Stafford Diner, Manahawkin, NJ

Where: Stafford Diner, Manahawkin, NJ

What: Cheeseburger Deluxe
Build: 1/2 lb 100% USDA beef patty, American cheese, sesame bun, raw onion, tomato, pickle, mayo.

Comment: I was lucky enough to get onto Long Beach Island to assess the damage to my summer home yesterday and hit the Stafford Diner on the way back to North Jersey. SD is a great "home-cookin" type of diner where you can always count on hot comfort food to warm you up. I had a cup of their chicken pastina soup while waiting for my burger... it was very good and as I've said before, finding a really good diner burger is (for what ever reason), hit or miss (usually miss). Having said that, the normal person would steer away from the burger menu, but my burger tunnel vision kicked in as it does almost always and I ordered the burger deluxe thinking;  "here we go, another mediocre burger". But to be fair, it was a step above mediocre. The bun was fresh, the burger size was ample with fresh fries and pickle. The thing that surprised me most was that the burger was a perfect medium/rare - exactly what I ordered! Nice. As all you fellow diner goers know, that's huge. But alas, it was still no great shakes. And so, as with most diners, the build up of fresh ingredients led to a burger with very little flavor. 7.0/10  If anyone knows of a really great, really fresh diner burger, please let me know!!!