The muffuletta is one of New Orleans’ signature contributions to the culinary world. Born in a French Quarter grocery store in the early 1900s, the “muff” is now as much a part of the Mardi Gras experience as po’ boys, etouffee, and gumbo. That’s a beautiful shot from passionateeater’s wonderful blog. A circular loaf of [...]
One of the unforeseen hazards of having a job as a professional cheeseburger eater is that it’s actually not easy for me to just dash out on a burger run when the mood strikes. Before this gig came along, when I felt like a cheebie for lunch, I’d hit whatever joint was closest and grab [...]
My last post on the history of the Big Mac got me thinking. I was remembering my own introduction to fast food, wondering why I never gravitated toward the Big Mac (and never even tried one until last year) when I suddenly had a blast from the burger past. Remember Burger Chef?!? Founded in 1954 [...]
You know the jingle by heart. Seventeen of them are sold every second of every day… in the US alone. It is such a symbol of American capitalism that The Economist uses its price to gauge the cost of living in other countries. It is THE iconic fast-food burger, like it or not. And despite [...]
In January, when we first told you about Burger King’s idea for a burgers n’ beers joint called the Whopper Bar, we knew that the plans included regional variations on the signature sandwich, cold beer served in aluminum bottles, and a target clientele of young urban hipsters and wide-eyed tourists in big-city hotspots like Vegas, [...]
Just weeks after Zagat released their Top 5 fast-food burgers in the US, now comes another carnivore countdown. The October issue of Consumer Reports features the results of their own burger survey, where 28,000 online subscribers assigned cheebies from 18 chains a 1-10 score. After the totals were tallied and average scores calculated, there were [...]
“I have an idea” are words that tend to scare my wife, especially after my Backyard Blowout Burgers that, while awesome, were admittedly quite an involved production and managed to dirty every single dish in the kitchen. Still, I decided to start my Labor Day Grillathon with another new cheeseburger I’d been dreaming of. This [...]
For six years, it’s been a mainstay on the late summer calendar. Now it’s history. With almost no hullabaloo whatsoever, Krystal has scrapped their annual Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship. The reason? Certainly not lack of interest. Last year’s finals drew a live audience of over 10,000 people to downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, in an [...]
Warning: the cheeseburger photo at the end of this column may not be safe for work. No, seriously. I’m not talking about a so-mouthwatering-it-might-be-considered-pornographic-to-diehard-carnivores food shot. This is actual cheeseburger erotica. But that didn’t stop 50 Cent from mass-mailing it out to his three million-plus followers via Twitter recently. The popular rapper uploaded a photo- [...]
Wanna start a food fight? Wander into an online chat room full of hamburger connoisseurs and announce in all caps that your favorite kind of burger is a patty melt. Then sit back and watch World War III erupt. Die-hard foodies will get downright violent in telling you that a patty melt is NOT a [...]
We all know them, the little burgundy-colored books with the funny name on the cover, packed with restaurant reviews for dozens of cities. Long before anyone with an ISP could “Like” something on Facebook or give 5 stars and their 2 cents on a website, Zagat’s restaurant surveyors were assigning scores on food, decor, service, [...]
Elkhart, Indiana knows hardship. Three times within the past century, whatever industry Elkhart has pinned its livelihood on has dried up and blown away, leaving this small town of about 50,000 with little more than a blue-collar work ethic to fall back on. (You may recall that President Obama all but named Elkhart the poster-child-city [...]
That sound you just heard was legions of Beltway burger fanatics having one collective (albeit anticipatory) burgergasm. New York City’s venerable Shake Shack announced plans this week to open a new location in the nation’s capital, causing an East Coast version of the foodie frenzy usually reserved for In-N-Out grand openings out West. The DC [...]
A recent family vacation had me “Back Home Again in Indiana” (native Hoosiers and anyone who has attended the Indy 500 over the past 30 years now has Jim Nabors’ velvety baritone voice stuck in their heads – you’re welcome) for a couple weeks of R&R. My trips back to Indiana- like most homecomings- are [...]
Gourmet burger chain Red Robin has opened up their annual Kids’ Cook-Off Contest. For the fifth year in a row, pint-sized chefs between the ages of 6 and 12 are invited to submit their best burger recipe through September 12. Finalists compete in a live cook-off in early December, and a grand prize winner will [...]
In writing for this site over the past 14 months, I’ve read reviews of hundreds of burger joints from all over the country. The ones that really strike my fancy go on a master list I keep. When I find myself traveling, I check my records, looking to cross off another hamburger hotspot while I’m [...]
McDonald’s announced recently that they’ll start selling smoothies. That news has prompted an unusual response from one smoothie chain. If a burger joint wants to go after a piece of the smoothie pie, then Jamba Juice has decided that they’ll break into the burger biz. They’ve released a video spot to debut their newest creation, [...]
Nashville. The capital of Tennessee, the center of the country music universe. Home of the Grand Ole Opry, with a downtown entertainment district full of enough neon-lit nightlife to earn it the nickname “Nashvegas.” For sports nuts, there’s the NFL’s Titans, the NHL’s Predators, and Vanderbilt University of the SEC. Fan of road food? It’s [...]
In perhaps the splashiest fast-food rollout since KFC’s Double Down, Carl’s Jr. this week has unveiled its new burger behemoth. Currently testing in a few California stores is the new Footlong Cheeseburger: But as close inspection of the super-sized sammie proves, that name is a bit misleading. The bun may be 12 inches long, but [...]
The state of Michigan looks to continue its claim as the Cheeseburger State this month when a new gourmet burger bar hits Ann Arbor. And this one isn’t just another Johnny-come-lately hamburger hut; it’s the brainchild of one of the burger biz’s big boys. Make that THE Big Boy: The burgermeisters behind Big Boy Restaurants, [...]
Fast-food heavyweight McDonald’s is slimming down… their menu. According to a company memo obtained by Crain’s Chicago Business, the Big N’ Tasty will be Dead N’ Gone by September 1. Introduced in 2001, the Big N’ Tasty burger, topped with lettuce and tomato, was seen as the clown’s direct response to Burger King’s Whopper. But [...]
I told you it was coming. Back in April, when The Cheesecake Factory was soliciting entries for a custom-built burg to add to their menu, I submitted my own creation. Sort of a “what if…” burger idea I’d been mentally preparing in my head for the better part of a year. And I told you [...]
During a recent visit to the UK, I found myself at one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of England, the Tower of London. The sprawling complex on the River Thames, consisting of numerous buildings inside a double-curtain stone wall and moat, is positively dripping with almost 1000 years of history. Construction began [...]
I recently had the opportunity to visit London for the first time. My list of must-visit places filled up quickly: the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Harrod’s. But as an English major and former theatre rat, I knew I’d also require a pilgrimage to Shakespeare’s Globe. Shakespeare’s Globe is a reconstruction of the [...]
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev embarked on a tour of the US to promote economic cooperation between the two countries. When he hit the nation’s capital, he got a free lunch out of the deal, paid for by the Commander-in-Chief. That’s Medvedev on the left, preparing to tuck into an all-American cheeseburger on Thursday while he [...]
“To celebrate World Cup in S. Africa we’re serving Lion Burgers this weekend! Don’t miss your opportunity to taste real African Lion, while supplies last!” With those words, posted on Facebook on June 14, the owners of il Vinaio in Mesa, AZ sparked a roaring firestorm of controversy. Cameron and Cindy Selogie ordered up a [...]
The Washington Nationals are not a very good baseball team. About 40% of the way through the MLB season, they’re 11 games out of first place. Last in their division. But a 22-year-old kid named Stephen Strasburg has given Beltway baseball fans and cheeseburger chowhounds alike something to cheer about recently. The right-handed pitcher from [...]
Fatburger is one of those chains I’d heard of (probably because of that overtly-obnoxious name) but never been to. Then, at a red light a few miles from home, I suddenly saw one I’d never noticed before, sandwiched between a Starbucks and some place wanting to buy my gold. I don’t drink coffee, and I [...]
In my part of the country, barbeque is a big deal. Folks ’round these parts get pretty fired up about hickory wood, smoke rings, bark, dry rubs, and secret sauces. Conventional wisdom suggests that the best barbeque (or barbecue, or BBQ, or B-B-Q, depending on your particular grammatical preference) can come only from an independent, [...]
A Vegemite sandwich, it sure ain’t. Owners of an Australian cafe have created a 210-pound cheeseburger, a feat they say will put them in the record books. The beastly burger is made up of 178 pounds of ground beef, 120 eggs used as a binding agent for the meat, 120 slices of cheese, 16 tomatoes, [...]