Attack of the Cheeseburger

This is my collection of Cheeseburger Dates! I am an expert.

[skinnybrig]

Cheeseburger Date #23- Tyler Perfect

“I don’t even know how to get all of this into my mouth!” I blurted out in the middle of Tyler's Burgers.

While on a Modernism Week double decker bus tour in Palm Springs, our guide, Kurt, highly recommended Tyler’s for an “excellent burger” You don’t have to mention that to me twice.  One hour later I entered this small, yet lively hamburger mecca.  I usually like my Cheeseburger PLAIN w/ bacon & American cheese, however I was enticed to add lettuce when I saw a pile of fresh iceberg being prepped.  I know, I'm a food dare-devil.  NOT! Hard to believe, but this was the 1st time in my life that i ever ate lettuce on a burger.  I'm serious. #SuperTaster

-Avoid Tyler's at rush hour or be prepared to patiently await your food for 30 minutes.

-Best be very hungry.

-The prices are definitely justified by what they will serve you.

-Everything, yes EVERYTHING about my meal was perfection!

-Cash only.  Come prepared, you’re gonna wanna splurge on a milkshake here too!

-Even though they had a bazillion people ordering food, the entire staff was super friendly & looked happy to be a part of the madness!

Not only did I get to spend 2 days viewing mid-century marvels from the inside out, I had the pleasure of visiting the Palm Springs Air Museum.  It was tremendously cool since I am just 10 hours into flight school.  Here are some shots from my adventure, post perfect Cheeseburger Date!  

Maybe my flight instructor, Brad Kluck @EncoreFlightAcademy will give me extra credit! 

Visit TYLER's - 149 S Indian Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262 [phone]

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Happy Cheeseburger Day! This is from a food truck! Rounds Burgers. The bun was puffy & so fresh! Everything about it was magnificent!

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Wood Ranch BBQ Cheeseburger! Super juicy & reeeeaaaaalllly good!

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Marmalade Cafe - juicy. Average fries.

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Cheeseburger Couture @ Forever 21

Oh yeah! You KNOW I now own the Cheeseburger T-tank! 

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Blue Man Burger @ Hollywood Bowl

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Cheeseburgers aside...

If you must deviate from the Cheeseburger, I highly recommend this unusual restaurant in Los Feliz, CA.  The Tam O' Shanter.  In fact it is the only place I will eat Prime Rib. Their cream corn is addictive and the whole experience is very entertaining!  +++++ They have a Surf & Turf situation for 2 ($89) happening in September! I promise you next month will not end without me eating there! They are affiliated with Lawrys Steakhouse.  It sounds familiar because you have their seasoning in your kitchen!    :) Brig

P.S. After this meal you will be unable to move.  Dessert, even though included, will not get finished. You will have to unbutton your pants, so ladies, where a stretchy skirt or loose dress.  TRUST ME! 

[skinnybrig]

French Fry Burger?

I think they should have made a tater tot burger...

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/08/27/burger-king-to-serve-up-french-fry-burger/?xid=rss-topstories

This won't be a future Cheeseburger date of mine.  

[skinnybrig]

Woman dislocates jaw trying to eat massive burger A Liverpool, UK woman learned that eating a triple-patty burger comes with risk of injury when she dislocated her jaw at a local restaurant — but after leaving the hospital, she said she'd return for another taste of the burger. … Continue reading →

[skinnybrig]

An Explosion! Cheeseburger Date #22

Decided to get out of dodge this weekend.  Todd is in NYC for the launch of the Bedloo app. It's so exciting! Check out Bedloo.com

 I rounded up Indy, our dog and headed to Palm Springs.  Idyllwild was our first stop. Cheeseburger date! Went to The Little Chef in the Woods. I saw their website first.  Very fancy.  First let me start by telling you how welcoming they were.  They kept my water and a bowl for Indy, full.  Extremely wonderful service, however, I was there for a great Cheeseburger.  After 2 hours in the car, I was hungry.  I got my usual- Cheeseburger- meat, american cheese & bacon. 

When it arrived, the crinkle fries were a huge bonus, but my plate was sprinkled with parsley. Argh! & an orange slice?  Odd.  Unfortunately my burger was more like Cheeseburger jerky.  It was tough and chewy.  Fries were perfect, but I almost napped on my plate because they were playing this really super mellow fairy music, sorry I don't know how else to call it. Lots of harps. This Cheeseburger was on the low end for me. I still ate it, but was bummed out.  Until we went to Nomad Ventures, a hiking/outdoor sport store and they had shoes for Indy.  The pavement in Palm Springs, even at night, was going to be too hot for his little feet.   Here's what happened when the shoes got put on in Nomad..

After about 5 minutes he was walking fine. 

  Then there were some crazy roads to get from Idyllwild to Palm Springs. 109 degrees greeted us when we arrived at The Saguaro at 4:30p.m. Hotel was really great and they allowed dogs for no extra charge!

Over the next day and a half we drove allover Palm Springs with a Mid-Century Modern map and captured the beautiful homes on film and by photograph. 

The House of Tomorrow-

Here's the video for you to enjoy!

Left Palm Springs yesterday at 11:30a.m. still dreaming of making the perfect Cheeseburger a reality.  Then it hit me- Dog Haus in Pasadena!

2 hours & 2 dinosaurs later(Cabezon), I was finally wrapping my mouth around a Juicy Lucy! It's a hamburger patty with a pocket of American cheese in the center. 

I'd like to rename it -Hot Gooey Louie after the explosion of cheese i experienced when I cut it in half! Insane. 

The patty was held by 4 Hawaiian rolls cut in half.  Okay- that's a HUGE burger.  I had tater tots with it and was finally satisfied! My Juicy Lucy had a lot of seasoning to offset the sweetness of the bun. Not only was the food excellent, but the entire restaurant is wildly delicious, including the staff!  The menu offers of course, hot dogs & more 10 ways to Sunday, including old school bottled coca cola and I even saw Yoo-Hoo! Oh and don't get me started about the Ms.PacMan classic arcade machine in the corner…  Well, see for yourself! Dog Haus Menu. :) Brig

Dog Haus 105 N Hill Ave  Pasadena, CA 91106

[skinnybrig]

MY Way! Cheeseburger Date #21

I’ve been away.  Mentally.  After 3 excruciating years of watching my mom’s health worsen, she passed away.  Now that she is on the other side of the moon, my description of heaven, I am back. She is finally getting the peace she has deserved for a long time.  It is a relief to know she is no longer suffering.  Nothing prepared me for these past 3 years.  It got too difficult to keep up with everyday life fun stuff.  Fortunately with amazing friends around me, I was able to get by.

I’m so excited to get back to Attack of the Cheeseburger!

To celebrate, I’m making a Cheeseburger!  I start by googling “Best burger recipe”.  Being the plain jane I am when it comes to food, truth be told, most recipes were to festive for me, however I noticed on common thread- Adding ground short rib to your ground beef.  Hmmm.  Great idea!

  I head to Albertson’s and buy 85% ground beef because it’s fatty and on sale. Fat=YUMMY! I also pick up short rib.  Unfortunately after some reason I couldn’t understand, the meat counter couldn’t ground it for me.  I decide I can just chop it finely and add it like I do with chocolate chips in cookie batter. (Mmmm chocolate chip cookies!)

I buy cheese from the deli counter.  Mild Cheddar for Todd (my main squeeze. Okay, my only squeeze) & White American for myself.  I’m really excited they had white! Some thick cut Farmers John bacon.  Aw yeah! Things are gonna get crazy!

Fresh tomatoes & lettuce for my awesome neighbors, Sonny & Carol, who are brave enough to join us for my cooking.  (I did cheat and borrowed BBQ beans & potato salad from the deli counter. Shhh.) 

As you know from my previous 20 Cheeseburger Dates, I am very particular about my buns! All of them.  I love pretzel buns, however recently my taste buds have been confused by Hawaiian Bread.  At Target I find Hawaiian Bread Buns! Score.  I also pick up sesame seed buns for Todd and possibly the guests.   Gotta give them options. Which would you choose?

I am also making corn on the cob and decide to pull out a recipe from Top Chef’s Carla Hall, that I tore out of Redbook Magazine a couple months ago.  You boil it in milk! 

I’ve handed the grilling over to Todd. You know how men love to man the grill!  I make threats if he screws up the meat.  He politely ignores me.

  Smoke is good, right!?

After the meal we both agreed they could have been cooked for less time.  Regardless they were still freakin awesome and dangerously happened in my backyard!  (Just minutes ago he grilled me another burger & it is perfection.  I'm eating it now as I type. Don't YOU judge ME...)

Carol enjoyed her Cheeseburger on a Hawaiian bun, too.  

Especially with the red wine she brought.

I mean really, look at that plate!

I thoroughly enjoyed my Cheeseburger & corn.  It all was fantastic, but then again my opinion is biased! I celebrated the summer heat with no make-up or hairstyle.  Sometimes simple is just that. ;)

FOLLOW my blog, cuz next date, I'm getting my Cheeseburger off a truck! Best part is, I won't know which one until I arrive at the location.  ;) Brig

*To FOLLOW click the button in top right corner.

[skinnybrig]

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Bok Bok Be Gok! Cheeseburger Date #20

Shots of what? Find out below..

(John McCormick & I)

I was all too excited when John Mccormick, hairstylist to the stars, & Erin Short of The Hair Nerds, assembled a Post ISSE Hair Show Cheeseburger Date at Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach.  Knowing there would be a handful of top industry peeps at this date, I invited Celeste to join me.  Since she is almost finished with cosmetology school, so I knew she would grab some great inspiration from the range of pros on this date!  

(JoshXO, Russell Mayes, me, Randy Taylor & Douglas McCoy)

It was kinda awesome because as soon as we approached Hamburger Marys, a handful of the others rolled out of a cab.  Some I had met before, but others that were Hairbrained.me friends, including founder Randy Taylor.  Eeeek.  #Stoked  In fact, JoshXO interviewed me on CrossCheck TV a few months back but this was our first face to face meeting. #HesCool  The Hair Nerds: Erin, Amanda & Carrie were also ready to get down on some burgers.  So in rolls our group led by Douglas McCoy, super passionate Bumble stylist & House of Pop creator, to discover that our #'s were going to shut this restaurant down.  A huge group beat us there to snag some tables and we weren't even greeted by anyone.  Drinks were grabbed at the bar and to be honest with you I couldn't get the fact that a Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles was lurking right next door out of my mind.   I did some simple math and realized we wouldn't be served at Marys anytime tonight, so I rang up Roscoes and got the green light that they could make room for 12 of us within 20 minutes.  #Amazing

When given the opportunity to get down on crispy hot fried chicken dipped in sweet hot maple syrup & delivered to my tongue on a fluffy bit of cinnamon waffle, the Cheeseburger would just have to wait.  Sorry sweetheart!

Alicia & Peycey were the best servers we could want.  They made all 12 of us feel like we were their only table, & trust me, we were not!  I ate 3 crispy legs & a waffle dripping in syrup.  It was to die for!  I actually could have eaten double that, DON"T JUDGE ME, but I didn't because of my red lipstick. 

Celeste and I ready to inhale some chicken legs!

Let me ask you a question:

I interviewed some of the Cheeseburger Date #20 guests to give you the full spectrum of our food & evening.  Here's what they had to say-

What did Celeste think about flying the Hamburger Marys coup over to Roscoes?  "It was like a slam dunk.  I was so excited. There was almost zero customer service at Marys and then when I grabbed my own menu, I was unimpressed.  It looked like a TGIFridays menu."   "I love Roscoe's.  It is probably 1 of my top 5 favs."Plus she adds "It was cool to sit next to Douglas Mccoy, since he is a huge supporter of all things p!ay hair lounge on Facebook and the other social sites that I manage."  "I was also thrilled to meet The Hair Nerds & a student that they were mentoring, Heather.  I was lucky to have a cool opportunity to hang with these experienced professionals who have the same hair passion that I do."  

JoshXO recalls"Every bite was like staring into the face of your creator and having him tell you,"YOU ARE MY GREATEST CREATION!"

Russell adds "Chicken reminded me of grandma's when I would visit Greenville Kentucky. Well, with it watching her butcher the chicken. Haha.  After finishing I felt like I was Jabba the Hutt. But much happier!"

John's thoughts- "As usual, the smart hairdressers found a place with cheap booze and then sniffed out fabulous food next door. It's been years (ok, since high school) since I've had a succulent breast and it nearly changed me."

Erin Short of The Hair Nerds recalls her fear when she saw the night taking a turn… "Since June I have been obsessively stalking Brig's "Attack of the Cheeseburger" blog... I know that buns are important to her and she likes a hearty size burger with a nice pile of fries. Let's just say my knowledge of Brig's cheeseburger preferences is out of control (Some might even say it is even unhealthy!). At first, I felt panic beginning to overtake me when I heard our cheeseburger date was turning into a chicken date. However, being a "glass half full" kinda girl.. I thought -Score! We are going on the first chicken and waffles date!" How about the food, Erin?

"It tasted incredible! It was like my Grammy's fried chicken and gravy... I would say I am a bit of a gravy connoisseur as I am from Texas. Also, it occurred to me as I drenched my crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside waffle in syrup that I had never actually eaten a waffle. How is it I just turned 30 and this delicious concoction has never graced my plate?! (For the record, Erin failed to clean off her plate, but I won't discount her for that.. "At one point during the meal, JoshXO looked at me and said "This is the most fun I have had at a show in a really long time..". Thinking over the weekend and sitting at this table surrounded by my favorite people in the world, hairdressers... I realized it had been an exceptional weekend. We could have gone on a Liver and Onions date and I wouldn't have complained because we all shared it together." said Erin.

Carrie Bailon- MacDonald (The Hair Nerds)  felt "like a fatty!" after finishing her chicken & waffles. "As I sat there stuffing my face with Brig, Josh XO, Russell Mayes, Douglas McCoy and John McCormick, I felt pretty lucky to share my first Roscoe experience with such bad ass company!"

Amanda & Carrie- HUNGRY!

& HAPPY!-

What a wonderful experience! 

(Brent Hardgrave even made a cameo at our date! Back center)

The Hair Nerds & I (Amanda, Carrie & Erin, post chicken)

Until next time, don't forget to vote on my question above & follow my blog!  I promise more #FoodPorn soon! :) plumply yours, Brig

P.S. Erin Short, I owe you a actual "Cheeseburger Date"! Hit me up next time you are in So.Cali...

[skinnybrig]

Oink Oink! - Cheeseburger Date #19

It's the afternoon before I head over to The Oinkster in Eagle Rock.  My client Lori Paul who knows tons about great food, highly recommended this place.  I decided to scope it out on Yelp and found over 2000 reviews!  Whoa! Everyone loves it including Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  It claims to be slow fast food made with quality ingredients.  I wonder if they will hand me a pig snout to wear while I eat?  I was warned there would be a line… Lets see… I'm leaving my house soon and I am hungry!

I am pleasantly surprised when I pull up.  The Oinkster looks modern and really cool.  For some reason I pictured some hokey bbq joint with a huge pig strapped to the top of the building.  This was not that.  I could see a healthy amount of people inside enjoying their food.  This looked promising & I was starving!  I walked up to the register, (no line, score!) and checked out the easy to read, under $10 menu. 

When I was ready I really wasn't sure if the silent guy behind the register was on break, or worked there.  "Ready?" he whispers.   Wow, that was that his greeting?  Joseph might want to work on that.  He had a "I could care less attitude."  "How may I help you?" would have satisfied me. I ordered my usual, bacon cheeseburger plain. 1/3lb patty.  Got a bit crazy with the cheese and ordered a additional slice +  fries, extra crispy and a vanilla shake.    While I'm paying I get a tap on the shoulder and hear "Cheeseburger Date?"  Who is this?  I turn and it's  my talented  make-up artist friend, Laci Hill.  Who happens to be a Oinkster regular.  Obviously she'd been holding out on me by not telling me about this place.  Busted! 

She invites me to join her.  I do. 

I can't help but notice while I wait for my food and catch up with Laci, that there are 2 light bulbs out in the huge 1960 ball lights in the dining room.  I feel that light bulbs out at a business show laziness.  I'm crazy about that at my business.  I also think it's bad luck.  Another thing I notice is a white napkin in the middle of the floor.  My first instinct is to pick it up, yet I hold back to see how long it takes a Oinkster employee to pick it up.  

Laci's burger arrives first and I have to watch her begin the disappearing of the burger act.  I'm dying, looks really good! 

My vanilla shake arrives and I am pleasantly thrilled that it is perfect,  Great taste because apparently they use Fosselman's Ice Cream + the perfect thick/thin.  Fits nicely through the straw and into my mouth! 

Next my Cheeseburger & fries! I'm slightly alarmed at first because my Cheeseburger looks a bit small.  I realize upon first bite that this is a illusion since the fries are a huge pile.  The Cheeseburger is incredible.  Its juicy and the bacon is smoked to perfection.  The cheese is gooey and thats a great thing! The fries are actually exceptional.  They taste unique.  Crispy, yet light, I can't get enough! YUUUUUUMMMMYYY!  The only thing I would change is the bun.  I know, I know, here I go again.  Like Goldilocks with her porridge.  The bun was a bummer.  It reminded me of the buns you get with a food truck burger.  Why are buns so often overlooked?  I wish this perfect meat, cheese & bacon was delivered to my mouth on a fluffy, piece of heaven like the bun I had at Eureka Burger in San Luis Obispo.  

Embarrassingly, before Laci tells you this, I could not finish my Oinkster.  I did not get a snout to wear out of the restaurant.  Actually I don't think those exist, but they should! 

As I left, the napkin still remained victorious on the floor after I watched at least 4 Oinkster employees step over it.  Its the details everybody, it just is….

[skinnybrig]

Brilliantly suggested, David! I'm dying to hear that Slater's 50/50 now offers a pretzel bun! Dying!  I will 1000% check it out, but before I hit 50/50 again I will have to avoid breakfast & possibly dinner the night before! ;) brig

[skinnybrig]

Autograph & a ... Cheeseburger Date #18

The Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, CA boasts "legendary hamburgers".  To me that is a pretty tall description and wanted to see if it held true. My company was Celeste, one of my favorite people. 

She is a smart, beautiful, 18 years old and a Hollywood local. I thought her perspective would be a nice addition. We spent the morning on a Starline Tour Bus checking out movie star homes with the stylists from p!ay hair lounge.  We worked up an appetite from screaming during our Ellen sighting and were ready for come massive lunch! 

Hard Rock Cafe was nice enough to take a 9 person reservation 2 hours before we needed it. (p!ay hair lounge was joining our lunch)  Our table was ready upon arrival. 

Our server Jameson was super nice & willing to do anything we asked.  I love that a server! Oddly enough he is also such a Cheeseburger fan that he has "Cheeseburger" tattooed around his ankle in Japanese characters. Wow!  & He dropped sock to share.  

  Ordering was fast & easy.  Of course Celeste and I had to check out their milkshakes.  They were perfect.  Sweet, but not too sweet & thin enough to get through a straw.   While waiting for our food, I went on a adventure to check out the kitchen.  It is in complete open view to the dining room.  In fact I met Robert who happened to be grilling my burger over near open flames right in front of me.. drool.

Shortly after I got back to the table, our food arrived.  I was immediatly concerned about the amount of fries. I like the fry pile higher than my burger.  This was not.

  However, the Cheeseburger looked delicious & it was.  I liked the plastic guitars holding it together! Nice touch.  I ate every last bite and so did Celeste.  The meat was cooked to our request and still hot when it arrived at our table.  They were generous with the cheese and it was plentiful with bacon.  The bun was generic, but fresh.

When I asked Celeste what she thought, this is what came out barely in between bites,  "By far the best burger I've ever had! It's a 3 napkin burger!" I swear she barely took a breath until after she cleared the plate.

       The price was fair and the atmosphere was interesting.  Unique rock memorabilia was display all throughout Hard Rock Cafe.  I particularly dug the pin wall-

Jameson was an excellent server making all 10 of us fell like we were his only table.  When I was sure he missed someones request for more soda or ketchup, he didn't.  My guess is he grew up with sisters!  He had enough guts to walk the dessert tray by our table.  None of us could even begin to dream of dessert.  WE WERE FULL.  Towards the end of our meal the manager stopped by our table to ask how everything was.  I always appreciate that.

For the best Cheeseburger in Hollywood, I still favor Hole in the Wall Burger, however, if you are looking to entertain some out of town guests, Hard Rock Cafe is the place to go!  Right on Hollywood Blvd with the Walk of Fame and many other landmarks right out front. 

Follow my blog for many more Cheeseburger Dates! Click FOLLOW in the top right corner! Thanks! :) brig

[skinnybrig]

Jones'n for Cheeseburger Date #17

So I visited the most awesome people in Colorado over X-mas break, The Jones.  Todd's parents let me slump around their home for a week while I decompressed from 2012.  A Cheeseburger Date was necessary.  I wondered if Connie & Doug could hang with my habit.  I googled "best cheeseburger in Colorado".  Crave Real Burgers was at the top of the list and they even won the 2012 Denver Burger Battle.  Wow! I was excited and hungry.  Todd, his parents and I loaded into the truck and trekked to Castle Rock for our lunch. 

The second I walked through the door of Crave I was pleased to have a 100% clear view of the grill including piles of some perfect bacon.

  We were sat quickly, but not before we were able to drool a bit near the milkshake making counter.  Yup! Reminded me a bit of GO! Burger.  They also offered "adult" shakes here. (Here's Connie & Doug eyeing the milkshake machine.)

(Doug was sporting his Broncos jersey for the big game this day 12/30.  It must have been good luck because the Broncos killed the Chiefs 38-3 YOUCH!)

  I, of course, ordered a chocolate/vanilla shake.  Once our server Spencer came to take our food orders, I decided to see if he could handle my picky chick requests.  He did. "Fries well done & could you please cut my Cheeseburger into 4?"  "Absolutely!" Great customer service.  Doug ordered the crazy SLOPPER-a green chile smothered cheeseburger over a grilled cheese sandwich, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, poblanos, pico, sour cream and avocado.  Yikes! Todd chose "3 Little Pigs"- pulled pork, ham, bacon, beef patty, cheese, and onion strings, yes that comes on a bun! It was HUGE!

 Connie & I kept it a bit more basic.  I did my usual plain Cheeseburger with Bacon.  Connie got a stock cheeseburger.

 When my shake arrived I almost ended up IN the glass.  It was sooo thick.  Too thick.  I was finally able to drink it towards the end of my meal. :(  Note to Crave: You need boba straws.

Doug attacked the SLOPPER with a fork and knife and then didn't eat anything for almost 24 hours!  He should have gotten an award like John Candy did finishing the 96oz steak in The Great Outdoors!  "It was seriously terrific.  Great flavors and impossible to leave any on my plate.  It was just that good."-Doug

Connie reported her burger to have "looked pretty and tasted good."  Nothing she hadn't had before, but good.

Todd LOVED his 3 Little Pigs. Pulled pork, beef pattie, bacon and ham covered in BBQ sauce.  He is uber picky and was a very satisfied customer! This is Todd's happily fed face:

 The price for the extravagant selections surprised me- approx $11 & that included fries. It should ALWAYS include fries.  Unless tater tots are available.  Hey Crave: You should add a tater tot! Yeah! 

My cheeseburger was really really good, even in 4's.  Juicy, thick perfect bacon and plenty of cheese.  It was huge and cooked to my liking.  Although my fries came out undone, however Spencer was quick to remedy the error with a fresh plate of golden crispy perfect fries. Thanks Spencer! You were a great server & I loved your green glasses. 

Crave Menu