Today's AHT reader recommendation comes from Ben Roode in Washington, D.C. He's previously shared his recs for RFD and Logan Tavern in D.C., and Hard Times Cafe in Alexandria, Virginia. Learn more about Ben from his website/podcast Ben Goes Outdoors or follow him on Twitter at @bgoeso. Thanks, Ben! If anyone else wants to share some burger intel, here's how to do it. —The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Ben Roode]

Washington, D.C. locals used to flock to Stoney's on L Street in NW for good burgers, cheap beer, and a motley cast of characters. Reinvented in a new location in 2007, the new Stoney's Lounge is a dive no longer, sporting a pub menu with some traditional American fare and about ten taps of microbrews and popular craft beers. While I didn't meet many characters, I did encounter something I wasn't expecting: a complicated but tasty pub burger.

The Stoney's Texas Burger has earned its name. Minimalists and traditionalists beware: Piling cole slaw, grilled onions, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and some very thick bacon on an 8-ounce patty makes for a big, messy sandwich with multiple competitors for your taste buds' attention. Everything's bigger in Texas, they say; this burger was so tall, I almost couldn't fit it into my mouth.

You might think so many flavors would get lost in your mouth, but the apparent fine-tuning the Stoney's kitchen uses in the proportion of slaw-to-onion-to-sauce means this is a total package burger and not just a vessel for whatever's left over in the kitchen. Creamy cole slaw was subtle and took some of the vinegar bite out of the extra-tangy barbecue sauce. Cheddar and bacon added the age and smoke you might expect in El Paso or San Antonio. The onions were tough to notice at first—they hit the tongue when you least expect them, adding an extra dimension that prevents the sandwich from simply becoming another burger in barbecue's clothing.

This magic ratio almost made me pan the burger's mealy, untoasted white bread bun as out-of-place in framing the delicious ingredients. Once I inspected the bun, however, I saw it more for its functionality: An everyday bun that would normally take away from a good burger absorbed a lot of the extra juice from the slaw and onions while staying together and guiding the burger home. By itself, this bun stinks. On the Texas Burger, it shines.

The bun made up for shortcomings, but human error (or preference?) took the patty down a notch. My medium was medium rare. My wife's medium rare regular cheeseburger was very rare. I guess this is better than overcooking, but the difference was enough to make note. Seasoning on the patty itself was hard to notice with all the flavors. I did taste the beef, which was adequate.

Was this enough to doom the Texas Burger? Not in the slightest. I don't normally go overboard with burger toppings but was pleasantly surprised with this amalgamation of flavors. The right blend of specialty toppings, adequate beef, and functional bun make this burger a reliable choice when the same old slider just won't do. —Ben Roode

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