Chadito's

 

Traveled to Springfield, IL for some business and ate at Chadito's.  It's a tiny little building that serves American and Mexican food.  I ordered a cheeseburger with mustard, pickle and onion.  It was a great burger!  Quarter pound pattie that was smashed very flat with great seasoning.  The bun was normal, the toppings were fresh and flavorful.  Definitely a worthwile meal.  I wish there was more burger joints like this in southern Illinois.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 10

Bun - 9

Toppings - 10

Texture/Taste - 8

Juiciness - 7

 

Total:  88% B+ 

Llywelyn's Pub

 

Traveled to St. Charles, MO for some business and stopped for lunch at Llywelyn's Pub.  The atmosphere of this place was awesome.  I guess it used to be an old bank because they still had the huge safes towards the back of the restaurant.  So that was cool.  The burger I chose to eat was the award winning Pub Burger.  This burger came on an English muffin and had leaf lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese spread and bacon.  The presentation was just okay.  It doesn't really look like everything goes together.  The muffin was very dry and fell apart instantly.  The toppings were tasteless.  The meat was not seasoned and tasted watery, with little juice.  Needless to say I was not at all impressed with this award winning burger.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 7

Bun - 6

Toppings - 7

Texture/Taste - 5

Juiciness - 7

 

Total:  64% D

Sample Burger #2 and #3

I decided to put together a group of pictures to show the process that I use in making great cheeseburgers.  Step 1, get your favorite bun by either baking it as I did with the one on the right, or buying it, like the buns on the left.  I take regular butter and spread it on the top and bottom buns.  Once my griddle is heated to 350 degrees, I put my bread on it.



While my buns are toasting I get my ground beef out and dump it into a bowl.  I use 73/27 because the fat content makes for a more crispy and juicy burger.  Once in the bowl I break it up by hand and form 4 ounce balls.

Four ounce balls seen below.  I do not season the meat until it's on the griddle.  The balls have nothing mixed in with the meat.  Just pure ground beef!

After my buns are toasted I remove them and put them on a plate off to the side.  I take a tablespoon of butter and spread it around on the griddle.

Once the butter is good and melted I take the beef balls and smash them on the griddle with a spatula and wooden spoon for leverage.  I then season heavily with sea salt and fresh black pepper. 

After the edges start to get crispy on the outside of the burger I flip them.  Notice the crunchy texture.

Once the burgers reach a medium tint I cover them with cheese.  I leave them on the griddle until the cheese melts enough to bend at all corners.  I had to use some cheddar cheese because I ruined most of the American cheese I had.

This first burger you see is a cheddar cheeseburger topped with pickle, burger sauce and onion in between a home-made brochen (German roll).

The presentation was great (10), the bun was not very durable and had a heavy taste to it (7).  The toppings were good, I made a burger sauce out of BBQ sauce and mayo (9) and the pickle and onion were great.  The texture and taste of the meat was good, but the thick cheddar cheese kept rearing it's chunky head (8).  This burger was juicy as can be (10).  Total score would be 88% B+.

The second burger I made was a near flawless attempt at a "Golden Cheeseburger".  I used a white hamburger bun, American cheese, onion, pickle and mustard.  All parts of this burger I scored a 10!, except for the juiciness.  The meat wasn't as juicy as I like so I scored that an 8.  Total score would be a 96% A!

There was so much flavor in the bun from being grilled on the flat top with butter.  The American cheese is a key player in any perfect burger and pickle, onion and mustard are just beautiful together.

Thanks for reading and get in the kitchen and make your burger dreams come true!

Steak n' Shake (Wisconsin Buttery)

 

 

I stopped by Steak n' Shake for a late night dinner and chose the Wisconsin Buttery.  It's not much to look at but it tasted great.  The bun was awesome, very soft, chewy and buttery.  The toppings were okay, grilled onion and cheddar cheese.  Like I said, the taste was amazing.  Very greasy, loaded with butter, juices dripped down my arm.  The texture of the meat is always good with crunchy edges from the flat top grill.  I would eat this burger again.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 7

Bun - 10

Toppings - 8

Texture/Taste - 10

Juiciness - 7

 

Total:  84% B

 

Combined Score (Multiple Burgers) - 82% B-

Olympic Restaurant

 

I decided to take a chance on a restaurant that has changed names about three times in the last year.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger.  It came with lettuce, tomato, bacon and American cheese.  From the initial look I was kind of excited.  That all changed when I took my first bite.  The presentation was good, but it only looked it came with lettuce.  The bun was outstanding!  I don't understand how someone could surround this bun with chewy, grisly bacon, a soggy tomato and a frozen soy patty.  The flavor of the meat was indescribable.  There was no seasoning and very little moisture.  Needless to say I was very disappointed with the burger and probably won't give the Olympic Restaurant a second chance.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 8

Bun - 10

Toppings - 4

Taste/Texture - 2

Juiciness - 6

 

Total:  60% D- 

 



Big Daddy's 618

 

 

For lunch I had a bacon cheeseburger from Big Daddy's.  This burger looked good.  The bun was flavorful but a little soggy.  The toppings were fresh but minus 2 points for leaf lettuce and minus 2 points for too much red onion.  The burger pattie was very dry and flavorless.  I think it was a pre-formed frozen pattie.  I wish I would have chosen a different restaurant.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 8

Bun - 8

Toppings - 6

Taste/Texture - 6.5

Juiciness - 6

 

Total:  69% D+

Seven

 

 

I had the bacon cheeseburger from Seven tonight.   Let's start from the beginning.  The presentation was okay, but the top bun was off with the bacon sitting on it and the toppings were under the pattie.  The bun had a great flavor and was very durable.  The toppings were okay minus the huge leaf lettuce.  The texture and taste of the pattie was good.  The juiciness left me wanting more.  For me this was an average burger, nothing too special.  I would try it again.  Here are my ratings:

 

Presentation - 7

Bun - 9

Toppings - 7

Texture/Taste - 8

Juiciness - 6

 

Total:  74% C