sauces, and it contains two just-right beef patties, each caressed by a slice of melted cheese. But it’s between the patties where the magic happens. Lodged there are two big bacon slices and a quarter-inch thick ham steak. So, taking it from the top, it goes: bun, fixings (on the side, ketchup/mayo/mustard, lettuce/onion/tomato/pickles), cheese, burger patty, bacon, ham steak, cheese, patty, bun. That in itself is worth five Hamblogger cows, hands down.

Going beyond the numbers, the bun was toasted to a golden brown, which was crucial to tempering the bread in preparation for the massive cargo. Both patties were evenly cooked without much pink, but not dry at all. The ham steak was tender and was easy to bite through, and the bacon was too. Of course, eating the burger still required me to open half of my head, and at some point I started feeling like Pac-Man, though that did not detract from the experience. Taking down this fearsome gastronomic adversary generated a sense of genuine accomplishment. I had gone big on every level, loading up the bun with ketchup, mustard, and a non-trivial amount of mayo. Plus I threw on all the included veggies, a leaf of green lettuce, tasty tomato slices, curlicued onions, and a pile of savory pickle. Though the bread did compress a bit under the pressure, it maintained its integrity until close to the end, when there was simply more meat left than bun, and I had to resort to the fork and knife.

That still left me with fries to contend with, and I was sad when I had to leave many behind. They were made fresh, a smudge of potato skin on the tips, just enough to taste. The outside was crispy, and they were cut medium thick so as to allow a little soft potato but none of the mushiness you find in steak-cut fries. Apologies to the British, but I hate the squish of “chips,” so I was stoked.

After it was all over, I felt like I had eaten a Zeppelin, but there was none of the queasiness that accompanies the fast-food equivalent to a megaburger like the one at Chattaroy Hills. The ingredients were fresh, juicy but not swimming in grease, and thoroughly delicious. Those who are crazy for fancy buns are out of luck, but Chattaroy Hills Restaurant is not that kind of place, and toasted sesame seed will be just fine, thank you.

The restaurant itself is more of a breakfast and lunch spot that closes at 2 o’clock. But don’t let that detract you from visiting them afterwards as you can walk through the restaurant’s doors, down the hall and into their lounge. Although we decided against saddling up at the bar for mid-afternoon drinks, the spot was no laughing matter. It’s open through the evening, with a full liquor license and regulars reminiscent of Sheriff Harry (yes, another Twin Peaks reference) already saddling up when we left.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

Chattaroy Hills Restaurant
4015 East Denison-Chattaroy Road
Chattaroy, WA 99003-9640
(509) 238-6187

*Editor’s note: Freelance photographer and longtime friend of The Hamblogger, David Paul Morris, continues his burger adventure as he fills in while Justin takes a break from the daily burger grind. David is a recovering vegetarian with a keen appetite for well made burgers, steak, chicken and fish. He is a photographer who covers news, features and sports as well as commercial and corporate assignments based in San Francisco with frequent trips to Asia.http://www.davidpaulmorris.com

On the edge of the Presidio just outside the Lombard Street gate sits Liverpool Lil’s. A long established restaurant in the neighborhood, Liverpool Lil’s was opened in 1973 by a man named Ralph Maher who named it after a woman he fell for while traveling back and forth to Liverpool. He was hoping that by doing so it would help persuade her to move to San Francisco to be with him. The years have gone by, Ralph has moved on and Lil never relocated. The name remains along with a pub and restaurant that offers up a great atmosphere, good drinks and quality food.

I had been here couple of times before and the ambiance is always cozy and inviting. This time was no different. When you walk into the main bar area you immediately feel like you’re walking into any pub in England and you’re sucked in by the warmth and aroma of a well seasoned bar. In the past I had always gone to Lil’s for their pepper steak, which is pretty killer especially with the mashed potatoes and veggies. I always wanted to try their burger but it was the pepper steak that kept drawing me back. When I saw the Liverpool Burger on The Hamblogger list of places to review, I knew it was time.

I arrived around 5pm on a Saturday and found the place already humming with people, mostly families from the neighborhood with strollers in tow. As the sun went down the scene slowly changed to a gathering of very eclectic people both young and old. When you first walk into Lil’s you almost feel like you are entering two places. A cool pub in front that has Guinness flowing by the pint and every square inch of wall space dominated with photographs and sports memorabilia topped off with two large screen televisions in each corner. Walk a bit further inside and you’ll find two dining rooms filled with tables draped in white tablecloths and the sports stuff on the wall is replaced with photographs and artwork that appears to be a bit more sophisticated.

I ordered what I came for – the Liverpool Burger ($13) cooked medium with grilled onions and topped with Mozzarella cheese, opting out on the mayonnaise. For the side, I chose the fries over the coleslaw. I waited in the pub area trying to recover from the sticker stock for what seemed like an ordinary burger.

When the burger finally did arrive, it looked nice and robust and was wrapped with a sesame seed bun from Wedemeyer Bakery. Along with the fries were 3 simple additions: lettuce, tomato and a pickle. I added all three and sunk my teeth into the fresh bun. It was like biting into a well-composed culinary delight. The burger, which was cooked just as I ordered, is made with 8 ounces of Angus Beef from Iowa that has a ratio of 80 –20 (80% meat 20% fat). Gil Hodges, Liverpool Lil’s proprietor for the last 5 years, likes to attribute the good taste of the burger not only to the quality of beef being used but also to his well-seasoned grill that has been sizzling in the kitchen for decades.

My burger was seasoned lightly and topped with grilled onions and melted mozzarella cheese that slid down easily and didn’t compete with the flavor of the burger. I was surprised to see that the bun held up well and didn’t get soggy which was probably because the meat wasn’t overly juicy nor was it completely dry. The consistency of the beef was nice and didn’t fall apart as I finished it off.  If there were anything I would change next time I might consider having them toast the bun.

Move over pepper steak, I’m sold on the Liverpool Burger. The next time I’m in the mood for a Guinness and burger I’ll be heading over to Liverpool Lil’s. The atmosphere, staff and quality of food make the pain of shelling out $13 for a burger well worth it.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Liverpool Lil’s
2942 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 921 6664
www.liverpoollils.com
Hours: Sunday 10:00AM – 11:00PM
Monday 11:00AM – 11:00PM
Tuesday – Friday 11:00AM – 1:00AM
Saturday 10:00AM – 1:00AM

Five months have passed and I’ve found myself working in Ulsan again.  The weather in Ulsan is relatively temperate compared to the rest of the Korean peninsula.  While it may not be known for extremes, the city experienced a record-setting heat wave when I was here in the summer.  Now, during the height of winter, it is experiencing record-setting cold temperatures.  Awesome.

During that hot summer, I had an extreme adventure attempting to find a burger – arriving at Benchwarmers outside of business hours, arriving at an empty storefront as IT Burgers upped sticks just two weeks before – prior to getting my beef on at The Golden Eagles.  During this cold winter, I hoped to avoid such an adventure by going to a restaurant I had personally seen during the summer: Lico Burger.  I confirmed its location with a friend who is originally from Ulsan and four of us headed out the door.

We stepped off the 401 bus in Samsandong just 100 meters from where the red awning from my memory should have been hanging, but it wasn’t in sight.  I hoped that maybe the awning is only up during the summer or maybe there is a new one of a different color.  We walked to the corner where I remembered the restaurant being located, but it wasn’t in sight.  We circled the block finding all of the landmarks I recalled, which pointed us to the same corner we had been standing at before.  A quick call to my Ulsan-native friend confirmed we were in the right place.  A quick step inside the mobile phone store on the corner confirmed that we were standing inside the former Lico Burger, which had closed two months ago and SK Telecom moved in.  Sigh.

Cold, hungry, and without a back-up burger plan, we walked across the street to a bistro that I had seen previously.  We checked the menu for a burger and found this…

…a delightful Konglish typo, which immediately confirmed that this was the right place for us to eat.  Who wouldn’t want a “buger” with various “other ingredients”?  I immediately placed my order for a buger (W13000, about $11.70).  The price seemed a bit steep but we were pleased to learn that the beverage of our choice was included in the price.

When the server returned with our drinks he brought a small bowl of pumpkin soup for each of us as an appetizer – also included in the price but not mentioned in the menu.  The soup was delicious; very flavorful with just a touch of sweetness and a bit of savoriness.  I had barely licked my bowl clean when the burger arrived.

Admittedly, it was difficult to focus on the burger with the verdant pile of fresh greens on the plate, as Western-style salads are unusual in Korea.  But I take my Hamblogging responsibilities seriously and managed to pick up an unwieldy burger half.  The burger stood very tall with an entire second salad, cheese, fried egg, and four sauces accompanying the beef patty.  Unable to unhinge my jaw, I gave it a light squeeze in an attempt to compact its height into a more mouth friendly dimension, which resulted in the jettisoning of a number of sauce-lubricated veggies.

The four sauces – mayonnaise, ketchup, chili sauce, and a house sauce – resulted in a sweet flavor for the burger.  The patty had a lightly peppered taste, which contrasted nicely but was unable to balance the overall sweetness of the sauces.  The texture of the patty was much better than the patty available at The Golden Eagles, as it was not as finely ground.  It wasn’t coarse, but it wasn’t minced either.  The cabbage, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce were fresh and overabundant.  Fortunately, half of them fell out making the burger more manageable for a short time.  Unfortunately, the moisture from the veggies (and the quantity of sauces) resulted in Bottom Bun Blowout, making the burger less manageable for the rest of the time.  The salt of the fried egg added a savory touch but the cheese went by unnoticed.

The menu did not lie as the buger delivered “several layers of other ingredients” but those items relegated the beef patty to second fiddle.  As messy as it was to eat, it was still delicious and worth the adventure.

RATING: 4

B-Stove
Samsan-dong 1479-7, Floor 2
Nam-gu
Ulsan, Republic of Korea
+82 (0)52 260-0020

*Editor’s note: Please welcome back freelance photographer and longtime friend of The Hamblogger, David Paul Morris. David is filling in as the San Francisco Bay Area correspondent while Justin takes a break from the daily burger grind. David is a recovering vegetarian with a keen appetite for well made burgers, steak, chicken and fish. He is a photographer who covers news, features and sports as well as commercial and corporate assignments based in San Francisco with frequent trips to Asia.http://www.davidpaulmorris.com

In the process of exploring different eateries, I love when I come across a place that just makes me smile. If you are a burger lover and also a lover of the environment, especially the environment you are in at the moment, then Super Duper is the place for you. Opening in April 2010, Super Duper looks like a stylish old-fashioned diner set in an atmosphere that is bright and relaxed with seating for about 40 people inside and 6 comfortably outside. If you do choose to sit outside on a nice day there’s plenty of people watching to entertain you on busy Market Street in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro District.

The menu is fairly simple and today was my lucky day. It didn’t take me long to decide what I wanted once I saw the Point Reyes Blue (4 oz mini: $6.50, 8 oz super: $8.50) listed the menu. I am a sucker for blue cheese especially when it comes from Point Reyes. I say the bluer the better and when it’s thrown on top of a nicely cooked piece of beef, well that’s a bonus. The Point Reyes Blue and a side of garlic fries ($2.75) was my lunch for the day. Lunch for under $10 in San Francisco is another reason to smile.

As I settled into my chair sipping on my water waiting for my food – which is cooked to order – I noticed that the restaurant was smoke free and not filled with the aroma of grilled cooking. Not that I object to the smell of grilled meat, I just like the idea that I wasn’t going to smell like my burger for the rest of the day. I found out that Super Duper uses a special chrome grill that only radiates the heat when the meat is on the surface.

I was there at the peak of the lunch crush and a steady stream of people kept rolling in.  This didn’t slow down the cook in the back and my burger and fries arrived in what seemed to be about 5 minutes.

Served on an aluminum tray with a paper lining, my burger was accompanied by the garlic fries in a basket and homemade cured pickle spears that are made fresh daily. I ordered a “mini” and was expecting a burger that was going to be the size of a quarter. I was amazed that it looked, well, normal. Not too big, not too small, just the right size.  The blue cheese was more of a spread with nuggets of cheese here and there that nestled on top of the meat. Along with the cheese this burger features roasted portobello mushrooms, marinated red onions and little gem lettuce all sitting between a fresh sesame seed bun made fresh daily from La Boulange. It wasn’t overly stuffed and looked almost too good to be true.

My eyes didn’t lie to me. With the first bite I realized this burger was going to be hard to put down. The synchronicity of the meat, cheese, portobello mushrooms and onions squeezed between the sesame seed bun played well off of each other. The meat was juicy and melted in my mouth and there was just enough blue cheese to satisfy my taste buds. The garlic fries were lightly salted and the garlic wasn’t overwhelming and would rival anything you’d find at AT&T Park (home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants). The pickles were crunchy and sweet and added a nice compliment to the meal. After I finished my lunch I topped it off with a soft serve cone ($3.25; dipped in chocolate $4) made with ice cream from the Straus Family Farm in Petaluma, California.  I wasn’t disappointed.

There really isn’t a secret to the burgers at Super Duper. They use good quality vegetarian fed beef from Niman Ranch along with fresh organic ingredients. Not complicated and not over done. For the non-burger eater they serve free-range chicken and for desert along with the soft serve you have a choice of homemade chocolate chip cookies ($.75) and/or a slice of homemade pecan pie ($3).

If you are a lover of a burger done right, you owe it to yourself to make the trip to the Castro and check out this new burger on the block. In the near future look for Super Duper in Mill Valley and later in the year in the financial district in San Francisco. I am still smiling!

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

Super Duper
2304 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
(415) 558 8123

http://www.superdupersf.com/

Hours: Seven Days a Week 11:00AM – 11:00PM

*Editor’s note: Today’s post comes to us from freelance photojournalist JD Pooley in Bowling Green, Ohio. JD has been eating burgers all of his life, beginning at around age seven when his mom would fry them up in a pan. He is a great photographer that covers just about everything under the sun – from presidential visits to the county fair. To see more of JD’s work, check out his websitewww.jdpooley.com

Jay Surdasky, owner of the Koral Hamburg in Waterville, Ohio, (the burger at its best since 1926), insisted that I try their “Kardiac” burger. Layered with pretty much everything in the kitchen, I gave it a whirl. After looking at my photographs, I know what you are thinking. Why in the world would they serve such an enormous burger on such a small plate?

Jay’s son, Jason, who mans the traditional flat top grill may have been a little nervous when I started snapping away while he was preparing my monstrous burger. He proudly handed me my burger on a small plate thinking all I was going to do was photograph the burger in all its girth and glory. I reminded him that after taking a few snaps of the burger I had to eat it, which was easier said than done.

The staff offered me a larger plate and I happily accepted. My burger consisted of two 4-ounce patties, 4 pieces of very thick bacon, relish, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, two cheeses, Swiss and American, mustard and ketchup smothered on an egg bun and a giant onion ring to top it off. There is absolutely no way on earth you could get your mouth around this thing! And did I mention there is a very large butter knife through the middle just to keep it upright. Before I even tried to get my big mouth around this burger, Surdasky quickly pointed out that a fork and knife are needed.

I knew in the back of mind that I would eventually have to give in and use a fork. I didn’t want the burger to win. Not today. I had only one shot of picking this thing up. I had to come up with a plan. Using my right hand I would grab the bottom of the burger and I would place my left hand on top to brace it. I know what you are thinking, not much of a plan, but this isn’t rocket science, right? After going over my plan in my head a few times I was ready. Ever so slowly I inched the burger closer to my mouth. Closer, closer, closer, almost there, splat! The weight of the burger was no match for the egg bun. The entire burger broke apart.

The middle of the burger came oozing out from the bun and landed on my second larger plate. The burger won. Damn you “Kardiac” burger. After all that, the burger was still very enjoyable. Digging in with my fork it reminded me of eating a chicken pot pie. The meat had great flavor, a southwest taste, cooked all the way through, very well done, but packed great flavor. The bacon was very thick, as thick as they come – crunchy, but not tough.

All of the burgers at Koral Hamburg are made fresh with ground chuck. Surdasky says that when you are eating ground chuck you are eating only the muscle of the steer which makes it lean and safer to eat. The Koral Hamburg has been a staple in this small midwest community for the past 30 years. It’s a place where locals can enjoy a solid burger in an environment of days gone by. Monday and Wednesdays Surdasky drops his prices to only .99 cents for a single burger and $1.49 for a cheeseburger. Offering an array of different burgers, the highest priced burger on the menu was a Double Bacon Cheeseburger for $6.75. Over 60,000 customers walk through Surdasky’s front door each year.

Although I would not recommend ordering the “Kardiac” burger on a regular basis (pretty sure I looked like a complete idiot eating it), the lean meat selection that they make their burgers with combined with the friendly environment and one of the cleanest kitchens I have been in, makes it a fun place to grab a burger.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Koral Hamburg & Diner
12 North 3rd Street
Waterville, OH 43566
(419) 878-7007
http://bit.ly/g1i5Vm
Hours: Monday – Friday 11:00AM am – 8:00PM
Saturday 8:00AM – 8:00PM
Sunday 8:00AM 7:00PM

Editor’s Note: Welcome back husband and wife team Scott Sommerdorf and Lesli Neilson who bring us today’s post from Park City, Utah. Before Scott met Lesli, he was the junk food king. She has since changed his eating habits and fine tuned his palate with her fabulous home cooked meals. They are a busy duo with jobs and kids that keep them running but always find time to enjoy a well made burger. To see more of Lesli’s writing check out the SLC Trib’s website www.sltrib.com/food

If you live in Salt Lake City, then you’re lucky enough to have the choice of seven ski resorts that are within a 30-minute drive. I’m partial to Park City Ski Resort because that’s where I learned to ski and, after years of practice, I’m able to tackle one of the resort’s most difficult bowls — Jupiter Bowl.

But for the next 10 days, throngs of people, from actors, directors, celebrities, paparazzi to independent film lovers, will descend upon the quaint mining town of Park City not to ski but to attend the Sundance Film Festival. You know, the annual event that’s been celebrating independent films for over 30 years. The festival that was the brainchild of famed actor-director-producer Robert Redford.

But theater-goers cannot live on movie-viewing alone. They also need to sleep, eat and, perhaps … bowl? You see, there’s this place called The Lift Grill and Lounge at Jupiter Bowl. No, you don’t have to take a resort ski lift to get there. This Jupiter Bowl is conveniently located just outside of Park City in a hamlet called Kimball Junction, which also has theaters that are showing Sundance films. And, did I mention, this Jupiter Bowl makes a decent burger?

The Lift’s beef burgers are a unique blend of fresh ground brisket, chuck and sirloin. Beyond beef, there’s braised pork belly, kalua pig, buffalo, turkey, crab and a veg patty — all presented in burger form.

Scott got the “smokehouse” burger ($12) with just over five ounces of the aforementioned ground beef blend, a blanket of tender brisket, jalapeño slices, Monterey jack cheese, barbecue sauce and two onion rings … inside the burger. An artisan bun miraculously held it all together. Scott managed to get his mouth around the burger’s contents but he was particularly impressed that he didn’t come away with an entire onion, as is often the case when you bite into a fried onion ring. Rather, each crunchy onion ring bite complemented the other soft ingredients.

I ordered the “drive-thru” burger ($7) with cheddar cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard and mayo. Wow. I’m usually not a mustard-onions-or-pickle-on-my-burger person, but the flavors all complemented each other.

You can upgrade any burger with an 8-ounce wagyu patty ($8) — what the restaurant incorrectly calls kobe — but my extra patty was cooked way beyond what the premium beef should ever be cooked while my 5-ounce beef patty arrived cooked to a perfect medium-rare.

All of The Lift’s burgers come with a side, such as the great-tasting and well-salted sweet potato fries, not-so-good Jupiter fries, zucchini fries, southern-style potato salad, onion rings, potato chips, house-made cheddar-bacon-green onion tater tots (more like croquettes) or jalapeño mac ‘n’ cheese. Also, there are nine dipping sauces to choose from, including tomato-balsamic ketchup, chipotle mayo and jalapeño ranch.

Once your hunger has been sated, it’s just a brisk 10-minute walk to the town’s movie theaters, and back to the “scene” that is Sundance.

RATING: 3 out of 5

The Lift Grill and Lounge at Jupiter Bowl
1090 Center Drive
Park City, UT 84098
(435)-658-BOWL (2695)

http://www.jupiterbowl.com

Hours: Monday-Thursday 11:00AM – Midnight
Friday-Saturday 11:00AM – 2:00AM
Sunday 11:00AM – 11:00PM

*Editor’s Note - Today’s Hamblog was cooked up by our Sin City correspondent and Las Vegas Sun staff photographer Sam Morris. Before he picked up a camera professionally, Sam got his start flipping burgers at a McDonald’s in Iowa – a job from which he was fired.  You can see more of Sam’s work at http://www.lasvegassun.com/staff/sam-morris/

How do I miss these places and never know they exist? Sammy’s has been around since ’04, and at the location I drive past a few times a week since ’07. Basically, it’s in my back yard, it’s part of the visual pastiche of my world, it’s everything I want in a burger joint (read: non-chain) and it’s even named after me. It took Justin “Hold the Onions” Sullivan to point it out to me as he was escaping the 2011 version of CES.

Maybe it’s the I-hate-Vegas-blinders I have on and my superior than thou attitude towards restaurants after moving here from San Francisco, but Sammy’s is a diamond in the rough that I had never noticed. Maybe it was their cheap vinyl signage (I later realized why: why spend money on signs if you are using the money for good ingredients?) or maybe it’s just my home-work-brown bag lunch-home pattern that makes me not notice.

After Justin alerted me to the joint – literally a joint, it’s a few hundred square feet with seating for a dozen or so inside and seating for a couple dozen outside, sandwiched between a discount Chinese tool emporium and a shuttered and graffitied dry cleaner – I made plans to head on down. With the kids behind on homework, my lovely wife Anne and I had to head down on our own.

If the descriptions of the burgers and sandwiches aren’t enough to make your cardiologist’s eyes light up (“Yes, another year of my kid’s college tuition paid!”), the  pictures and descriptions of their sandwiches will make yours light up. I mean, the most insane burger they have is called the Zombie Burger, and consists of three ¼ lb beef patties, a hot link, sautéed onions and peppers, grilled bacon and two fat-ass onion rings.

After seeing the menu, there was only one burger for me to try and conquer: the Big Ass Bacon Cheeseburger ($8.49). What is more perfect than a good bacon cheeseburger? But this one was something else.

Did I survive? Read on.

This, my friends, is a burger of epic proportions and flavor.  It is a monument to all things bovine and porcine. It is also an example of too much of a good thing. ½ pound of beef, 12 slices of bacon and ¼ pound of cheddar cheese (and I think it was closer to a half pound).

Think about those ingredients and portions for a moment. Does it not border on insane?

Well, my answer to grill master Kevin when he asked what I thought of it was, “It’s insane.”

After watching it be prepared and then having the “sandwich” placed in a classic paper lined red plastic basket, I wondered about condiments and asked, “Do you dress this with anything?”

Kevin said, “No, you’ll see. There’s so much bacon and cheese you won’t notice anything else.” Which was almost true.

The Big Ass Bacon Cheeseburger falls into a category I am calling Novelty Burgers. Not to say they are bad, but because they are a novelty and while good, you may not have another. Although Kevin said there are a couple Southwest Airlines employees who come in for these monstrosities on a regular basis. But for me, they are just too much. Too hard to eat, too much food, and, well, too much goodness.

After taking the burger and awesome Garlic Romano fries  (more on those later), to the table, I had to ponder how to attack a nearly foot tall burger (OK, I’m a guy – it was probably closer to 8 inches). Not being a fan of having to use a knife on what should be a hand-held comestible, I opted for squishing it down and going to work.

In case the amount of cheese and bacon didn’t register in your head, it took me four bites just to get to the beef. Four bites of bacon and molten, crispy, melted cheddar.

And then I hit the beef. Finally. It shone through, but as I soon realized, it made its presence known because most of the mass of bacon and cheese had squeezed out. Nevertheless, I was enjoying the extreme indulgence of putting such copious amount of bad/good food down my gullet to the point that I barely notice the rivulets of pork and dairy grease making its way down my forearms.

About a third of the way through, I noticed a pool of grease in the bottom of the basket and knew that the bottom bun must be suffering. I turned the shrinking monster over and noticed that, indeed, it was soaking up a lot of the juice and fat. But to Sammy’s credit, they were using buns from a local bakery just down the street (Great Buns Bakery) and the quality bread held up like a champ, never once splitting or falling apart.

It was about this point that I realized Kevin’s comments about condiments were off base. The salt and grease of the BABC was screaming for a counterpoint, so I grabbed some ketchup to dip the burger into. Perhaps this may be the best way as ketchup may have been lost on the sandwich, but being able to dip a corner in pool of sweet and acidic ketchup helped balance all the salt and cut through the fat.

What I didn’t need was the ketchup for the fries. Sammy’s offers a wide array of fries, all of them a delightful shoe-string size which makes for a crisp fry that I prefer. My wife and I had the Garlic Romano fries, the most popular. A simple preparation of dry seasonings with great taste that has made me put Gordon Biersch garlic fries on the back burner.

The rest range from five different baskets (a small being big enough for two) seasoned with Cajun, ranch, southwest cheese and smokehouse BBQ. The fries are crisp and light, and I am guessing coated with a potato starch, much like Burger King uses on their fries to make them crispy even after being under a heat lamp for a while. Sammy’s gets back into novelty territory with their Meal Fries and Mega Meal Fries. Most consist of adding pastrami, gyro or steak meat along with cheese and/or chili  or other condiments. I didn’t have them, so I’ll just list the ingredients of the Three Squares Mega Meal Fries: one pound of fries, ½ pound of grilled steak, ½ pound pastrami, chili, cheddar cheese, fresh onions, grilled onions, jalapenos, ¼ pound of bacon and two fried eggs. $14.99.

I do intend to go back because I really want to try a regular burger, and from what I saw, hand formed patties, seasoned as they went on the grill, quality buns and a commitment to fresh ingredients, I guessing a regular burger there will be good.

Not to say the BABC wasn’t good. Frankly, it was awesome. In a food porn kind of way. But from what I saw I think they make a regular burger that I could love and wouldn’t be embarrassed taking home to mom.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Sammy’s L.A. Pastrami and Burgers
2191 E. Tropicana Avenue
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702) 736-1698

http://www.sammysdoghouse.moonfruit.com

Hours: Monday – Saturday 11:00AM – 10:00PM
Sunday 11:00AM – 8:00PM

*Editor’s note: Please welcome freelance photographer and longtime friend of The Hamblogger, David Paul Morris. David will be filling in as the San Francisco Bay Area correspondent while Justin takes a break from the daily burger grind. David is a recovering vegetarian with a keen appetite for well made burgers, steak, chicken and fish. He is a photographer who covers news, features and sports as well as commercial and corporate assignments based in San Francisco with frequent trips to Asia. http://www.davidpaulmorris.com

Tucked away in Napa Valley, California’s great wine region, there is an unassuming burger joint simply named Andie’s Café. While the size of the building doesn’t really reflect it as a café it is more like a burger joint. What makes this place unique is that it is in the same parking lot as a car wash so while you are waiting for your car to have its bath you can wash down a burger.

The building itself is only about 350 square feet with one table inside that seats 3, possibly 4 – if you pull it out away from the wall – and a counter with 3 bar stools.  There’s a drive-through window for those in a hurry and plenty of outside seating in an area that is a bit larger than the building that seats about 25-30 people.

I stopped by Andie’s after an assignment at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena where I was photographing a chef demonstration for the Almond Board. As the executive chefs finished all their dishes and put each one out for sampling I had to turn away. While all the food they prepared there was looking and smelling so good I wanted to save my palette for my burger experience at Andie’s.  Call me crazy but sometimes you just have to sacrifice a 5 star meal to satisfy your burger fix.

And I am glad I did.  I arrived late in the afternoon as my assignment went long and it was about 30 minutes before closing time. All burgers are cooked to order and I ordered the Andie’s Burger ($7.69) straight up. No fries, no shake, no coke.  Just the burger.  As I sat outside watching the cars going through the car wash, my burger was delivered by Jesus and I was amazed at the size and aroma of this tantalizing treat.

All of Andie’s burgers are made with 1/3 lb of ground chuck and mine was packed full of mushrooms, grilled onions, avocado, jack cheese and topped off with leaf lettuce and a couple of pickles all squeezed in between a fresh potato bun.

On the first bite it was hard for me to decide which flavor I experienced first. It was a little overwhelming but the experience was well worth the wait and refusal of the 5 star meal I turned away a few hours before.  The meat was cooked just as I ordered, medium well and the onions grilled to perfection.  Avocados were sliced small enough where they didn’t fall out of the fresh bun as I stuffed it into my mouth.  The cheese was melted just right and felt like it was part of the burger.

If there was any complaint about this burger it is that the bottom bun got a little soggy from all the juices about half way through eating it.  Perhaps I wasn’t eating fast enough and enjoying the moment a bit too much.  Overall the experience was enjoyable. It is definitely worth a trip back the next time I am in the area and this time I’ll be adding a shake and fries to round out the meal.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Andie’s Café
1042 Freeway Drive
Napa, California 94558
(707) 259-1107
Winter hours:
Monday – Friday 7:30AM – 5:00PM
Saturday 8:00AM – 5:00PM
Sunday 9:00AM – 4:00PM
Summer hours:
Monday – Friday 7:30AM – 6:00PM
Saturday 8:00AM – 6:00PM
Sunday 9:00AM – 4:00PM