The Vortex Bar & Grill - Burger Lovers Valhalla

The Vortex Bar & Grill
http://www.thevortexbarandgrill.com/
438 Moreland Ave
Atlanta, GA 30307

THE STORY
With the Scion Rock Fest happening in Atlanta, GA, it gave us a perfect excuse to travel down from NYC and try out the heralded Vortex Bar & Grill. The place is top rated and was recently featured on Man VS. Food on the Travel Channel. But with a website that promises "kick-ass, bad habits, hot chicks, booze, bar, cold beer, burgers, cocktails and motorcycles," how can it be bad, in fact, it had better "kick-ass." The location in Little 5 Points is the original and the one that 17 of us descended upon ready to fill our faces with tasty burgers and a wide selection of beer from around the world.

With crazy decorations including skeletons, animal heads, old beer signs, warnings about bar etiquette and punishments, girls making out in the corner and a 20 foot skull entrance way, this place is about over doing it and that was exactly my plan. How could we not be excited? YOU ENTER BY WALKING INTO THE MOUTH OF A SKULL!! While dining we heard Neurosis, Van Halen, Scissorfight, Iron Maiden and N.W.A., I truly felt at home.

THE BURGER
With a plethora of strange and different burger creations, I had trouble choosing between the famous "Double Coronary Bypass" with bacon, 2 eggs and cheese, served between 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and the "Elvis" a burger topped with bacon, cheese, fried bananas and peanut butter. What is one to do....CHOOSE BOTH! Everyone's jaws hit the floor when they saw our very friendly waiter, Calvin, place them both in front me. My mouth began to water. Where to begin?

Double Coronary - gotta say, this greasy monstrous creation of decadence stood in front of me as if to say, "Dear Rev, Screw healthy, live large. You only live once. Love, DCB." I bit in and had trouble registering what was happening inside my mouth. All the flavors mashed together and it was confusing as I was really eating 3 sandwiches all at once. After a few bites, I was able to discern the flavors. The grilled cheese was OK, not great, the burger was pretty good but a little over cooked. The eggs, I actually prefer a little but runny but still good and a nice mix of bacon and cheese. As individual parts, pretty good, as one massive middle finger to my cholesterol levels, amazing.

The Elvis - I cried for the first 3 or for bites. The mix of tastes was unlike anything I had ever tasted before and although many at my table winced at the thought, once they tried a bite, they all agreed. Elvis was the clear winner for taste, preparation and sheer creativity. Couple with some crispy, well cooked tater tots and a variety of craft beers, this made for one hell of a burger lovers dream.


9 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Shake Shack - Welcome to the Hood

Shake Shack
http://www.shakeshacknyc.com/
11 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10010

THE STORY
You read the site, you know the deal; we love Shake Shack. So there is no need to explain, you can click the links.
http://burgerconquest.blogspot.com/2008/10/shake-shack-walk-thru-only.html
http://burgerconquest.blogspot.com/2009/01/shake-shack-hangover-cure.html
The new Burger Conquest HQ is only 9 blocks from the Shack and after a meeting we had at a company, 2 blocks from Shake Shack, Adam begged me to take him. Gotta love the Shack in the cold - NO LINES!

THE BURGER
Again, click the links, but seriously, a Shack Burger and fries is hard to beat. It's so good and on our 3rd visit, I can now confirm consistency.


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Dillinger's Pub and Grill - Guest Blog - JJ LOVES FOOD

Dillingers Pub & Grill
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/42305046/
4619 30th Ave
Astoria, NY 11103

And now a guest blog from friend of the Burger Conquest, JJ.
Original post at http://jjlovesfood.blogspot.com/

THE STORY
After playing a couple hours of CALL OF DUTY 4 (had a kill streak of 29), I decided I wasn't going to wait until 9pm for my girlfriend to come home and eat dinner. Down the block from my apartment is Dillinger's Pub & Grill. I been in Dillinger's one time before with my buddy Scott but I didn't order a burger. This time....was different!

THE BURGER
Of course walking into Dillinger's smells like you're good ol Irish bar. Dillinger's had a decent amount of people drinking and watching you're normal bar sport channels. Within 12 minutes my 9oz cheeseburger arrived. All in all, this was a 8 out of 10.The amount of burger juice & the taste was really pleasing and the burger wasn't too large nor to small.


8 out of 10 ounces
- JJ

Galaxy Diner NYC - Great for Late Night Munchies

Galaxy Diner
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7186282/
665 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10036

THE STORY
For those of you living on the East Coast, the concept of a diner is pretty commonplace. For those elsewhere, it's a catch all restaurant that serves a wide array or cuisine and most of them are owned by Greek or specialize in the cuisine. Any diner worth their gyro is open 24 hours a day. In NYC, there is a diner on almost every other block and are very reliable for end of the evening snacking. The Galaxy is 2 blocks from my Hell's Kitchen apartment and on a stumble home from an evening out with my friends, it's glowing neon sign call out to me like a beacon.

THE BURGER
Due to high volume, quick turnaround and a large menu, most diner serve pre-prepped food. Chances are the burger I ate was too however I have to say, for a diner burger, it was damn good. Cooked to a perfect and juicy medium rare with lettuce, onion and American cheese, the Galaxy served up a treat better than I had expected. The fries were well done, just the way I like em and even the burnt bun was easy to overlook. Late night desperation burger craving satisfied. This meal was not intended to be an official Burger Conquest but after a couple of bites, I new I had a duty to fulfill.


7 out of 10 ounces
- Rev

Burger Lounge - Happy Cows Taste Better

Burger Lounge
http://www.burgerlounge.com/
1101 Wall St
La Jolla, CA 92037

THE STORY
Burger Lounge takes a new spin on an old favorite by offering a a tasty burger from healthy ingredients and serves them to you in a green restaurant. The concept is to give you a better tasting and healthier burger while taxing the environment as little as possible. According to their website; "Our beef comes from one farm, grown by a small company where the animals are well treated and never spend time in a corporate “feed-lot”. Their diet consists of tall green grass from beautiful Kansas prairie land. This is what nature intended cows to eat and nothing more. No hormones, no antibiotics, no grain, no corn, just beautiful green grass. These conditions produce a beef that is delicious and far better for you than conventionally grown beef." After a nice afternoon walking around the La Jolla cove, my friends Karl and Julie took me to Burger Lounge to try it out.

THE BURGER
Albeit a very small menu, there was no difficult choice to make: Grilled Lounge Burger
Organic Grass-Fed Beef Grilled to a Medium Rare Temperature. I would normally order medium-rare but didn't think twice about trusting the judgment to serve it medium. I topped it with lettuce, house 1000 island dressing, fried onions and cheddar. The bun was really good and I took notice that they made an effort to go beyond the standard white bun. It's important not to overlook a quality bun. The sharpness of the cheddar combined with the sweet fried onions played a nice compliment to the entire package. The burger itself was really good. Nice and juicy and rather than a big ole huge patty, the Burger Lounge instead gives you a wider patty. It makes the sandwich last a little longer and makes it easier to cook evenly. Burger aside, the onion ring - fries combo and locally brewed beer helped to make the Burger Lounge experience one that stood out.

Burger Lounge - where happy cows taste better.


7 out of 10 ounces
- Rev

Neighborhood - Fit For the Friendly Spider

Neighborhood
http://www.neighborhoodsd.com/
777 G Street
San Diego, CA 92101

THE STORY I am currently on tour with the band Thursday, whom I manage. (Still working on Burger Conquest becoming a "day job.") Today we are playing the San Diego House of Blues on the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour. As part of my "show prep," I did a little research on the top rated burgers in the area only to find out, one was only a couple of blocks away. Neighborhood's gourmet burgers and craft beer tap selection was calling our name. Sounded like a great way to celebrate the release of their new album "Common Existence."

Just outside of the downtown Gas Lamp district, this corner burger bistro offers a very wide selection of beers and wines as well as some interesting salads and of course, BURGERS! The restaurant had a neuvo-hip vibe with wooden and stainless steel tables of different sizes and heights, bound and stitched leather seats as well as wooden ones, bar seating, indoor / out door table combos and a very tall wine rack that we could not figure out how they got down bottles from the very top. I of course asked as was met with "Spiderman crawls up and gets them in his web." Was she being funny? Maybe. Was I? No!

THE BURGER
While Steve from Thursday and I went the traditional "Neighborhood Burger" route topped with caramelized onion/blue gruyere cheese/pepper greens, while Geoff and Tom felt the tempting of the "777" with organic baby spinach / plum tomatoes confit / bearnaise sauce. Steve rocked up a side of Sweet Potato fries with peppered malt mignonette dipping sauce and I leaped at the chance to get an order of Jalapeno Mac and Cheese to share.

The JMAC was the best god damn restaurant mac and cheese I have ever had in my life! The twisty noodles were cooked al dente, the cheese was saucy but not too thick and the jalapeno was not too hot but added an amazing but not-overbearing flavor.

The first half of my burger was superb even though it was cooked past my order of medium-rare. The brioche bun was sturdy enough to hold up under the pressure of melty-cheese, grease and the fried onions. However, as I got the 2nd half, which was actually cooked closer to medium-rare, something went odd with the taste. It was as though all the grease and grill flavor was compacted into one side. It took the flavor to a place I wasn't exactly thrilled about. Overall, still a tasty burger and if you go, I suggest the 777. I took a dip of Tom's Bearnaise and it was just what the burger ordered and don't forget the JMAC!


7 out of 10 ounces
- Rev

Arthur's Steakhouse: Best Burger West of the Hudson River

Arthur's Tavern
http://www.arthurstavern.com/
237 Washington St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030

THE STORY:
Jackie, having a long week at work and getting acquainted to commuting into Manhattan, was commuting home with me (Tim) on Thursday night. During casual conversation on the PATH train, I mentioned to her that I came across a posting on A Hamburger Today about a place in Hoboken called Mikie Squared. In said post, they recommended four other places in Hoboken, NONE of which were Arthur's. Instead of going home to eat dinner, we had a great idea to make a pit stop and have a Burger Conquest!

On a side note, Arthur's is actually on the same block, and about 5 buildings away from Mikie's.

THE BURGER:
There is no other way to review this burger, simply put, Arthur's is The Best Burger West of the Hudson River. Ordered medium rare, as any true meat lover would, the burger came out cooked perfectly and unbelievably juicy. I got cheddar on the burger, but honestly, it didn't factor into the taste at all. There is nothing more that can be said that hasn't been said already, as this is the third time Arthur's has been reviewed on Burger Conquest (most all time). Easily the best burger in northern NJ, and overall comes in second only to The Old Homestead. To go with the burgers, we ordered a side of Arthur's famous potatoes (yummm), which were delicious as always. An added bonus is the complementary coleslaw sans mayo, and the pickles & hot peppers that you are served as soon as you sit down in the restaurant.


9 out of 10 .oz

Oh yea, the bill was only $19.10.
-Tim

Carls Jr. Jr - Obey Your Carl's

Carl's Jr. Jr.
http://www.carlsjr.com/
#1100679
6750 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028

THE STORY
Carl's Jr. began as a hot dog cart in the 1940s and since has grown into one of the biggest fast food chains in California. In 2000, Carl's Jr was the first fast food restaurant to serve a sit down restaurant style burger, called "The 6 Dollar Burger" to their menu. On February 11th, 2009, in response to the Burger Conquest Twitter, Carl's Jr. replies "CarlsJr @BurgerConquest If you've never had a Carl's Jr. burger, try the Western Bacon Cheeseburger, a classic; also the original Six Dollar Burger 12:10 PM Feb 11th from web in reply to BurgerConquest" On February 12th, after an evening of celebration with friends, we stop at a Carl's Jr. Jr. (a smaller version of the restaurant that is drive-thru only) to do as we were told.

THE BURGER
For a fast food burger, I have to say this was pretty good. Carl's Jr. makes a nice attempt at a non-fast food feeling burger that in the end, is still a fast food burger. I found the red onions to be really over powering and the meat itself, was cooked more than my liking. Judging on fast food burgers only, this one ranks pretty well.


6 out of 10 ounces
- Rev