Make That a Double...Burger!
Hopdoddy Burger Bar - Scottsdale, AZ
It's easy to fall victim to trends, whether we are conscious of them or not. They can be new and fantastic, like women's yoga pants or they can be reinvented and kind of weird, like the return of swing music in the ‘90s. One trend I've noticed over the past few years is the rising popularity of speakeasy, mixology bars. While most people are drawn by their traditional, yet contemporary atmosphere, I’m personally fond of how they’ve made 'going to a bar' a legitimate and somewhat classy date night option. If you could just throw a TV or two in there, I think all men would rejoice.
So as we become aware of these new or recycled trends, we begin to see how they influence other areas of society and as luck would have it, the burger world would be no different. We have the cheap, easy fast food burger and then we have the pricier, gourmet restaurant burger. What we need is for the burger dining experience to evolve and lo and behold, Hopdoddy Burger Bar answered our prayers. This burger bar concept combined America's two best forms of gluttony: obesity and alcoholism. We love our bars and we love our burgers. Why not combine the two.
Hopdoddy is definitely the mixology bar of burger joints. Every burger is unique in its own way. From Angus, lamb, and bison meats to chipotle, BBQ, and wasabi spreads, these burgers were a taste of everywhere and everything. Each burger seemed as if it was crafted specifically for me and I wanted them all. This time around, I limited myself to the Goodnight burger: Angus Beef, Tillamook Cheddar, Hickory BBQ Sauce, Caramelized Onions Sliced Jalapenos & Sassy Sauce. It was truly inspirational and knowing that every ingredient was fresh, all-natural and hormone free helped quell any gluttonous guilt that tends to follow most burger consumptions. Well done Hopdoddy, well done. I can only hope that I will be able to witness the next evolution of burger dining within my lifetime. Rating: 4 out of 5 Pickles
Sidenote:
Though it’s one of my BMT rules to never digress from the burger at hand, I have to lay down some criticism as I felt the overbearing waiting staff seriously infringed on this holy burger moment. If we were a Buddhist nation, I would consider the first to last bite of a burger equivalent to a meditation session. If I'm trying to transcend planes and see Buddha, I don't need some scrawny 17 year old constantly asking if my soda was regular or diet. Believe me kid, once that burger is in front of me, there will be no sh*ts given about anyone or anything until my plate is cleaned. I hope all burger establishments will take my advice and tread lightly before getting in between a man and his burger.












