cheeseburger
Hello, my friend. Hello.
It's been a week. And it's only Wednesday.
I feel like you deserve a burger, I feel like we all deserve a burger. Because sometimes, when everything is just almost too much, a warming beefy and cheesy hug is just the right thing to anchor your insides against the roiling world. It's the fuel to keep you in the fight.
Even if it's a fast friend! I spent the most anxious part of yesterday happily engaging people on the truth of this fine piece of journalism from The Takeout: Forget it, In-N-Out fans, Culver’s is way better. I stand righteously behind my order of a Double Deluxe ButterBurger as prescriptive.
And since I know my skill set, and my mission on this planet is to make harmonious connections such as good burger : your face, I give you some new(ish) ones that have been lighting up the local food world of late.
// Burger Club at The Bungalow Club
Chrissy and John know, do you know about Wednesday night burgers in Longfellow? Once a week the eatery puts up a special menu for 4-9pm Burger Club for pick up or dine in. Choose your weapon of happiness: beef, chicken, fish, or veggie, (sometimes pork). Then stack it like you mean it with one patty or two. The beef classic with caramelized onions and pickles, all snuggled with American Cheese, is made with Skeen's Blend: a blend of chuck, brisket & short rib boosted with extra fat blended in for ultra flavor and messiness. It's basically a permission slip to tuck your napkin into your shirt.
// The Cooper Burger from StepChld
The Cooper burger is getting a lot of buzz in burger circles. Not only for the perfect crisp sear of those elegantly smashed patties, but for the Cooper’s American Cheese brand cheese from Upstate NY, bringing a sharp but melty creaminess to the situation. Fitting that this spot evolved from the shuttered J.L. Beers burger joint in NE. If you choose to eat this indoors, you can do so under the protective gaze of the legendary Black women who grace the back wall of this Black-owned business. It's like a double fortification.
// The Patty Melt at Chip's Clubhouse
At this cute little woman-owned new-fangled supperclub, opened in a strip mall off of Snelling, the foodists in the area have already verified that the cheeseburger (pictured in our header) sets a clear new standard. Not here to argue that, can report I had one of those bite-and-close-your-eyes moments you hope that no records, but wouldn't trade for ice cream. And yet. I’m also here to advocate for the mushroom and onion laden patty melt, which needs some limelight. It's still a burger, y'all. And that Texas Toast will ruin you for all other carb vehicles. And can we have a PTL for orange cheese? (The one pictured above is sans beef, which is also great.)
// Le Petite Cheeseburger from Petite Leon
This one might be known to those who have been playing a fast and righteous takeout game over the last year. Petite Leon has freshly opened the dining room of their new Kingfield space, and while the new indoor menu focuses on finer Mexican styled plates, they couldn’t leave the already legendary burger from the opening takeout menu. Double pattied, and Oklamhoma-style which means that the onions are cooked ON the meat as it griddles, its a certified beef bomb. Don't ask for lettuce, get a side of pickled carrots if you have veg concerns.
// Any Burger at BurntChkn
This Black-owned SUN-WED pop-up in residence at Cook St. Paul has so many cool things on rotation that it's hard to pick one. The Jamaican spicy beef burger comes topped with jerk BBQ and island slaw. But you can’t skip either of these burgers pictured above if they are on the menu. I have a secret burger sherpa who brought me these two when they appeared in March: The Maria East L.A. burger is all peppers and onions with cilantro lime crema and jalapeño aioli, for that perfect fire lighter in your gut, while the Eastsider with cheese curds and blueberry compote was all comfort and class.
