Burger Guys Go Upscale

 Editor’s Note: Since September our Burger Guys have been scouring the city in search of Blue Ribbon Burgers. They’ve tried top-of-the-line and relatively unknown spots, some of them suggested by readers. The group met at Coca-Cola in the early 1990s and now consists of Don, Finn, Mike and sometimes Steve – only two of whom are still at Coke – and, often, whoever they can grab to join them. Now, there is even a lawyer who wants to officially join the group. "You need legal counsel," he told Don. The original group’s ritual was to go to Jalisco’s every Friday. Then they began to branch out. And, in response to a local food critic’s choice of best burgers, they launched their own search. We’ve been proud to print their opinions. This month the guys have tested high-quality beef products in the rarified realm of local steakhouses. Nevertheless, they are steadfastly upholding Six Feet Under’s burgers and enjoy the irony of tiny Ann’s Snack Bar and the revered Bone’s both coming in at 8.5 on the burgo-meter.

Here’s their report.

We visited the big steakhouses this month to see how their burgers stacked up. The restaurants were Bone’s, Chops, The Palm and McKendricks.

Even though we’d visited Bone’s before, we wanted to go again and specifically compare it to its steakhouse competition. Every one of these restaurants has great service. They all also have great fries. The burgers, however, varied to a great degree.

Chops was the first location we visited. The fries, a la carte, are thick and well-salted. We start with the fries, because the burger, while huge, was just a little above average for the other restaurants we’ve visited.

We had high expectations, especially after we talked to the waiter and he informed us they grind their own beef, which reduces the risk (or so we believe) of E coli and other food-borne illnesses.

We all asked for burgers medium-rare. They came medium, which isn’t bad. Finn and Mike each had cheeseburgers, and Don had his usual burger with no cheese.

There wasn’t anything particularly bad about the burgers; there just wasn’t anything great about them either. We all had the same reaction after eating half our burgers: "They’re OK." We give them a 6 out of a possible 10.

Our next stop was a return visit to Bone’s. They grind their own beef just like Chops. Again, we ordered medium-rare burgers. These came out medium-rare and they were excellent.

Mike had the single best burger he’s had since this search began. So good, in fact, he would move the ranking equal to Six Feet Under (if the others would let him!).

Again, their fries were crunchy, salty and hot. The perfect combination.

Don said, "As you are holding the burger, red juice is dripping on to the plate. It never varies. It is a spectacular hamburger." At press time, we made our fourth lunchtime visit to Bones.

Also, the burgers come with the fries, all for $9.50. It feels like a bargain when you’re in a place like Bone’s; the service is excellent and the burgers are too. We upped the rating on Bone’s to 8.5 out of 10.

The Palm was our third steakhouse of the month. They don’t grind their own beef, so we went with medium burgers. They were all a bit overcooked. We weren’t all that impressed with their burgers.

The buns were a bit doughy (each bite tasted as much of bun as burger). They also were a bit underseasoned, and we each reached for the salt shaker after our first bite. The fries were very good and came with the burger. Our rating is a 5 out of 10.

Our last steakhouse was McKendricks, out by Perimeter Mall. Yes, we know this is a bit of a stretch for best Intown burgers, but a friend had recommended the restaurant as having a great burger. The waiter told us they did grind their own beef, so we again ordered medium-rare burgers. Two of ours came out medium and one was medium well.

Even though they were a bit overcooked, they were still juicy and tasted great. They were well-seasoned with a little char on the outside and still a little pink on the inside. They came with chips, but our waiter switched the chips to fries for us. We had tempered our expectations by the time we got to McKendricks, so it overdelivered for us. Our rating is a 7 out of 10.