Peggy's Grill House, Pearl River NY,

Where:
Peggy's Grill House, 87 N. Middletown Rd, Pearl River, NY, 845-732-8400

What: Cheeseburger Deluxe

Build:  7 oz. burger, lettuce, tomato, raw white onion, pickle, American cheese, sesame seed bun.

Comments: The folks at this quaint little luncheonette in Pearl River are as nice as could be. The menu consists of typical American luncheonette fare with Greek undertones. You can order anything from a whole grilled chicken to baked spinach spanakopita. And of course, burgers.
I ordered the cheeseburger deluxe and asked for a temperature of medium and it was served a bit pink inside so I was happy. One thing to note: it was still ripping hot from the grill when served, in fact, I had to wait a few minutes before I could bite it. This scores very high points on my scale. In fact, it was so hot, that I feared it would cook itself to a well-done status in no time – that's when I dove in.

The menu states that the burger is 7 oz., however, judging by the burger I was served I have to disagree with that; it was closer to a 5.5 or 6 oz. patty. This is not a complaint, the burger-to-bun ratio was very nice, although the bun was a bit stale (the top crust cracked and fell apart). All in all it was a decent burger – would I order a burger at Peggy's again? No. But I would go back, and I would order one of the Greek dishes as I'm sure that's their forte.

One more comment about the burger: If you're going to menu a “7 oz.” burger, why not go the extra mile and advertise a "half pound" burger? It's so much more appealing amid the "burger wars" trend we're so lucky to be in the midst of. I'm just sayin...
All in all, the burger gets an 8.1 rating on the BC rating scale.

The Dog House, Nanuet, NY

Where: The Dog House, 17 North Middletown Road, Nanuet, NY 10954, (845)-624-9500


What: 1/2 lb. blue cheese burger (with a sneak peak at the chicken wings and the Porky Pig Dog)


Build:  A half pound Angus beef patty, blue cheese, lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles. (I waived the tomato) on a Kaiser roll. 

Comments: Yeah, I know, I know, I went against one of my golden rules, "never order a burger at a hot dog joint and vise versa".  With that said, The Dog House produces a very good burger, definitely worth the stop and definitely worth going back for seconds. 

I ordered the burger special of the week, the half pound Angus blue cheese burger and I was not disappointed. Thick, meaty and juicy, it was a pleasure to behold (and to hold). The blue cheese was melted perfectly with a more-than-ample portion. 

In hindsight, I should have ordered it with bacon as well, but it was still a great burger. The Kaiser roll was very fresh with a perfect burger-to-bun ratio. The toppings were also fresh and crisp. 

Check my autopsy shots for a good representation of The Dog House burger.

The two bonus photos are of my son's wing order (very good) and our friend's "Porky Pig" which is a jumbo dog with bacon, cheese and raw onion and can be ordered deep fried (bless you). This puppy is definitely on the list for our next trip to The Dog House.

Nice people, clean place, good fresh food, what more could you ask for?

This burger gets a 9.4/10 on the Bill scale.

                                      

The photo above shows my burger on a standard nine inch plastic dish... look how big the burger is in comparison...

Harvey Washbangers, College Station, TX

“EAT, DRINK, DO LAUNDRY - AT HARVEY WASHBANGERS” 
(A burger my friend flew in from the Lone Star State)

Where: Harvey Washbangers – 1802 Texas Ave S, College Station, TX 77840 – (979) 696-6756

What: The Banger Burger 

Build:  An Aggieland classic – a 1/3 lb. fresh, never frozen Angus beef patty, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and mayo on a grilled sourdough bun.

Comments: This is the 4th burger I've had flown to me overnight and I'm sure it won't be the last...

This Aggieland nugget of goodness was quite a treat. A friend visiting her hometown in Texas was nice enough to package this baby up on her way to the airport and hand delivered it to me the next day, so we were able to side-step FedEx for a change. Needless to say, I'll be rating this burger with a handicap.

The Banger Burger, although only a one-third pounder is a monster to hold, and for me, there were 2 stand-out features of this beauty; first, was the sourdough bun which was unique in that it tasted freshly baked with an almost indistinguishable sweetness to it. It was a soft bread bun, yet hearty enough to handle the burger to the very last bite.

Second was the amount of, and placement of, the toppings and sauce (mayo). The lettuce, tomato and cheese were on top with the onion, pickles and mayo stuffed in underneath. The combination of extras along with their placement was magical because the flavors came together perfectly in your mouth.

And despite this burger’s not-quite-day-old status, the toasted bun's edges were still a bit crispy. I could definitely imagine how good this burger would be when eaten fresh from the grill. So the next time you're in College Station, TX, and you're hungry (or need to do your laundry), be sure to stop by Harvey Washbangers for this hearty Texas Angus burger.  I'm giving it a 7.0 with a 1.5 hc…that makes it an 8.5 on the Bill scale. (But I'd need to eat one fresh for a truly accurate rating). Thanks again DK!

White Castle, Nanuet, NY

Where: White Castle, 136 New York 59, Nanuet, NY 10954

 (845) 623-4113


What: New Breakfast Sandwiches: Chicken & Waffles, BEC on Waffle, Sausage on Waffle.


Build: All of the above-mentioned ingredients (plus sausage gravy and bacon bits on the Chicken & Waffles).

Comments: Following a pleasant breakfast experience at "that taco place,” we were a little more than disappointed with the White Castle breakfast offerings. I've had their little known, little advertised (if any) breakfast sandwiches at various locations around the country. I've tried both the bacon and sausage, egg & cheese sandwiches (equally delicious), and I've even had the pleasure of eating the bologna, egg & cheese breakfast sandwich at a WC in Kentucky. 

This is a good time to mention that White Castle cracks fresh eggs on their flat top grill (to my knowledge, no other fast food establishment uses fresh eggs). This makes the place smell like breakfast, which you don't get with processed, microwaved eggs at the other places. And don't forget, these ingredients are being built on one of those world famous, addiction-forming buns. The buns come soft and steamy…the same as the burger buns, only now it's a piping hot egg sandwich with cheese melting everywhere you look. Ummm…can't tell you how awesome these little guys are. Yet most of you probably never knew they existed. 

So enter the breakfast sandwich wars brought on by the Taco Bell folks in an effort to try to put the squeeze on Mickey D's and others.

Side note: I'm here to tell you that after my positive review of the waffle taco at Taco Bell, I've yet to order one again that was even close to edible. But I digress, this is about the new White Castle sandwiches, and in an effort to keep it short (my son hates long winded reviews), the sandwiches all fall short of the mark. 

The chicken and waffles was (and is) a great concept, but the execution was an "Epic Crap Fail.” The waffles are soggy (never in all my attempts at ordering one of these have I gotten one that was crunchy or crispy), the chicken was tasty, but everything else about the sandwich was bland and nothing was memorable. The same can be said for any other ingredient we tried on the waffle. 

 White Castle needs to stick to their original breakfast sandwiches served on their original hamburger buns – they are nothing shy of awesome. If it ain't broke....

BTW.... I had no idea White Castle now offers a 100 burger Crave "Crate"..... hmmmmmm.