Again its been awhile, sorry about that, life sometimes gets in the way! Since the last time I bloviated about the Burger Baron's favorite burgers I've done my best to try each of the burgers available in the Twin Cities. While I admit I haven't eaten at every joint with a grill, I have been fortunate enough to hit quite a few of the famous burger eateries in the Cities. I would like to go through a quick list of the places in no particular order that I've tried based solely upon the use of my rugby addled brain. Last week I ate the Bedder Chedder Burger at Granite City. Always a great choice, it has a mountain of chedder cheese, great thick cut bacon but kind of a boring bun. Ate a burger at the Muddy Pig in St Paul, review earlier posts, as good as the 1st, but if you do do ask for medium well, it will be very medium well, no pink at all in it! The week before that I at at the Tavern on Grand, again nice solid burger, still have to have the fried ravioli! Burger Moes, a newish spot on West 7th in St Paul, really good burgers, a bit too heavy on the seasonings but a medium burger is done perfect, a good bit of pink, but not oozing! Ingredients Cafe, White Bear Lake, I really wanted their burger to be perfect since its really close to work. Great customer service, great atmosphere, but they try to get too fancy on their burgers. The taste of rosemary overwhelms the Black Angus patty to the point where you only taste the spice. They do however have great bread and will be trying other things from their menu in the near future. Burger Jones lives up to all of its hype. Matt's bar is a little grease ball flavored slice of heaven. American Burger Bar was fun but the burgers are satisfactory. Well, hopefully I will be a bit more on top of this whole writing thing from now on. Thanks!

Tavern on Grand

The Burger Baroness and I found ourselves at St Paul's Tavern on Grand this weekend. For a Saturday night it wasn't as busy as I would expect but then as usual the parking in the area is terrible and only made worse by the snowfall the night before.

The Tavern on Grand has always been a consistantly solid eatery that features Walleye and a nice assortment of fine pub food. The Tavern does go out of its way to find a twist on what a person would expect from your typical pub. We started off with the toasted mozzarella stuffed ravioli. Figuring it would be gooey and dense, we both were pleasently suprised when they came out light and creamy. A very good choice for an apetizer!

Now the burger. The only complaint I have with the burger is even though I was asked how I would like it done (Medium) it came out well done. Perhaps I should have voiced a complaint, but the burger was still really good. The Bacon was crispy with alot of flavor. the bun was good, though nothing to write home about. The BBQ sauce was a bit overpowering to the point that I could barely tast the cheddar cheese. I would suggest either finding a stronger cheese or using less sauce. The shoestring potatos were lackluster and would next time choose a different option.

The Baroness had the Walleye Dinner with a baked potato. I demanded a bite and it was very good as always. Their beer selection included a very nice "Scotch Ale" that complimented the meal quite nicely.

The Tavern on Grand is a great local pub with all the charm that St. Paul can muster. From the log cabin feel to the Grumpy Old Men Movie extra's holding up the bar cracking jokes. It is a true local's bar that somehow is inviting to everyone. A warning though, if you are looking for a quiet retreat, this is not the locale for you! Even though it wasn't very busy, the place is as loud as the Metrodome (sorry the Mall of America Field).

WWW.Tavernongrand.com

Long Time Coming....

Its been over a year and no burgers, well not entirely true. The Burger Baron has just been lazy and without any real reason hasn't reported on what the Burger Barony has offered.
Over the past year, burgers have been eaten, new places found and great times have been had. To be fair, I haven't found a new burger place worth mentioning nor promoting for quite some time.
Since its been a year since my last post, I am requesting everyone to let me know their favorite burger places. Name of venue and location would be great.
Thanks!
The Burger Baron

Anchors Aweigh

Field trip to the great state of Wisconsin. My mother, the Baroness and I went up to see the Light house just north of Duluth. We thought we were going to the Split Rock Lighthouse but upon leaving, the Two Harbors lighthouse we found out that we were not at the famous Split Rock but actually at the lesser but still invaluable Two Harbors lighthouse. In my defense, I was a Corpsman not a Signalman in the Navy, and further more, being somewhat salty, my impression of the somewhat small tower of light matched my imagination of what should be on a little pond vice the great Pacific. But I digress!
After deciding that we would make for the great Split Rock on another trip, I conned our little trio into taking a side trip across the tracks to Superior WI for lunch at the Anchor Bar. My two cohorts were quite skeptical as we passed such places like the Thirsty Pagan (great pizza and a rugby brother owner Rick) but at the edge of the commercial and almost into the docks themselves we came to the Anchor Bar. After prying the two ladies out of the car, we went into what is shown on Wiki as THE dive bar.
I assured them that it was safe since it was daylight after all. We sat down and immediately were served. The bar tender/server was a bit gruff but I am sure she is very sweet and helped us out with our drinks then proceeded to go to the back and toss our hand formed patties on the flat top.
The Anchor Bar should be a national landmark. It has all the kitsch of an Epcot attraction but done locally and with an organic flair. From the Edmund Fitzgerald Life-ring at the bar to the baby booties hanging from the stuffed alligator, the walls and ceiling is a tribute to the flotsam of all beach combers and a little piece of Americana.
Ok, the burgers. As we were sitting, the Baroness, stated that she wanted something besides a burger, fine, the menu suggested that she could have anything she wanted, as long as its a burger. While having a great menu, the only thing on it really are burgers.
Each burger is hand formed and cooked to the cooks specifications, which coincidentally are the absolute perfect way an Anchor burger should be cooked. They are a bit lopsided and if you get the 3/4 with bacon, like I did, its a bit messy. But for 4.50 I would love to have it closer to me. By the way, I never got my Bacon!!!

Belgian Ale, Le Tour de Grance and a Muddy Pig

The Muddy Pig on Dale and Selby is quite possibly the best burger in town. From the outside, this friendly little piggy's sty is quite small but once in the place takes up more than it appears. The Muddy Pig has some 45+ beers on tap and who cares how many in cans in bottles collecting dust alongside their great whiskey selection. Enough about the hooch, lets talk burgers.
As usual I got my BCB. A large 1/2 pound burger made to order on a great bun. I went for broke hoping that a place with such a fine name would be able make a burger that was actually to code. My thoughts were right, even though they have humus on the menu, the thick burger came out a nice rich pink center that turned the bun a nice ruddy hue. The bacon was just crispy enough not to pull out in one piece but had my taste buds screaming for more. The only problem for me is that they do not do french fries, even though they had the Tour de France on the telly, no french fries! The chips were great and crunchy, but still not a fry!
The staff at the Muddy Pig are great, they helped my date, Mom, go from her typical Bud Light, to a nice German Lager that she actually claims to have liked and can back it up with an empty glass that is no sitting in her back seat. Deputy Mac, don't put her in your back seat, she did pay for it! I had my absolute favorite, a nice little Belgian brew Pauwel Kwak, a nice strong malty red ale that comes in at a hearty 11.5%.
I really enjoy the Muddy Pig, it reminds me of the bistros in Belgium again without the the FRIES!!!! Its clean, fast, friendly and a very knowledgeable staff. It would be a great local if it was local to me. In fact as we were leaving I ran into a good rugby buddy as he was coming in.
My hats off to you Muddy Pig! www.muddypig.com

No Service Stale Burger

Sorry folks for the delay in burger updates. Been a little bit of a loss for words and a serious lack of new tastes!

Recently my mom and I went to one of my favorite places in St Paul, Billy's on Grand. As usual the place was quite busy but normally we find the service excellent and the food great. For a Sunday night the place was jumping but we found a booth in our normal inside area where the noise is more conducive to conversation. After about 15 minutes of no waiter I bellied up to the bar and ordered some drinks for the both of us and asked for a menu. The bar tender was appalled that our server hadn't even taken our drink orders and quickly addressed the situation.
After a lengthy time we finally received our food. As usual I had the Billy the Kid, a 1/2 pound burger with cheddar cheese and bacon served with fries. Very unusually the burger was not medium, it was well done and the bacon was old crispy and lifeless. The fries unfortunately matched their cousins that went MIA on the floor boards of my car.
If I wasn't a very repeat customer of Billy's I would probably never return. the waitress was quite unsavory and the food was quite sub par. Billy's has always been great food at a great price. the burgers are usually the staple for any craving.
This brings up a great topic, can a burger joint be a favorite after they have let you down even once? As I said, I love Billy's on Grand. I probably won't let this one event stop me from frequenting the fine establishment, but with all of the pub grub in the Twin Cities, they are doing themselves a huge disservice for even failing to provide not one but two basic wants of a consumer. Good Customer Service and Good Product.
I am sure I could eat out at a different joint in the greater metro area every night for a year and not eat at the same location twice. Therefor, what gives them the right to take away my ace in the hole so to speak of knowing where to get the best burger? If someone would have read my blog or should the Burger Baron have recommended Billy's on that particular night, I would have lost all credibility and who knows, lost my Barony.
Please, for those like Billy's on Grand who do have great food and service keep up your game, and for those of you who don't, you had better up it before I check you out!

Better Beef Better Burgers?

What actually enhances a burger? Recently there has been a rash of Black Angus Burgers, hand fed massaged beef Kobe style cows that actually asked specifically for the chance to become a thirty dollar burger. As my Great Uncle Cowboy Bruce says, you can't tell a red angus from a black angus. its all about the age of the beast and the feed.

Worried about organic? They say you are what you eat, then cows are grass and grain therefor we are also grass and grains? Well, coming from North Dakota, most beef cattle coming from those areas and I would have to assume the entire Midwest and Southwest had never had more than rudimentary and regulatory vaccines, the costs of feed and transportation to market leaves very little room for all these scary P.E.T.A. claims of super cows and designer steroids that all but make a Hercules out of the tasty critters. Most organic ranchers are the same as there heathen brethren with the exception that they PAY to have their cattle certified organic. The costs do not come cheap, and they are past down to the consumers. Trust me a cow from field "A" with a cert of organicness is just the same as the more modest heifer in the adjoining field, it just costs 5 buck more a pound at market.

Freshness with beef is the key. I say skip the local supermarket when possible and go to a meat packing plant factory store if possible. Huisnik's Meat Market is my personal favorite in South St Paul http://www.husnikmeat.com/. They give great service much better prices and the freshest ground beef available, you probally saw Bessie on the drive in! Plus they have dry aged steaks that would make anyone rave! If you can't get it from the source, have your local butcher or the grocer's butcher grind your beef fresh. it won't cost you more, in fact with some sales you may get it for less.

Save the American Farmer by buying American Beef!