Hamburger, revisited

[roadfix]

I like to season with just S&P while grilling the burgers.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

The effect of this is that American tourists sometime feel no need to learn anything about where they are going. This leads to some unfortunate misperceptions. The American is accustomed to wandering through shops "just looking." They had no idea that "just looking" was not done eerywhere. So they are oblivious to the posting of an ENTRE LIBRE notice when a French shop invites lookers. Nor are they accustomed to greeting the owner or staff in a shop. So the tourist enters a non-ENTRE LIBRE shop, failing to acknowledge the shopkeeper, and when asked, announces, "Just looking." The shopkeeper's nose is now out of joint. The tourist then perceives French shopkeepers as rude. The shopkeeper perceives the American as deliberately rude.

I don't quite understand this concept. I've never heard of such a thing. Are there stores where you have to pay just to go inside, or you're obligated to purchase something to be inside? I can fully understand why some people are confused.

Five Guys was pretty good in Mpls!

That reminds me, after discussing Five Guys Hamburger and Fries here in the forum, I had resolved to try them out and I did so last night.

It was one of the worst hamburger places I've ever been! They had horribly loud music and all the customers were talking loud to be heard over the music. The ambiance made McDonald's look good.

I ordered a regular hamburger (which is a double patty) with "all the way" option, and Cajun fries. The hamburger was served wrapped in aluminum foil and I shortly discovered why. The thing was so wet that it disintegrated as I ate it, and eventually I wished I had a fork. The patties weren't particularly tasty and they were over-cooked and tough. The amount of lettuce was meager.

The fries were a disaster of another kind, all limp and undercooked, not a single crispy one in the lot. They were so over salted that I could eat only part of the serving. The only good thing I have to say is that a regular serving size (not large) was very ample, more than I would have eaten even if they were properly cooked and not massively over-salted.

Out of 5 stars I award Five Guys two negative stars. I wouldn't eat there again if the food was free.


Edit: Changed -1 star to -2 stars, this place really sucks!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That reminds me, after discussing Five Guys Hamburger and Fries here in the forum, I had resolved to try them out and I did so last night.

It was one of the worst hamburger places I've ever been! They had horribly loud music and all the customers were talking loud to be heard over the music. The ambiance made McDonald's look good.

I ordered a regular hamburger (which is a double patty) with "all the way" option, and Cajun fries. The hamburger was served wrapped in aluminum foil and I shortly discovered why. The thing was so wet that it disintegrated as I ate it, and eventually I wished I had a fork. The patties weren't particularly tasty and they were over-cooked and tough. The amount of lettuce was meager.

The fries were a disaster of another kind, all limp and undercooked, not a single crispy one in the lot. They were so over salted that I could eat only part of the serving. The only good thing I have to say is that a regular serving size (not large) was very ample, more than I would have eaten even if they were properly cooked and not massively over-salted.

Out of 5 stars I award Five Guys two negative stars. I wouldn't eat there again if the food was free.

Then you have a lousy 5 Guys...our here is the best place ever for a burger. Burgers are Med-Rare, fries are crispy and fresh.

I would complain to the management and the head office.

 

[Andy M.]

GregWC, SO and I had a similar experience at the 5 Guys nearest us. One and done for us too.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That is a shame. I have never had a bad burger or experience there. All Shrek has to say is 5 Guys and I beat him to the car. When he can ride his bike again, we will be biking there.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Thanks for the comment Andy. I don't know about where PF lives but here in Los Angeles we have probably tens of thousands of hamburger joints, and I'm sure probably a hundred within 1-2 miles of the Two Guys that I went to, so there's no reason for me to go back to this noxious place when there are so many alternatives.

I recently ate at Chili's and had a really good hamburger with Swiss cheese and mushrooms, which comes with fries but I had them substitute fried onion strings, and both were excellent! It was the best hamburger I've had this year.

Unfortunately, I ordered the same thing take out a few weeks later and they wrapped the hamburger in aluminum foil, then put burger and onion strings in a styrofoam box, and by the time I got home (10 minutes later) the hamburger had become soaked and fell apart like the Two Guys burger, and the onion strings were damp and limp from the built up humidity in the styro container. This cheeseburger and the onions would have been excellent if only they had packed it like McDonalds, paper wrapped and in a paper sack.

Moral of the story: Don't wrap hamburgers in aluminum foil. Don't put fries or fried onions in a container that confines steam. (Both really the same issue.) And don't order take out hamburgers from Chili's.

Unfortunately Chili's also is too noisy. There is a certain ambiance that some places seem to encourage (Cheesecake Factory is another) where the acoustics are intentionally bad and everybody has to talk loud. Sometimes I think they want to encourage people to eat quickly and leave to make room for more customers.

I'm hoping to find a nice quiet place that has gourmet hamburgers. Or even better, just make my own. I can easily make any hamburger just as good or better than all these restaurants, and I bet most DC members can do the same.

Hamburgers are not rocket science!

 

[Dawgluver]

That's a shame, Greg and Andy. Our burgers were nicely cooked, we had the singles, and the fries were crispy. This is one of my brother's and his family's faves in Mpls.

Sounds like your franchise might be the problem.

I must say, Hardee's Mushroom Swiss is my fave, and the copycat version is pretty good too.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

This burger in Belgrade is one of the best I have eaten, the bun (lepinja) makes it IMO a world beater.To many times have I been let down in the UK and US with sweet cotton wool crucifying a great patty.
Marka

 

[buckytom]

agreed, bolas. bad bun, bad burger.

there us a triumvirate of burgerdom: the meat, the bun, the toppings. that's all, and that:s all.

 

[roadfix]

As far as buns go I personally prefer fresh, plain buns.....the cheap house brands.
I view buns only as a 'carrier' of the beef patty and its fixins'.