Best Burgers of 2012

Here is my list of the BEST BURGERS OF 2012.

1. The Palace Classic Burger at Bobby’s Burger Palace in Hanover, MD (score: 9)
2. My “Build Your Own” Burger from the Kooper’s Chowhound food truck (score: 8.5)
3. Black Angus Cheeseburger from Sean Bolan’s in Bel Air, MD (score: 8)
4. Gourmet Burger at Sammy T’s in Fredericksburg, VA (score: 8)
5. Sliders from Main Street Sliders in Newark, DE (score: 8)

If you are in the Baltimore area these restaurants (4 restaurants, 1 food truck!) are all local or all within driving distance. I recommend that you try all of them at least once 🙂 I’m definitely looking forward to checking out new restaurants in 2013 and bringing you more burger reviews.

An honorable mention goes to the place this food blog began… the Olympia Dairy Bar in Carney’s Point, NJ where my favorite is the 1/3 lb Burger cooked-to-order. I can’t wait for the 2013 rodeo season to open so that I can start making the trip up to Cowtown again!

Best Burgers in Harford County 2012

Here is my list of the best burgers in Harford County for 2012.

1. Black Angus Cheeseburger at Sean Bolan’s, Bel Air.
2. Roadhouse Burger at Darkhorse Saloon, Bel Air.
3. Rootie Toot Burger at Mamie’s Cafe, Aberdeen.
4. Western Burger at Magerks’s, Bel Air.
5. Jake Burger at Jake’s Wayback, Abingdon.

All of these burgers scored an impressive 8 out of 10. I am looking forward to 2013 when I will get the chance to eat a whole bunch more burgers in Harford County. Who knows… I might even find a 9 out of 10!

Saddle Up for Burgers at the Darkhorse Saloon

I’m off school for the winter break (yeah!) and Mom didn’t have court (the county must be free of criminals for one day) so Dad arranged for us to meet up for lunch at Darkhorse Saloon in Bel Air.

Dad dared me to have the Duke Burger (it’s huge! one of those burgers Adam Richman might eat on Man v. Food), but I think it’s too big for a kid. I ordered a Roadhouse Burger instead. That’s big enough, thanks!

The Roadhouse Burger is a 1/2 lb burger patty that is seasoned with “Texas spices” and cooked to order. I asked for mine to be cooked medium well. The burger is topped with BBQ sauce, cheddar jack cheese, crispy onion strings, and with jalapeno mayo. I ordered mine with bacon (Mmmmm… bacon!) and for once I didn’t worry about the jalapeno mayo.

I ordered my burger with hand cut fries. You can also order it with sweet potato fries, tater tots, or a side salad.

It was a pretty good burger. Certainly one of the best around Harford County. I think it would be in my Top Ten for the year. I award the burger a finger-lickin’ 8 out of 10.

I would definitely go back to Darkhorse Saloon for another burger. If you haven’t been yet then you should. I dare you to try the Duke and let me know whether you managed to eat it all!

Mouthwatering MaGerk’s Burger

I visited MaGerk’s Pub in Bel Air with Mom and Dad. I ordered the Western Burger which their menu describes as an “Angus burger topped with cheddar cheese, our beer battered onion rings, jalapenos, BBQ sauce.” 

The burger patty was pretty good. I think it is one of the best in the Bel Air area. The onion rings were nice and crispy. They were made with real onion and not the minced-up onion like you get at fast food restaurants. The fries were thick and salty. They tasted good, even though Mom says they were unhealthy for me.

I would normally expect to see bacon on a “western” style burger, but this one was OK without it. I asked for my jalapenos “on the side” because I did not know how many they would put onto the burger. This is a good plan in my opinion. Jalapenos are tricky. You need to keep control over your jalapenos.

I award this burger 8 points out of a possible 10. It is tied with the Sean Bolan’s burger that I reviewed in August. I said the Sean Bolan burger would have scored 8.5 or 9 points if it had a couple of slices of thick Irish bacon on it. I think this MaGerk’s burger would also score 8.5 of 9 points if it had a few slices of hickory or applewood smoked bacon on it.

The BEST PART of the entire visit to MaGerk’s was when Dad dropped an entire tub of Caesar salad dressing over his pants. He was covered in salad dressing. It was all over him, all over the seat, all over his shoes, all over the floor, and all over the table. Real smooth, Dad!

(Dad says this proves that salad is dangerous and that Mom should let him eat more burgers.)

Chowing Down With The Chowhound

At last I have finally visited Kooper’s Chowhound!

Kooper’s Chowhound is a Baltimore food truck specializing in burgers. The food truck is owned by the same folks who run Kooper’s Tavern in Fells Point that I reviewed back in June. I have been asking Dad to take me to wherever the Chowhound is, but today (first day of winter break from school!) was the first chance we had.

I ordered a “build you own” burger. My burger had a 1/2 lb flame-grilled Angus beef patty with provolone cheese, Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and BBQ sauce. As soon as the burger patty had finished cooking it was placed onto the bun, wrapped in silver foil, and handed over to me. Talk about fresh from the grill!

I ate the burger standing outside (street food! yeah!) and it was delicious. Back in June, I awarded my burger from Kooper’s Tavern an excellent 8 out of 10. I think that the Chowhound burger deserves an extra 1/2 point. Eating street food with your hands is fantastic. There should be more food trucks serving burgers (I would eat at one every day).

Thanks Dad for driving to Hunt Valley in the fog and rain. I promise not to tell Mom that you had a burger too… oh… wait… she’ll probably read this anyway… ha, ha… I guess she knows now.

If you want to find out where Kooper’s Chowhound is hanging out during the week then check the “Where is the Chowhound” page on their website, or you can follow them on Twitter.

 

Patty Melt at the Chesapeake Grill

I paid a visit to the Chesapeake Grill in Harvre de Grace, Maryland with Mom and Dad. I have been here many times before and I reviewed their bacon cheeseburger back in April. I like the Cheasapeake Diner because it is close to us (just 10-minutes away) and it is an old fashioned diner that serves everything (if you want breakfast waffles at night you can have them).

I ordered their burger melt which is a flame-broiled burger patty, topped with sautéed mushrooms, sandwiched on rye with Swiss cheese.

Except I skipped the mushrooms, because… ugh… mushrooms!

The burgers at Chesapeae grill are hand formed from 8 oz of fresh beef. This one was nicely cooked and packed full of meaty juices. The Swiss cheese gave it a nutty taste (better for rye bread than American cheese!) and the rye bread had a nice sprinkle of carroway seeds.

(At least that’s what Dad says them are. I just call them “the seeds they put in rye bread.”)

I award this burger melt a score of 6.5 out of 10. It is better than average and having a “melt” instead of a regular burger was a nice change. If you are at the diner then you should give it a try.

Dad says to try it with the mushrooms, but… ugh.. mushrooms!

WARNING! Their website plays Frank Sinatra songs very loudly. You might want to mute your speakers to avoid that.

10 things that should never be put on a burger

10 things that should never be put on a burger.

1. Mayonnaise.
2. Mushrooms.
3. Mayonnaise.
4. Pineapple.
5. Mayonnaise.
6. Marinara sauce.
7. Mayonnaise.
8. Guacamole.
9. Mayonnaise.
10. Oh… and mayonnaise.

Happy 55th Birthday to the Burger King Whopper! (now only 55-cents)

To celebrate the 55th birthday of The Whopper, the burgers are available for 55 cents from December 6 through December 9 at participating Burger King restaurants.

So if you want to eat one then you can go and eat one.

McDonalds Around the World (Part 3) “What the heck, France?”

McDonalds in France has launched a range of 3 “bagel burgers” – Le Bagel Bacon, Le Bagel Cheese and Le Bagel Red Onions.

What the heck, France?

That’s just WRONG!

New Gino Marchetti burger restaurant opening soon!

There is an article in the October/November edition of Harford’s Heart magazine ‘Everybody Goes To Gino’s: Coming to 3 locations in Harford County.’

It talks about the arrival of Gino’s Burgers and Chicken restaurants in Harford County. There are 3 restaurants planned for the county. The first is being built in Aberdeen and will be open by the end of 2013. Gino’s is looking for 2 other locations in the county for 2013.

(I already broke this news in April!)

Gino’s was founded by former Baltimore Colt’s defensive end Gino Marchetti in 1959 and at one time there were 313 company-owned restaurants throughout the region. The old company was taken over in the 1980s and restaurants were either converted to Roy Rogers or closed.

The “new” Gino’s franchise in Maryland began with its new store in Towson, MD and the restaurant chain is gradually coming back to the area. There is a store in King of Prussia, PA where Gino Marchetii still works 3-4 days each week.

I am a Colts fan and a burger fan. I definitely want to visit the King of Prussia location!

Gino’s describes their food as “fast casual.” Your meal is made with fresh ingredients (no pink slime!) and brought to your table (so you don’t have to collect it from the counter). Jake’s Wayback has a similar setup, but at Five Guys you still have to collect your own food.

I am looking forward to Gino’s opening in Aberdeen. I can’t wait to try the Gino’s Giant burger (named after Gino) and the Ameche’s Power House burger (named after his restaurant partner, former Colts running back, Alan Ameche).

Gino and Alan both played in ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ (the 1958 NFL Championship Game). Johnny Unitas was named NFL MVP in that game. I wonder if he ever thought about opening a burger restaurant?