Charlie's Hamburgers, Folsom, PA
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About Me

No-Bull Burger Purist, born and raised in NJ, the heart of the tri-state area and home to the oldest (and best) burger joints in the country. I don't need all the frilly toppings, happy servers or trendy decor, just a good burger...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bucu Burgers & Cupcakes, Paramus, NJ


CLOSED!

Where: 
Bucu Burgers & Cupcakes, Paramus, NJ

What: 
Design-A-Burger

Build: 
 2 - 40z 100% black Angus beef patties, American cheese, red onion slices, dill pickle slices, potato roll, mayo.

Comment: 
Three reviews per burger joint is my limit and this is my third and final time at Bucu (for reviews that is - I'll still eat here once a week). If you are new to the blog, please read my older posts on Bucu first (8/16 and then 8/22) I think reading them in chronological order will best allow you to see my growing obsession for these burgers. (Yes, I did have to bust Bucu on their "humane handling of animals" pledge in my first blog.) As for this trip to Bucu, it was, as-always, an unbelievably great burger... I just can't get enough of this old-fashioned burger flavor. And let me be clear on this, I DO NOT order off the "composed" burgers menu... I build my own, which is part of the beauty of this place, you order EXACTLY what YOU want. Again, I love the old-fashioned flavor of Bucu's meat which is why I order the build as stated above. I can't begin to tell you how delicious these are - the aroma, the presentation, the quality of all the ingredients, and the rolls all make for what is essentially, a "perfect" burger experience. Did I actually beat George Motz to a fantastic burger joint???

A big shout out to Gabi, thanks for the photos and we'll be seeing you soon! Third times a charm - 10/10. If my rating scale allowed it, I'd give these burgers an 11......




Dear Lord, I love these burgers.....











Gabi !!! Servin' the goods with a smile    :  )







One of these days I'm going to eat one..... 


Monday, September 10, 2012

Boom Burger, Rochelle Park, NJ

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"CRAPPY PHOTO ALERT"
Where: Boom Burger, Rochelle Park, NJ
What: The Boom Burger & The Double Bacon Boom
Build: Boom Burger: Fresh ground 4oz patty stuffed with American cheese and topped with pickle slices, plum tomato slice, lettuce and boom sauce on a toasted sesame seed bun.
Double Bacon Boom - Two 4oz fresh ground patty's layered with 2 slices of American cheese and topped with 2 crisp (round) bacon slices and boomsauce on a sesame seed bun.
Comment: I had no idea what to expect from this place, but I had a feeling it just might be good. After all, if you are going to go as far as to name your restaurant after a burger it can't be all that bad. I went for lunch with my son and after entering the front door, it took a minute for our eyes to adjust to the very almost too dimly lit seating area. (which explains the crappy photos) In fact, I got the distinct feeling there just might be a brass pole somewhere in the joint if I could only see further than 20 feet. The floor area is huge with flat screens everywhere, it really must be a great place to watch football. Anyhow, you know I don't give a darn about atmosphere, just bring on the beef - and that's exactly what Christian our waiter did. I (conservatively) ordered their signature "Boom Burger" but my son went right for the throat with the Double Bacon Boom. What a great culinary experience. The burgers were awesome, hot and fresh with great fresh toasted sesame buns. The burgers are stuffed nicely with what they advertise as real American cheese but tasted a bit sharp like a mild cheddar - either way, we loved it and my son knocked down the double before I finished my single. Our waiter Christian told us something that you won't see on the menu - they grind the burgers with a blend of short rib, brisket and black angus meats - (so that's where all that great flavor comes from). The next time I visit Boom I'm getting a double classic cheeseburger.  Fresh ground or not, in the end it's all about what burger is to your personal taste and there are thousands of burgers out there that are awesome without being fresh ground. I figure if you choose to grind your meat fresh to achieve what you consider to be a better tasting product, that's great, but I've got a real problem paying for extra "burger labor" - you wanna grind it? eat the labor, don't pass it to me... Considering overall value, I'm giving this place a  9/10.  Value is the only non-food aspect of a burger I rate on... if the Double Bacon Boom was priced more fairly it would've been a 10/10 without question but at almost $10 Bucks for a burger before fries and a drink, it's just too much especially when you consider the fact that you can get a killer double burger at Bucu Burgers & Cupcakes (see my blog from August 27th) for under $7 and it's very close by -   I'm just sayin'....



Double Boom
The burgers were NOT charred heavily as they appear in the photos, it was very dark in the dinning room and I had to lighten the photos with a photo editor - they were actually done perfectly











Single Boom




















Sunday, September 9, 2012

25 Burgers - Trenton, Chili and Cuban Burgers

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Where: 25  Burgers, Fairfield, NJ
What: Various Burgers
Build: 70z patty, Grilled Pork Roll "piled high", American Cheese, dill pickle slices, lettuce, raw white onion, egg bun.
Comment: I'm a huge fan of 25 Burgers, but today's visit left me very disappointed. Our order consisted of a Chili Burger, a Classic, a Cuban Burger and the Trenton Burger. The Chili Burger and the Classic won best in show. The Chili burger was topped with crispy onion strings, cheddar and of course, chili, my son-in-law gave it a 10/10 and it's definitely on my bucket list - it looked awesome. The Cuban Burger had nothing to do with a burger which both surprised and embarrassed me. My daughter (also a huge 25 Burger fan) ordered the Cuban and was counting the minutes to it's delivery.  I would've never thought that a Cuban burger would not contain a burger... pulled pork, ham, pickle, Swiss, etc, but no burger. Again, I was a bit embarrassed. She said it was excellent, but when you expect Cuban toppings on your "burger", it's still a big let-down. If you are making a "sandwich" call it a "sandwich" why in the world introduce the word "Burger" if there is none. I wanted to give this an EPIC FAIL, but again, my daughter gave it a very high rating despite the false advertising. Yes - it is FALSE, CRAP advertising. 
My Trenton Burger sold me with the "piled high" tag line (which is on the menu). Two paper thin slices of Trenton pork roll? Really? This baby is headed for an EPIC FAIL. Everything else was fresh and hot as usual, but my sandwich was really lacking in the "piled high" topping department. Outings like this will keep me from straying from the Classic burger for quite a while. 25 Burgers in Fairfield is no longer to be trusted. BORING 3.5/10



Chili Burger 10/10




Burgerless Cuban 8/10




Cheapo Trenton Burger 3.5/10





La Rosa Chicken & Grill - Cheeseburger

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Where: La Rosa Chicken & Grill, Wayne, NJ
What: Cheeseburger
Build: Burger(I'm guessing 6oz), Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, American Cheese, Mayo, Kaiser Roll.
Comment: You really can learn something new every day and today I was reminded that if you don't take any risks in life you'll never gain much worth a damn. I'm the first person to preach: "never order a steak at a seafood restaurant and never order seafood at a steak joint" this, my golden rule; was broken by yours truly when I ordered a cheeseburger at a chicken joint. But again, no risk, no reward. I picked up take-out for my wife and I, and even though I live only 5 blocks from the place, the burger had already began to cool to the point where it lost it's freshness. With that in mind, it was still a respectable burger. I will do more recon on my next trip, but the burger was surely made from fresh (not frozen) meat. The toppings were very crisp and fresh and the roll was outstandingly fresh and flavorful. I am looking forward to eating my next one hot and fresh on the premises. 8.5/10 



















Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Jersey Girl - The McJersey Girl Burger

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**Crappy Photo Alert**
Where: Jersey Girl Coffee Bagel & Deli, Long Beach Island, NJ
What: The McJersey Girl Burger
Build: 8oz burger, Lettuce, Tomato, Fried Onion, Special Sauce, American Cheese, Pickle Slices, Kaiser Roll.
Comment: I had high hopes for this burger, especially after having breakfast here a few weeks ago - my breakfast sandwich was so good I had to go in the kitchen and tell the Chef before I left. I saw the burger description on their chalkboard and made a mental note to be sure to try it the next time I was there. Can you say disappointed? Wow - I am always so let down when a burger is crap - and this was crap. It's a burger for God's sake, how hard could it be to make it a decent one? You've read the "Build", now check out what I was served after ordering my burger cooked medium:
Mystery meat burger, (doubt if it was 6oz before cooking) cooked well done and completely devoid of flavor, limp lettuce, flavorless orange tomatoes with generic tasting Russian dressing. The burger-to-bun ratio was off the charts - as you can see in the 3rd photo, there is almost a full inch of void between the outer edge of the roll and the burger. The pickles were great, but in addition to the burger meat being complete unrecognizable as beef,  the second no-no was the stale roll. Really? A stale roll? How could any food establishment serve a stale roll? This kind of thing really gets under my skin. What a shame... CRAP, FAIL.  3/10.























Monday, September 3, 2012

Beach Haven Fishery - Shrimp Scampi Burger

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Where: Beach Haven Fishery, Long Beach Island, NJ
What: The Shrimp Scampi Burger
Build: 1/2 pound Black Angus Beef, 2 slices American cheese, 4 - 16/20 shrimp, butter, garlic, parsley, butter toasted Ciabatta roll, Parmesan cheese, fried onions.
Comment: Sept. 2012: So ends another summer season on LBI... I can see the north-bound traffic building from my 2nd floor deck and even though there is a touch of heaviness in my heart at seeing this summer come to a close, I look forward to a winter season with minimal year-round inhabitants and enough rest and peace and quiet to enable me to enjoy the next summer with a vengeance. And for those of you who feel LBI is "too far to drive" please keep thinking that and don't come here because if your intestinal fortitude does not afford you enough stamina to get you past an hour drive, you are not welcome here (and there's a good chance that you believe the liberal media also) - On with the burger....
Chef Jude's special burger this week was a testament to the great burgers I've been eating all year at the BHF. It epitomized all the great flavor combinations I've come to love and look forward to this summer - and so, with a tear in my eye, I have done my best to describe this last burger of the summer season. And for those of you who do not like burgers with "combination" ingredients, please stop reading and remove this website from your favorites list because you have less understanding and less respect for good food than our current Presidential administration has for the Constitution.
Rarely do burger toppings blend so well that you're not sure where one flavor ends and the other begins, however when this "does" happen, you tend to keep sampling it because even though you've previously tasted all these ingredients individually, once they are put together in correct proportions, it makes for a culinary delight you will not soon forget. The garlic, butter and cheese combined with the burger juices perfectly and with a healthy pinch of Parmesan cheese thrown on the top and fried onions on the bottom, I was once again, in burger Heaven. Thanks to all the staff of the BHF for a great, flavorful year, looking forward to seeing you in May...  10/10