Another Cheeseburger at Adair's Saloon, Dallas TX

This night was my last in Dallas and I felt like having a burger before flying back to Finland. I had two options for burger joint. I felt like going out and try some new joint like Jake's or to play it safe and go to Adair's. My problem was that I didn't have much time and I didn't have GPS navigation on my rental. In Dallas you really don't feel comfortable driving around without GPS, so Adair's it was. The drive is easy and only takes 30 min or less to one direction so decided to play safe. I really need to get that Nokia N95 with navigation to prevent his happening in the future. Oh well, what am I complaining, Adair's serves my favorite burger :)

This place seems to hold on and it never let's you down. And yes, it still is number one. Recommended!

Here's a link to my old review about the place.

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Adair's Saloon
2624 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 75226
+1-214-939-9900
www.adairssaloon.com


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Corporate America Burger #3, Irving TX

Yes, I did it again. I had a two day workshop in a Corporate America world and I finally had a chance to taste Corporate America Burger No. 3. This time I was back in Irving, Texas. Another company and a new burger. This place worked on trays which you picked up from the end of the line and collected your nutritious lunch. As a side note, the black plastic plate seems to be a standard for every second Corporate America cafe/diner.

Suprisingly my choice for burger was a Cheeseburger. This time you even had choices for cheese: a Swiss, a Pepperjack and an American cheese. Bacon was extra 50 cents and I decided to skip it. My burger came on a standard hamburger bun which had taken some hits but it was grilled from the inside and looked crap from the outside. The slap of meat seemed to be a freezer patty but I need to praise the mexican guy behing the grill for saving some of the juices. As condiments you had a choice of lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle wedges and ketchup, mustard and mayo in little sealed bags. I have to admit that this wasn't the worst burger I've had in my life. It was an average burger but definetly the best Corporate America burger so far.

Cheeseburger at Keller's Drive-In, Dallas TX

I finally had a change to visit Keller's Drive-In in Dallas. Keller's has couple of spots in Dallas and the one I visited is located on Harry Hines Blvd in West Dallas, close to border of Irving. The area is a bit dodgy with all the strip joints, bars and condoms-to-go-spots. Keller's itself also looks a bit seedy but don't judge the place by its cover. It's often is full of pick ups with some semi-seedy chracters but the service is good and the burgers are so tasty that they must fall from heaven. The car hops are friendly and they might not hit the model look or measurements but they are fast and efficient. Oh, and if you don't fancy a soda or milk shake you can order beer with your burger before hitting road again. Yes, you read right, you can drink beer with your burger and drive off. And if you are really thirsty you can buy beer by cases if you like.

At Keller's you don't have too many choices which is good. Regular burger costs $2.00, Cheeseburger $2.15 and Special No. 5 only $2.48. Fries and Tater Tots adds $1.25 to your total. I didn't order the much recommended No. 5 but went with my regular cheeseburger and left the No. 5 for later experience. All burgers come with poppy seeded buns which might not be the best choice for in-car eating but taste really good. Cheeseburger has a grilled tomato slice, onion, little lettuce and a pinch of black pepper. You can have it with mustard and/or mayo. Their burgers are some serious stuff. Not bodacious, but tasty, greasy and cheap. Fries were ok, but pretty average. Next time I'll just have two cheeseburgers with no fries. Sorry, I'll take that back, next time I need to try that No. 5.

They have fantasic prices for good food and this definetly is another great burger place to check out. And remember to bring cash - it's all they take. Recommended!

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Keller's Drive-In
10554 Harry Hines Blvd
Dallas, TX 75220
+1-214-357-3572


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Double Meat Cheese Burger at Chip's Old Fashioned Burgers, Dallas TX

During my two week visit to Dallas Metroplex I've got about dozen tips about different burgers. Today was my last day in here so we decided to pick one joint from my list: Chip's Old Fashioned Hamburgers.

Chip's has two homey locations in Dallas: one on Cole Avenue and other on Lovers Lane. I typed Chip's to my always-got-lost-navigation and followed its instructions to Chip's on Cole Avenue. My friend told me that this was the hip area of Dallas where people look like they only eat organic food and live a healthy life. And in the middle of all, there's a small green house and a sign Chip's Old Fashioned Hamburgers.

Chip's is all about the burgers and it has got good review all over the places so my expectation was really high. Chip's also serves hot sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken strips and salads, but most folks go for the burger. Atmosphere is well suited to the food: wood floors, clean enough but not sterile, low lights, air conditioning and a patio where you can go and enjoy your meal.

Their burgers are served on a huge poppy seeded bun which has been toasted on the outside and left soft on the inside. Burgers are stacked with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and mustard. The result is a thick, juicy burger, cut in half so you should still be able to eat with your hands.

I ordered a double meat cheese burger with grilled onions which ended up being a big messy mistake. The burger was big and juicy but that's it. I was kind of disappointed and I didn't get that big 'what a burger' feeling while the grease was dripping from it and I believe that with two big slaps of meat the thing just got too big.

Chip's was ok, not really special but I'll definetly give it another try with less bodacious choice. The journey continues...

Special Burger at Café Brazil, Dallas TX

Last night went to a local punk rock gig and ended up having a burger in Café Brazil around 2am. Café Brazil is local Dallas restaurant chain where you can enjoy a great breakfast and specialty roasted coffees from around the world in a smoke-free environment. Their Deep Ellum location is areas premier 'deep night' dining spot.

After the bar was closed we headed to Café Brazil for 'breakfast', or salt and grease as I say it. I didn't know if they would serve burgers so I just ordered the most bodacious burger they could come up with. They serve two burgers and after reviewing the menu from their website I guess that I ended up having a mix of Brazilian Burger and BBQ Burger. Let's call it as a special burger. This burger had a slap of meat covered with jalapeno bbq sauce, bacon and american cheese with tomato, lettuce, red onion, bell peppers, mustard and mayo.

If I remember right the burger was excellent. Juicy and tasty, and I have to mention those peppers, excellent addition to a burger. During the time, place and situation it might have been the best burger I've ever had... It was served with fries which were crispy and coated with spicy seasoning. Just excellent.

I have a feeling that I need to give Café Brazil another, and a sober, try someday for objective review.

Country Burger at Southern Recipe, Irving TX

We had lunch in this hole-in-the-wall place in Irving. My local buddy knew the place but told that he hasn't gone there for years after her sister had a bug in her meal. It was nice to hear after making your order.

There's not much to tell about the place. The building had seen it's best days and it had propably worked as a restaurant longer than I have lived. It was just one of those local small diners where you can get decent food quickly and cheap. The place was almost empty when we arrived. Couple of things that I noticed was a sign "Non-smoking Area" and an electronic fly trap. First when you see a sign which says non-smoking area you don't expect to see anyone sitting under that sign with a cigarette in his hand. Secondly should the flies be trapped before they get in?

I was about to skip the burgers and go with Chicken Fried Chicken but their Country Burger caught my eye. Brown gravy? On a burger? What the heck? This burger had slap of meat, grilled onions and mushroom topped with some white cheese and brown gravy. The burger was ok. With that gravy it was a safe bet to mess you up so I ate it with utensils. You didn't really taste the gravy that much so it ended up being just a regular burger with gravy on it.

I also had some excellent onions rings that I renamed to Chicken Fried Onion Rings since this whole concept of chicken-fried-something is really confusing. There's no real logic for it, even thou that my buddy does his best to convince me that there is.

This is one of those places that you really can't say if you recommend it or not. If you come across it, go and have a meal but don't bother to make any extra effort to get there. Homemade food is homemade food, even with bugs on it.

# Google Map

Triple Meat Triple Cheese Burger at Whataburger, Dallas TX

Yesterday we went shopping in Dallas North Park Center and on our way back to the hotel we ate at Whataburger. I saw their TV ad couple of days and the company values and burgers looked good, and most importantly I remember seeing Whataburger in King of The Hill animation so I really wanted to review this joint.

First Whataburger was opened in 1950, in the little town of Corpus Christi, Texas. A young man named Harmon Dobson opened his small burger stand and had a simple idea. He wanted to serve a burger so good that whenever someone tried one they'd sit back and say, "What a burger!" This bigger, better burger with 100% pure American beef, fresh ingredients and a big 5-inch toasted bun was an instant hit.

Since those days the small burger stand has grown. It's still privately owned, but it's far from small since with more than 650 restaurants serving burgers around the clock in ten states. I don't know how original Harmon Dobson burger tasted more than a half a century ago but I didn't get that "What a burger" feeling. Whataburger is one of those places where burgers look big and good on the images and the version you get on your tray is something else. Don't get me wrong, burgers are pretty tasty. It beats your average Burger King or I'm-loving-it-not places any day but there's no competition with places like Adairs, Griff's or In-N-Out.

Since I have a word "bodacious" in my blog description, I try to review the meanest burger available. At Whataburger they have Triple Meat & Triple Cheese Whataburger so I went with that. It was joined with medium fries and medium drink. The service was friendly and fast and I got my burger in front of me quickly. As you can guess triple stands for three meat slaps covered with american cheese. Stacked with tomato slices, pickles, onion, lettuce and mustard between 5-inch bun. Burger was made to order so it was hot and fresh. Mustard is made with a house recipe and it made this burger above average. In the end, the burger was just an another standard burger with some personality through tasty mustard. No big suprises on the way or the other.

Recommended with caution. I'll have to give it an another try some day.

# Whataburger
# Google Map
# Wiki

Cheeseburger at Adair's Saloon, Dallas TX

I've been in Dallas for a week and today I finally had a chance to go taste my favorite burger at Adair's. One could call Adair's just another regular hole-in-the-wall-honky-tonk-bar but it propably is one of the best hole-in-the-wall-burger-beer-and-live-music-joints around, and it sits in the middle of nipple-pierced-body-tattooed Deep Ellum on Commerce Street, Dallas. If you ever visit Dallas, Adair's Saloon is the place for some quality burgers and country music. Totally recommended!

Adair's was opened by S.L. and Ann Adair in February 1963 on Cedar Springs. Their clientele consisted mostly of college students from nearby schools. The now famous burgers got started because Ann would make the 1/2 lb. cheeseburgers to satisfy S.L.'s large appetite. The school kids decided the burgers looked good and began to request them from Ann. Another Adair's trademark, the graffiti on the walls, began as kids would leave their "mark".

Current owner Lois McKinzie Adair bought the place with her late-husband in 1977 when S.L. and Ann retired. They moved Adair's to it's current location on Commerce Street in January of 1983. At the grand opening party, Lois handed out black markers and the old traditions began a new. The tables, photos, walls, ceilings, and everything is full of black "graffitis" and messages from anynomous visitors from country stars and random visitors to George W's secret service agents. On the walls under the marker lines you can see photos of some famous and not so famous folks that, Lois, has come across including a blown up photo taken of Lois and some guy named Elvis Presley back in 1955. There's history all over the place and everything is like it was almost 25 years ago.

The one other thing is the music, Adair's is all about the music. There's a stage where now famous country stars have started their career and new stars perform almost every night. Adair's jukebox is one of a kind and it has been said that it has the best selection of country songs in Texas.

Ordering burger at Adair's is easy. You get a hamburger, or you get a cheeseburger. You can add lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion and you have a choice of mustard, ketchup, or mayonnaise. The bread is a regular hamburger bun. The meat is "juicy" but not all-over-the-place-juicy and weighs half a pound, it has some peppered seasoning which just makes it taste even better. The cheese on the cheeseburger is American. The whole thing is topped with a jalapeno and held together with a toothpick. You can take the fries on the side but you can live with just the burger. Fries are thick slices of potato covered with seasoning. Perfect!

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Adair's Saloon
2624 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 75226
+1-214-939-9900
www.adairssaloon.com


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Monster Burger at Griff's Burger Bar, Irving TX

Griff's Burger Bar was a regional fast food chain founded in the early 60's. The chain no longer exists, but individual stores remain open mainly in southern states. Back in the 60's, they were only famous for the 15 cent burger, nothing particularly juicy or good. Just cheap! You could pull in and for less than a buck have a shake, fries, and a handfull of burgers. Since then their burgers must have changed.

We went for a lunch to Griff's Burger Bar in old Irving, Texas. I ordered a monster burger aka triple cheeseburger which had three big cheddar covered slaps of "juicy" meat with onions, tomato, lettuce, mustard and mayo in the middle of two buns. Combo came with the tasty fries and big bucket of coke. This was a sure thing to mess your face, hands and the tray.

Griff's burgers beats the hell out of 80% of the burgers out there. It's has a good taste from the grill, it's juicy and it has good combination of mustard and mayo. Perfect stuff for $5.73. Recommended!

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Griff's Burger Bar
718 E Irving Blvd
Irving, TX 75060
+1-972-579-7651


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Corporate America Burger #1, Irving TX

Today, I had an opportunity to taste a Corporate America burger. I had this meeting in one of the big Fortune 500 companies located in Dallas Metroplex area. There's a nice internal diner at the company headquarter and I took my chance with the corporate burger while we had lunch.

The Mexican double team behind the counter had ran out of burger buns so they needed to improvise a bit with the bun. From that one could think that corporate burgers are popular. After tasting the burger one could also make a conclusion that corporate burgers are not popular and that's why they didn't have the buns.

My corporate burger had the basic setup: one slap of beef, cheddar, tomatoes, lettuce, crispy bacon, mustard and a sideorder of corporate fries. As I already pointed out between the lines, this was a disappointment, meat was dry and tasteless and something was missing big time. I have a feeling that the slap of beef was some processed piece of fossile from the back of the freezer.

Based on this experience I really can't recommend corporate burgers, but this matter definetly needs more research and tasting. I'll get back to corporate burgers in the near future...