Ono Char Burger

Ono Char Burger

4-4350 Kuhio Hwy, Anahola on Kauai, Hawaii

A simple walk-up joint located next to a general store/post-office off the “main” highway that runs around most of Kauai. You order your burger at the window and then wait as they prepare it fresh to order. I went with the Ono-Char Cheddar Cheese Burger with onion. Michaela got the Local Boy Burger with onion. We shared some very crispy fries and a coke, and she ordered a “Marionberry” shake (which I had to look up, it’s a type of blackberry).

We watched the chickens scratch around as we waited a few minutes for our food and they soon yelled my name to come pick up from the same window. There was a tasty seasoning in a shake container that she suggested for the fries and she asked if we needed any condiments (we didn’t, see the pictures). The burgers are served cut in half with each half wrapped up.  The extra wrapping wasn’t needed for mine, but a great idea for for the Local Boy. The effect is a beautiful display of the fresh produce and melty cheese. I don’t know if they use shredded cheese for all their cheese options, but it works for the cheddar.

The burger patty is thin, but larger round than the bun, so probably a third of a pound. The meat is seasoned well, cooked thru and charred crispy on both sides. The tasty meat goes great with the fresh veggies. The cheddar cheese burger that I got was a delicious burger, but the Local Boy, oh man! The pineapple is perfect with that charred burger. I was leery of the teriyaki sauce at first, but it is really a more of a condiment and not as forward or dominating as you might think. The sauce adds a slightly sweet and salty compliment to the burger. And we like onion, so I suggest the onion slice, it adds a nice crunch and bite to the burger. The Local Boy burger was just outstanding!

Full disclosure: on our 2^nd to last day on the island, we were driving by and decided to stop again and we split a local boy. Beautiful burgers on an even more beautiful island.

Side note: on the trip out, we spent the night in LA, and had In-N-Out!

Let's talk Pizza

Let’s talk about PIZZA!

All pizza is pretty good, let’s be honest. Pizza, after all, is nearly everyone’s favorite food, or at least is was when you were a kid. Good pizza is always preferred and you remember the places where you had good pizza. Great pizza stands on its own. Great pizza is a step above all other pizza. It transcends “pizza” and becomes “a meal you remember”.

To me, the measure of any pizza has to start with the crust. All the sauces and toppings can be debated for hours, but we can all pretty much agree on a good crust. So let’s rank crusts for a second by comparing them to their basic form: bread.

Frozen pizza crusts are your plain sliced white bread. Everyone has had a frozen pizza. You probably have your favorite brand. Maybe you think your brand is better than all others. Maybe it’s the Nature’s Own honey wheat bread of the packaged, pre-sliced sandwich making bread family. That’s fine. But we’re still talking low tier. No one is ever going to say that a frozen pizza beats out a restaurant pizza, unless you’re at a crappy restaurant.

So restaurant pizzas are like your restaurant sandwiches. Maybe the restaurant’s bread is baked fresh that morning or they get all their bread from a bakery every day. 90% of your pizza crusts fall into this category. Now, whether they are a Subway sandwich or the artisanal bakery sandwich, that all depends on where you go. There are good pizzas in this category. Some really good ones. But are they great?

Great pizzas are the best bread. The really great bread you serve with a little olive oil. The bread that can stand on its own. The bread you got from the farmer’s market and then ate it all in one day even though you didn’t mean to. You’re not going to make sandwiches with this bread because all it need is to be warmed up or paired with simple and fresh ingredients to get something really enjoyable to eat. Which is exactly what makes a great pizza.

For more about pizza crusts than I will ever care to know, go here: http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

For a list of great pizza places from this same guy, go here: http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm#GreatPizzerias

And we’re going to start showing off some great pizzas with Jeff Varasano:

I have had the pleasure of eating this pizza 3 times! All at the Atlanta airport. There is no flight delay that cannot be made better by this pizza and a bottle of wine. It’s a delicious crust with simple toppings and very good.

And here we have what I’m going to go ahead and call the best pizza that I have ever had. The restaurant was #2 on Varasano’s recommended pizzas list. , Luzzo’s Coal Oven Pizza. It was fantastic. I was completely full and I wanted us to order another one just because it was so good. If I had been there by myself, I would have ordered another one and slipped into a food coma because of my gluttony. Our pizza at Luzzo’s: We got the “Funghi” – tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, basil. They had a terrific red pepper infused olive oil on the table that was great on the pizza. This is the best pizza I have ever had.

Some Good Pizzas: These are fantastic and I would eat them at any opportunity. 1^st place is any good, greasy NY slice. Oversized, foldable, soft crust but with enough structure to hold up to onslaught of cheese and grease….. oh man, I’m hungry now.

In Pensacola the only place that comes close is Sky’s Pizza. I’ll give a 2^nd place in the area to Papas Pizza out on the beach.

Now enjoy your weekend, and eat some pizza.

B Spot Burgers

From June 2017

B Spot Burgers
Columbus, Ohio

While traveling through Columbus for work, I met up with my friend Chris who suggested B Spot Burgers. B Spot is celebrity chef Michael Symon's collection of his favorite B words: burgers, brats, bacon, beer, bourbon, bologna, etc. I ordered the onion rings and got a couple of their signature burgers. Everything was fresh and excellent. With a good beer selection, I highly recommend this joint.

 

I also got to try my very first White Castle burgers on this trip. They're the same as Krystals, I don't know why I thought they'd be so much better.

H&F Burger

From June 2016

Full disclosure: this is currently my favorite burger, anywhere

H&F Burger

Ponce City Market

Atlanta, GA

I first heard about this burger years ago on the Food Network as some mystical burger from the Holeman and Finch restaurant in Atlanta. Apparently it was such a rare thing for the restaurant to make their burgers, and they were so good and sought after, that they gained a cult-like following. I guess H&F finally gave in to the demands for more of these heavenly burgers and created a restaurant that only serves these delicious and sought after burgers.

I went with the original. I didn’t add any toppings and I made no changes (gotta start with the original masterpiece). The burger was perfectly balanced between meat, bun and cheese and it was perfectly cooked. The homemade bun was buttered and toasted, the mustard is homemade, the pickles are homemade, the meat is fresh and ground to their exact specifications. Everything about this burger is designed to give you a consistently great hamburger.

I completed the order with fries and a chocolate malt. It was all great. I will go back. Also the old renovated building that is the Ponce City Market is supper cool.

H&F Burger

Vicki’s Lunch Van

From April 2016:

I found a very tasty burger last week in Montgomery. I had to drive to Huntsville and was going to be passing thru Montgomery around lunch time. I googled “best burger in Alabama” and a writer for AL.com told me it was at Vicki’s Lunch Van. I assume they used to be in an actual van or food truck, but they are now in a building that was probably a diner or fast food joint in another life. The decorations are sparse but the line was out the door and every seat was taken when I got there. I saw a table of cops, two more came thru while I was there and four tables of airmen with more coming and going the whole time, so that right there will tell you that this place has good food: Cops know where to eat. The place smelled great! You could hear the constant sizzle of the flat top as they pumped out burger after burger.

The burgers come standard with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. As I got closer, I saw on other’s plates that the ketchup and mayo were pouring out the sides of the burger and kind of making a mess. They had an area with all the condiments if you wanted to add them yourself.

I ordered my 8oz burger combo meal without ketchup and mayo. Everything is made to order and in about 10 minutes they called my number and I got my food. The burger was very tasty and is definitely of the “fast-food” school of burgers. All the toppings were fresh, the burger patty was perfectly cooked and the fries were straight out of the fryer hot. All-in-all a great lunch. I will be visiting here again when in Montgomery.

Vicki’s Lunch Van

2520 Fairground Road

Montgomery, AL  36107

Menu

Burger combo

Tasty Burger

Union Public House

From early 2016

Union Public House

Pensacola, FL

http://www.unionpensacola.com/

This is a newer place on Reus Street just north of the baseball stadium. We went on Saturday night and it was noisy and packed. They do take reservations, so I suggest going that route if you have a large party or a schedule. The bar was first come-first served and we wondered over just looking to start off with a cocktail. We ended up snagging seats at the bar in less than 5 minutes, so we didn’t have to wait to be seated. We were a little cramped for space, but it sure beat waiting an hour.

The drinks were good. We had front row seats to watch them make all their signature drinks. There’s even a little window into the kitchen, so we were watching delicious looking food getting turned out in quick order. I had seen a picture of their burger on Facebook, so I kinda had my mind made up going in, but the menu had plenty of options. And the steaks they had on the grill looked great too. Patrick, who I think is an owner, was behind the bar and waiting on us. Very nice staff. Everyone we talked to was very friendly.

So, on to the food. I ordered the UPH Burger. A big, perfectly cooked beef patty stuffed with short rib meat topped with cheddar and bacon on a soft buttered bun accompanied by some sort of seasoned greens, thick slice of tomato and garlic aioli. Really, really good burger. The patty was so full of flavor and all the toppings just added to that flavor. The savory meat, the sharp cheddar, the tomato, the aioli and the crispy bacon….YUM! I thought I was taking my time and really enjoying this delicious and juicy burger, but I was told after the fact that I devoured it and may have only sat it down once the entire time. You have your choice of side, but I stuck with the fries and they were solid.

The burger is a little pricey, it was $16, but in my opinion, totally worth it. My girlfriend got the lobster and chicken pot pie and it was great too, so I figure we will be making a return trip. Looking back on it, I can see us getting a drink, splitting an entrée and getting out of there for less than $30, or just eating and coming out less than $20/piece. So I wouldn’t call this a high end place, and they have frequent specials, but this was a night for trying out a new place and new food and it was a hit!

Union Public House

Hemingway's Burger

This review is of no place that you can visit, this is me actually cooking!

I found the article below a while back and I immediately knew I had to try this burger. When I finally did, it was worth the effort.

Really good stuff. Lots of flavor, very juicy.

This is not my favorite burger, but it is unique (any burger that includes wine as an ingredient is unique) and it comes with the history of the great author himself.

So enjoy this burger with the remainder of the bottle of wine.

https://huckberry.com/journal/posts/provisions-the-hemingway-burger

The process...

The outcome, very tasty burger!

Ernest Hemingway

The recipe

The article's version.

The Burger Factory

I had heard about this new burger place when it first opened up on Navy Boulevard from my girlfriend who went with a couple of her friends that used to work with the owner. They got to try some burgers last week during their cold opening. Based on the reviews and descriptions I was given, I knew had to go try the place for myself.

They are located in a strip mall on the east side of Navy Blvd just before you get on the bridge into NAS. As soon as you walk in the door is the ordering counter. They take your order and give you a number. You help yourself to the drinks, find a seat and then they bring the burger out to you. Simple enough. The place was clean with some Navy and food decorations on the walls. Most of the tables were occupied and the line was 5 deep when I walked in and two more soon joined me. But the service was fast and people were coming and going so tables were readily available.

I chose today’s special, the Butcher Burger: a 10 oz fresh beef patty with cheese, bacon and “butcher sauce”. Lettuce, tomato, purple onion and a pickle spear were on the side. With seasoned crinkle fries, medium drink and tip the total came to about $16. The burger was built with a layer of apple wood smoked bacon at the bottom, the perfectly cooked patty, cheese and then more bacon. A little bit of the butcher sauce (slightly mustard-ish) was swirled on to each side of the soft toasted bun. The seasoned patty was perfectly medium, very hot and very juicy. It started running down my arm and I went thru about 15 napkins. Excellent first impression.

I knew that I’d be recommending this place after the first bite. I took a picture of the menu so that you can see some of their signature burgers. They have a featured burger or sandwich every day or you can build your own burger using all their toppings. They also have sandwiches, salads, a kids menu and several selections for sides such as onion rings, sliced apples or chili.

https://www.theburgerfactory.net/

The Burger Factory

314 South Navy Boulevard

Pensacola, FL

AND THEY HAVE A NEW LOCATION ON 9TH AVE!!

Note: Since my initial visit, I've gone back with 3 coworkers. And one of my pictures inspired my girlfriend to go there for lunch. Here's our pictures from those visits:

The Butcher

Chipotle Gouda

Red White and Blue (blue cheese)

They Philly

Turkey Burger w/ Chili Cheese Fries

The Burger Factory

Tucker Duke's

Very sadly I report that Tucker Duke's in Valparasio has shut down. Apparently the owner has been arrested for tax evasion. Oh well, they made a great tasting burger.

There's rumors of a "pop-up" restaurant in Fort Walton serving Tucker Duke's burgers, so keep on the look out!

From April, 2015:

Tucker Duke’s Lunchbox in Valparaiso

The Tucker Duke Burger – topped with an order of onion rings, American cheese, special sauce, lettuce and tomato!

I’ve had this burger twice and both times I’ve split it because it’s a beast. It is a really, really good burger. They’ve got a great tasting burger patty, the sauce is not over-powering and goes great with the crunchy onion rings. I keep wanting to break out and try something new because everything else I’ve seen from them looks great, but this burger just keeps drawing me in.

The Tucker Duke

Quick Rundown - Auburn & ATL Visit

Trip to Atlanta with a stop in Auburn, AL.

In Auburn at The Hound, we had fried dressing balls with a spicy cranberry dipping sauce (amazing!), a really good blue cheese bison burger and a salted caramel bourbon sauce pudding-cake thing that was just outstanding and I don’t normally like dessert. High marks on the beer list and cocktail menu as well. Would definitely take the chance to stop here again.

Dressing Balls

Bread Pudding

On this Atlanta trip, at Due South in Peachtree City we had a very weird slow smoked alligator ribs. They tasted like a smokey, porky fish. Everything else was great, but not sure I'd get alligator ribs again.

Gator Ribs

I got to eat my first smashburger for lunch and it was very good.

First Smashburger

We ate dinner at Cypress Street Pint and Plate. We had their “nachos”: sweet potato waffle fries covered with cheddar cheese, blue cheese, green onions, a creamy sauce and siracha. They were amazing. We split a chicken wrap that was very good too and they had a sticky toffee pudding that was also great. The whole thing cost about $20 because the hotel have us the free appetizer, the wrap was $8, the dessert was $6 and they had Sweetwater IPA on tap as their house brew for $3 a pint! We spent about an hour of the ride back discussing how we could recreate that meal.

Devoured the "nachos"

Sticky Toffee Pudding

We had breakfast at The Flying Biscuit where we assume the biscuits and gravy were healthy because they used chicken sausage.

Till next time.