Decision 2008 Primary: Burger Nation

For well over a year, I've been doing intermittent, yet serious research into who leads Durham in a very important part of our way of life:  Who has the best burger in the area?  I know there's the occasional vegetarian and vegan reading this blog, but I also know a lot of you crave burgers.  [Ok, I do.  :) ]  But since I'm a democratic kind of guy, I think we should put the question to you, the burger-polis, about who does the best job. 

Now, if we're to do this right, we'd set up some categories, define exactly what a burger is, settle side issues like fries, beverages, and condiments, as well as the huge issue of the bready wrapper.  And what about bacon?  What about those poor establishments that just can't generate a rare bacon cheeseburger with sauteed onions and mushrooms, with Bass on tap?   We need to have a fair primary, with all these issues settled, and the best possible range of solvable questions presented to the voters. 

We're not going to do that.  :)

But we are going to have a primary, from which I'll select a number of contenders to go on the ballot later.  As the local super-sized delegate, I may remove or add whomever I like to the ballot.  The field will need to be fattened up narrowed to 9 or less.  When I get a field of free food contenders I'm happy with, I'll get the payola/graft machines well greased set up free and fair elections using our mathematically dubious tried and true polling mechanism. 

The comments are your primary polling place.  Vote early and often. 

Burger Decision 2008 begins now. 

Edit: The poll, results, and further discussion are here. 

Comments

[Joe Eater]

To get some of my biases out of the way right now: Dain's will be on the final ballot. (Criminy, folks, I've got them on the "Eat in Durham" list of "heavy hitters," as I've had it described to me [more on that later].) Also, I'm going to be biased toward Downtown, Brightleaf, and the 9th Street area. But if you think you had the best burger of your life out at Bennett Pointe Grille yesterday -- well, for the sake of the Gods, please speak your mind.

[bart]

With Dain's covered I'm happy. Perhaps City Beverage? The super deluxe burger is tasty, but I already miss their Lavaburger Lounge. All those specialty burgers were fun while it lasted.

[Joe Eater]

WRT CityBev: Sounds like they grafted the two halves back together? It sounded like the original split was causing problems, which didn't surprise me.

[ChrisH]

Outside of Durham, but my favorite burger in the area since moving here 2+ years ago is at the bar in Bin 54. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for I find in this case.

[LBR]

City Bev has been put back together, although it still feels very separate given that nothing has changed about the two sides they set up when they split it initially. But they've gone back to having one menu throughout.

(I used to go there pretty regularly with people after work, and when I heard servers there explain where people could/couldn't sit to eat/drink certain things, they were almost always rude about it. I'm not shocked the split was causing problems.)

[Jack]

I'm wondering if the relatively (compared to many other posts) limited number of responses to this query might be indicative of something in itself. While I can't speak to the last few years, I spent 10 years in Durham. When I saw this question, I genuinely couldn't think of ANYPLACE in the area that I would have rushed out to for a burger. Then again, I probably wasn't looking for a burger that frequently. Still, it makes me wonder...

[durhamfood]

Wimpy's!

The Fed is often good, but I've occasionally had a not-so-good burger there.

[Rob C.]

Jack, the next time you're here you MUST come to Dain's. Nowhere else in Durham comes close to their burgers.

[Joe Eater]

Jack: It may be that no one cares about burgers, or that you can't get a decent burger here. Unfortunately, I think it's because readership is way down, because I'm not posting so much, because I don't have continuous net.access. Keeping a blog going full-time with no home net.access is kinda tough. I have about 5 posts I'd like to do *right now* if I could spend some quality time in front of my computer while having internet access somewhere that I can feel comfortable enough to sit, write, and think. It sucks, but there's not much I can do about it right now; to the extent I can do something, I'm doing it. But it still sucks.

[Chops]

#1) Wimpy's
#2) Q Shack - who would have thought to get a burger there?
#3) Dain's

When I want a burger I go to Wimpy's. Freshly ground daily and I can get grilled onions. I'm not into gigantic restaurant burgers with 100 toppings. Keep it simple........

[Joe Eater]

Chops: Thanks. I think all 3 of your choices will be on the final ballot. ;)

[miles]

On reading this post and the comments, I promptly headed over to Dain's for the first time and got a decidedly unimpressive hamburger.

I think I got a pretty memorable burger once at Satisfaction, but that was a long time ago. That's where I will put my vote for now, anyway.

[Joe Eater]

Miles: Sorry. When I get the poll up, you can take it out on us then. :)

[nibbs]

Geeze - Like most people, I wonder if QShack burger is good because I'll probably never order it as long as there is brisket on the menu. I'm could put my vote in for Elmos. As one with a wee one, I'm there once a week. And their fries are above average. And there is a shake option, which should add 2 points to any burger. But the patty lacks fatty. I'd second the vote for Wimpy's, but 1) They are never open when I'm in the area, and b) their fries are markedly sub-par in my book. So with 2 points for shake and points for having hours of operation that match my hours of occupation, I say Cook Out (no points for fries).

[John B]

I've been lamenting the MadHatter's removal of the Kobe beef burger from their menu for a couple years now. They had what I thought was easily the best burger in Durham - simple and tasty, although definitely on the pricey side. Maybe if they see the market opportunity for a great burger in Durham, given the lack of consensus that there is one, they'll bring it back.

[ktrout]

There are no good burgers in NC. The state law disallows it. At least Dain dresses it up well enough to disguise the fact that this will ALWAYS BE an area where NC falls way, way short

[hungry girl]

I was pleasantly surprised by the tasty (albeit enormous) burger I had at Alivia's this past weekend. Lots of toppings were available, and it was served on a good bun. I'm guessing it came from Ninth Street Bakery, but I didn't ask. The fries weren't anything special though.
Wimpy's is okay, but the buns are store-bought and uninspiring. Like Miles, I tried Dain's and was not impressed. The burger tasted like meatloaf. Char-Grill is pretty good, but a bit too charred for my taste. I like the Federal, although I think the patties are too thick (over 2") and difficult to manage. They have the best fries of the lot though. I haven't hit the other places mentioned yet though, but I'm working on it!