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The Wall Street Journal's Best Burgers

Posted by Adam Kuban, March 14, 2007 at 9:00 PM

The Wall Street Journal's Raymond Sokolov goes all Alan Richman on us and comes up with a list of the country's best burgers. Tasty indeed.

Says Sokolov:

Patties of ground beef weighing from 1 ounce to 15 pounds, often not seasoned and cooked until gray, then served as a sandwich, usually between two halves of a compressible, flavorless untoasted bun, are this nation's leading contribution to world cuisine. In their fast-food form, burgers provide quantitative evidence for the charge, more widespread than ever, that Americans are a bunch of insensitive louts.

But all across the country there are places, almost all of them locally owned operations, that cook and sell my idea of a first-rate burger. And I've been on a hunt to find the best of them. ...

His list includes but is not limited to the following:

Primanti Bros.
Address: 46 18th Street, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-263-2142
URL: primantibros.com
The Skinny: They put fries on the burger here.

Rosebud Steakhouse
Address: 192 East Walton Street, Chicago IL 60611
Phone: 312-397-1000
URL: http://www.rosebudrestaurants.com/rest4.php
The Skinny: Thick 12-ounce burger served on a grilled-pretzel roll. Sokolov finds the bun an "eccentric distraction."

Louis' Lunch
Address: 261-263 Crown Street, New Haven CT 06510
Phone: 203-562-5507
URL: louislunch.com
The Skinny: Claims to be the birthplace of the burger. The fact that its sandwich is served between two slices of toasted bread provokes endless debate among hamburger semanticists. Don't ask for ketchup here!

Dirty Martin's Kum-Bak Place
Address: 2808 Guadalupe Street, Austin TX 78705
Phone: 512-477-3173
URL: dirtymartins.com
The Skinny: Didn't rate high from Mr. Sokolov (he called it "thin and lackluster"), but friend of AHT and New York magazine online food editor Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky says "The burger, broader and thinner than the Shake Shack's, gives you more salty surface area and just as much juicy beef goodness."

The Shake Shack
Address: Located in New York City's Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and Madison Avenue
Phone: N/A
URL: shakeshacknyc.com
The Skinny: Open from the first day of spring to the last day of fall, the Shake Shack has become a beloved burger institution in New York in the handful of years it's been open. Unpretentious and delicious burgers with a crunchy, salty outer crust and superb blend of meats. (More on the Shack from A Hamburger Today.)

In-N-Out Burger
Address: Various locations throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona
Phone: N/A
URL: in-n-out.com
The Skinny: Arguably the nation's best chain hamburger, albeit a chain whose reach is cruelly limited to three Western states. High-quality meat that's fresh, never-frozen along with hand-cut fries. The chain is deservedly famous for its cleanliness, efficiency, and friendly customer service. Mr. Sokolov, however, does not particularly like In-N-Out: "unspectacular — fairly thin, cautiously seasoned"

Miller's Bar
Address: 23700 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn MI 48124
Phone: 313-565-2577
URL: millersbar.com
The Skinny: Serving one of Sokolov's choice burgers, Miller's sandwiches are hefty, no-nonsense affairs.

Ann's Snack Bar
Address: 1615 Memorial Drive, Atlanta GA 30317
Phone: 404-687-9207
URL: N/A
The Skinny: A tiny diner on a grim stretch of highway, go for the Ghetto Burger, Sokolov says.

There are more tasty burgers in Mr. Sokolov's article: The Best Burger, along with a PDF map of his cross-country adventure.

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