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(2 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)Register to vote.Loading...
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Arnold Burger http://www.arnoldburgers.com/ 1611 South Washington Street Amarillo, TX 79102 (map)–
Ahh, the open road. I miss it as I sit here in a darkened conference room, listening to a presentation on something that has nothing to do with anything. I’m thinking back to the very last leg (sniff) of the magical road trip. While my wife and I left Provo, UT and In-N-Out disappeared in our rear view mirror, we could not possibly anticipate the adventures we had before us. We hiked through slot canyons in Goblin Valley State Park, strolled under and around the beautiful rock formations in Arches National Park, mountain biked on the infamous Slick Rock Trail, and spent our frigid evenings camping in Dead Horse Point’s Cowboy Camp. And this was just in Moab, UT. I didn’t find a great burger there but the outdoor possibilities were great. After a few days there and feeling very road weary, we made the long drive to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado to see the ruins of the cliff dwelling Native Americans. From there, being thoroughly wowed and exhausted, we made a bee-line heading back home. Fortunately for us (and slightly by Burger Tyme design) we were passing through Amarillo, TX around lunch time on the last day of this road trip adventure. Amarillo is the home of the Big Texan steak challenge. My wife was not keen on letting me try to conquer 72oz of steak. Fortunately for me, a simple web search turned up an equally massive, and critically acclaimed burger not far from the interstate. Arnold Burger. Our GPS led us to the most unassuming building imaginable. There was no question that we were in the right place based on the big, yellow sign proclaiming we’ve arrived. When we walked in the first thing I noticed was the rather large menu on the wall. To assist in ordering they provided outlines on the wall indicating the different sizes and shapes of burgers you could order. They had every shape you could think of, from hearts to footballs to butterflies and even a Texas shaped burger! The shape that interested me the most, however, was the 24″ circle. Surely this was a pizza… Nope! It’s a burger that you can order!
The lady behind the counter noticed I was taking pictures of the menu, so I introduced myself as having a burger review site. Her name was Gayla, Gayla Arnold in fact. She was more than happy to tell me about their burgers. We talked about the different burgers I’ve reviewed, the different reviewers who had dropped by to eat their burgers, and many other burger related things. She pulled out a photo album full of news clippings and magazine articles featuring Arnold Burger, including some international articles! The most impressive story, though, was that she declined to appear on the show Man vs Food. I remember the episode in Amarillo. It was actually the first one of the series. “Why!” I asked. Surely this would be a great opportunity to get some national exposure! Her explanation was simple. She said that the producers wanted to have a “party” like atmosphere, with roller girls (featured in the episode), and a lot of ruckus in their restaurant. “That’s not what we’re about”, she said…. Man. I’ve never been so impressed by such pure, burger commitment. We also discussed how the Texas Monthly 50 Best Burgers seemed to be missing many of Texas’ great burgers, including Arnold Burger. She said that Texas Monthly actually sent a reviewer to try the Arnold Burger. The reviewer arrived, ordered about $80 worth of food, tried a little bit, and left. She was not too impressed with the level of attention the reviewer gave to the actual burger. I mentioned that there were some great Houston burgers that were also conspicuously missing, such as Christians Tailgate, Hubcap Burger, and Bellaire Broiler (to be reviewed). We came to the conclusion that the 50 Best burger list must favor places that advertise with Texas Monthly.
Well, all pleasantries aside, it was time to order! With Gayla’s assistance I was able to hone down the vast options and ordered the single meat, cheeseburger. With her recommendation I added jalapeno dressing. They had many other tempting options ranging from guacamole to cream cheese to grilled pineapple. I had to resist over embellishing the burger so that I could get a good sense of the burger underneath. My wife couldn’t resist the shaped burgers and ordered a small Texas burger. We rounded out our order with a plate of seasoned curly fries. All of this was surprisingly inexpensive at less than $9. While we waited Gayla brought us a plate of jalapeno potato bites which was a new side item they were working on and now appears to be on the menu. With great anticipation our burgers arrived. They come arranged with the burgers on the bun and the veggies on the side, add as you like. I of course like them all and placed them between the bun and the hand formed, griddle smashed patty. While I had the burger apart, I noticed the nice sear that the patty had on it. These people have obviously been making burgers for a long time and knew how to fry it up perfectly. I took my first bite and the first thing I noticed was the plain bun. It was fresh but really was unremarkable. As I chewed, the high quality of the fresh beef jumped to the forefront. The same goes for the veggies. Everything seemed to be playing second and even third fiddle to the patty, but the subtlety worked well with the fresh, juicy, beefy flavor that is obviously the star here. After a few bites, I was reminded of the addition of jalapeno dressing to my burger, as I noticed a heat building up in the back of my throat. It was a great addition. My wife also enjoyed her Texas burger. Apparently the specialty shaped buns are made in house, which was a great touch. The seasoned curly fries were as good as you could hope for and cooked to a nice crisp. This was important because my wife is picky about her fries.
This burger was a great end to an awesome road trip! My only regret was that we did not get to see one of those huge burgers… But wait! While we were eating, a family of about ten people walked in. They traveled all the way from Kansas to try, as luck would have it, one of the giant burgers! I watched in amazement as the cook piled on handful after handful of fresh ground beef. It was awesome. Even better, they use a pizza peel to flip the monster on the griddle. Unfortunately we had another 600 miles ahead and could not wait the forty plus minutes it takes to cook. All in all, Arnold burger was a great burger in it purest form. Add on top the plethora of options you can put on the burger and you have a great BURGER TYME!
Well, folks, this is the end of the 2010 Burger Tyme Road trip. We made our way around America, saw some beautiful sites, ate some wonderful burgers, spent 14 nights sleeping on the ground, and we were ready to get home. Until next time.
(2 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)Register to vote.Loading...
Chris Madrid’s http://www.chrismadrids.com 1900 Blanco Road San Antonio, TX 78212 (map)
The open road. That’s where we were heading. My wife, my sweet dog, Pearl, and I were embarking on a road trip to see some of our nations beautiful national Parks. However, before we could witness nature in its harnessed beauty, we had to drive. And drive. And drive. It would be 14 hours from our home to our first destination, Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. The first three of those hours would be bringing us to San Antonio, home of Chris Madrid’s. I could not wait to get back to this burger place. I had eaten here numerous times a few years ago when I was traveling for work. This was B.B.T. (Before Burger Tyme) so I did not take the opportunity to document my experience. I wasn’t about to let this slip through my burger eating fingers again. We hit the road bright and early on Tuesday and made our way West. The drive between Houston and San Antonio is not particularly beautiful or eventful (with the exception of stopping at Bucee’s). I watched with anticipation as the Garmin counted down the miles until we arrived at our first Burger Tyme Road trip destination. At around 1:30pm we arrived at the corner of Blanco and W. Hollywood. Chris Madrid’s is an interesting place. From the outside there is really nothing indicating that there is a restaurant inside the blandish, slightly run down structure. Another item is that it is not exactly clear where to enter the building. There is no door that is easily visible from the road or parking lot (that is across the street). You actually go around the back of the building through the outdoor patio area to go inside to order. Once inside, the place opens up. It is much bigger than you would expect. The next challenge is figuring out where to order. Hint, it’s all the way to the left, down a ramp, and around the side to the right… Clear? Right, when you finally make to the small ordering corner you are faced with some surprising burger options.
The lovely lady taking our order explained to us that Chris Madrid’s is known for their cheddar cheese. That was great news to me because I love cheese. Not so much for my wife who orders plain, dry burgers YUCK! On the top of their menu is their specialty, The Tostada Burger. I’ve thought many times “What could possibly make a cheese burger better?”. Well, Chris Madrid’s has the answer: add refried beans, tortilla chips, and fresh salsa. Without hesitation that is what I ordered. They have two sizes, the regular and the macho. Being that I am already married and do not need to impress any ladies I did not order the macho. We also ordered a regular order of fries to split. Once our order was placed we moved down the bar/line/pick-up area thing and got our drinks. We then moved a little further down where they had fresh salsas. We fixed a few cups and went and found a spot in the outside patio under some trees so Pearl could come sit with us and eat her cheeseburger (no joke) flavored dog food. The weather was not super nice but at least it wasn’t hot. The wait time was about 15 minutes when they finally called our number. With great anticipation I walked back in and picked up our tray. These burgers looked and smelled amazing. Even though these were not the “Macho” burgers they still were rather large. To say that they are proud of their cheese is an understatement. The bottom half of my burger was not visible due to the skirt of cheese it was wearing. When picking the burger, which required both hands, I noticed that this is a floppy burger. The first bite was great!!! The savor of the cheese, the patty combined with the earthy refried beans and the crunch of the chips made for a flavor and texture experience that few burgers have every achieved. To top it all off the fresh salsa added a comparable but much more enjoyable tomato element than ketchup. This was a messy burger. I had salsa and bean all over my hands but it didn’t matter. I didn’t put it down once until it was all gone. The fries were also very good. They were fresh cut and fried to a good texture. I like them a little crispier but that is hard to achieve with fresh cut. I will sacrifice crispy for fresh any day.
So I think it is pretty clear what I thought if this first stop on our Burger Tyme Road Trip Adventure. It was great. The people there were really friendly and helpful. They even gave me a bumper sticker saying I ate the macho, even though I didn’t. There may be better burgers in the traditional burger sense, but if you want a unique burger, that is also delicious, go to Chris Madrid’s in San Antonio.
Stay tuned for more adventures on the Great American Highway!
Other Chris Madrid Reviews:
Texas Burger Guy
San Antonio Burger Blog
Chicken Charlies http://www.chickencharlies.com
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a big deal around here. Being from Louisiana my experience with rodeos was somewhat limited to small 4h type events. For the HLSR the entire Reliant Center is used for three weeks to host a BBQ competition, a carnival, livestock auctions, championship rodeo events, and every night there is a concert with some pretty big names in country and pop music. To kick off the rodeo a parade of cowboys and covered wagons rides from downtown all the way to Reliant Center. I’ve lived in Houston for four years and had not had the chance to go to this gigantic ode to all things Texan until last week. A friend of mine at work had some extra tickets that he wasn’t going to be using and gave them to me. Excited for the chance to finally see what all the fuss is about, I rounded up my wife and my parents who were in town visiting. We got to ride Houston’s light rail (which for 49 weeks out of the year is almost completely pointless) which drops you off right at the front gates of the rodeo.
Immediately we were met with a barrage of food, cowboy hats, boots, and animals! The rodeo is known for its wide array of deep fried novelties. From deep fried Oreos to chicken fried bacon to funnel cakes to fried Coca Cola (it’s true), you can get almost any artery clogging fix you can imagine. I had heard from a friend that there was a place that was offering a deep fried cheeseburger. That’s right, an entire cheeseburger that is battered and fried in grease. Sound delicious? Not really. Did I want to try it? Absolutely! We walked around for about an hour in search of this deep fried white whale only to find deep fried everything else but the burger. Finally I asked someone at the info station if he could tell me where I could find it. He didn’t know so he called it in over their radio. After some staticky chatter the name “Chicken Charlie’s” came through. So off we went. When we rounded the corner, leaving the main thoroughfare of food establishments, we entered a realm of carnival stands. These are basically dolled up trailers that sell food. After an hour of searching for the deep fried cheeseburger we finally found Chicken Charlie’s. I had to admit, I was getting nervous.
There in the window, among images of deep fried avocados and corn dogs was the sign “Totally Fried White Castle” – $4.95. This is it. Apparently they are using the frozen White Castle burgers you can buy at the grocery store. No matter. After all of this anticipation I still wanted to try it. I waited in line and much to the chagrin of my wife, was finally able to place my order, “One deep fried cheeseburger, please”. The girl asked if I wanted anything to drink. “I better get a bottled water”, I responded. The wait was like watching a parade of fried foods. Plate after plate of deep fried everything was being passed through the window to rodeo goers. Finally, my plate came through. What I saw resembled a biscuit covered in fried chicken breading sitting on top of some rather weak looking fries. Loaded with a few small cups of ketchup, I found a spot to sit and dove in.
Upon my first bite I realized why no one else is selling deep fried burger… The bun retained an amazing amount of the grease. This was by far one of the worst things I’ve ever tried to eat. I quickly gulped down half of my water. The only way to get the greasy taste out of my mouth was to eat as much ketchup and fries as possible. My wife just shook her head not needing to say “I told you so”. In spite of my initial horror with this abomination… I tried another bite. Again, terrible. So only two bites in, I gave up. This was such a fantastically terrible burger experience that I had to document it.
Folks, the rodeo was a lot of fun. This burger, although disgusting, was a fun quest. After the absolute failure of filling up on deep fried Burger Tyme, we headed back into the main area and had some good barbecue, fresh potato chips, and funnel cake. I also picked up a huge bag of my personal favorite, Fresh Popped Kettle Corn! This was a great experience that I was glad to be able to bring my family to and I would not hesitate to go back to again.
Original review here
The Sticky Burger. What the heck is a sticky burger? After a long hiatus from Hubcap, I finally returned to downtown Houston and had a chance to return to one of my (and most of Houston’s) favorite burger joints, Hubcap Grill. I was pleasantly surprised to see the improvements they made since I last visited. There was a cover over the patio/alley/seating area, they installed fans to keep outside diners cool, and most importantly they had an actual menu instead of the dry erase board they were using. This menu included a few items that were new to me. Muffaletta burger, philly cheese burger, frito pie burger, and the sticky burger. I read the ingredients of the sticky burger; cheese, peanut butter, meat, and bacon… For some reason, that sounded amazing to me. When it was my turn to order I asked the lady behind the counter “Is the sticky burger good?”. “Ehh. Some people like it.” she replied. That response scared me on this first visit back so I chickened out and ordered my usual cheeseburger. It was good but for days I couldn’t stop thinking about the sticky burger. The sticky burger was sticking to my dreams like peanut butter on the roof of my mouth!
A week later I couldn’t take it any more so I went back. This time I confidently ordered a sticky burger and an IBC root beer (that’s kind of like milk, right?). I decided to save my heart and passed on the fries. Eager with anticipation I waited for the lady to bring out my burger. My patience paid off and out came what would soon become one of my favorite burgers. As you can see, this burger looks like a regular bacon cheese burger with no veggies. But what you can’t see is the two layers of crunchy peanut butter coating the top and bottom bun. I bit into it and the flavor was miraculous! The savory bacon, creamy cheese, and seasoned patty combined with sweet and salty peanut butter to make my taste buds sing. This seemed a lot more like eating a peanut butter sandwich than a hamburger but there was no denying that it was a bacon cheeseburger. As typical with peanut butter, the eating was slow going. The crunchy peanut butter added a wonderful texture to the burger experience. Thankfully this was not a dry burger. It was plenty juicy to keep the chewing going without becoming a chore.
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I loved the sticky burger! So much, in fact, that I went back a week later and had it again. Consistently good! Consistently strange! I’m tempted to try the other odd burger choices that Hubcap offers, but I’m probably more tempted to just get another sticky burger and then take an afternoon nap.
(1 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)Register to vote.Loading...
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Backstreet Bar and Grille 214 West Methvin Street Longview, TX 75601-6309(map)
Longview, Texas! Never heard of it? Well my friend it is the quaint little industrial town nestled quietly between Shreveport, Louisiana and Dallas, Texas. I can’t say that it’s a traveler’s dream destination. Nor can I say that it is an incredibly exciting town. However, if, like me, you are called upon to visit for work, it is not a bad place for a few week project. There are plenty of tennis courts where you can go to exercise with your Vessi waterproof shoes and play with rackets from tennisracquets.com/collections/squash-racquets, every chain restaurant you could want, but most importantly an abundance of local restaurants that are actually very good. I won’t go in to the surprisingly great sushi at Osaka on Tyler St, or the great Italian food at Joe’s. No, we are here for burgers. Well, for work, but I make the best of every travel opportunity by trying to find the best burger every where I go! So, upon the recommendation of one of our clients, we traveled to downtown (I use the term loosely) Longview to a place called Back Street Bar and Grill! Now, as the pictures may suggest, this is a bar but they serve lunch and dinner here. It is a favorite of mine because of the atmosphere. There are a few tables, a small dance floor, and beer advertisements that span many decades. I have been to Longview a few times over the past three years and Backstreet has not changed a bit. That is not a bad thing either. I always know what to expect when I go there. Grimy atmosphere with a not so subtle hint of cigarette smoke. So on this occasion I rounded up my co-worker and we met my wife who decided to visit Longview for a day and we headed to Backstreet Bar and Grill! Their menu is surprisingly (not really) diverse. There is burgers, steak, potatoes, salad, and any variation of those four that you can think of. We took our tall bar stool seats at a table with many names carved/burned into it and considered our options. Being that this is not Salad Tyme or Steak Tyme or Potato Tyme, we knew exactly what to order.
“A cheeseburger with everything on it and fries please”, I said to the nice older lady who came to take our order. I also ordered a coke because I think it was the only drink there that didn’t contain alcohol. My wife and coworker placed similar orders. Now we waited. We admired the nostalgic bar memorabilia and gazed in wonder at the Golden Tee 2000 machine! While there weren’t many people inside with us eating, the workers did seem very busy with to-go orders which is a comforting sign. Before long our order came out. It is the most unglamorous, unassuming burger that you could have. Fortunately it tastes much better than it is presented. The patty is hand formed and especially flavorful being almost on the verge of too salty. It is a fried burger and the cheese definitely helped the flavor but it was a little dry. The bun was a nothing special, run of the mill white burger buns but they butter and toast it on the griddle which is always a plus….always! The veggies were sub par. The lettuce is shredded thinly that it tended to fall out of the burger however the tomato was a decent slice that helped add some much needed juiciness. The fries seemed like they were frozen and store bought, which they very well could have been but they were cooked and salted well enough to make them enjoyable. All in all it is a pretty big meal. The burger takes two hands to start with but can easily be managed with one after a few bites. SO you must be saying to yourself “This can’t be a good burger. This description is horrible”. Well, read on, burger tymer!
Folks, this was a good burger. I know, I know. I gave it some pretty harsh critiquing, but the beauty of the Backstreet Burger is that in spite of it’s plane origins, the skillful old ladies put together a tasty burger combination that can satisfy a Burger Tyme craving in a place like Longview. The atmosphere is definitely great for a burger dive and the service is great. The wonderful ladies there treat you very nicely and even remembered me after these many years. This is not an elite burger. This is not a great burger. It is a good burger. While I wouldn’t recommend anyone go out of there way to go to Longview, Texas, I would recommend that if you are there, give Backstreet Bar and Grill a try! You won’t be disappointed! Particularly given the other burger options that exist.
Hint – If you like Patty Melts, Backstreet has a great one. It’s the same burger patty with swiss cheese and grilled onions on rye bread that they grill with butter. Greasy but tasty. Patty Melt Tyme!!!!!!!!!
