Northgate Soda Shop - Greenville, SC

The Northgate Soda Shop in Greenville, South Carolina proved an elusive target for a burger. But one can never keep a good burger seeker down.

Our trip across South Carolina continued as we headed east. In Columbia, we decided to call ahead to Greenville to make sure the Northgate Soda Shop would be open. “We are open until 8 o’clock”, said the voice on the other end. So we diverted our trip from Charlotte to Greenville specifically to hit Northgate. I had read this was one of the classic burger joints of all time in Hamburger America.

We arrived at seven o’clock only to find a closed Northgate. Walking next door to The Other Side Bar, owned by the same people, we were told the cook had gone home sick. Miffed, we left and headed to downtown Greenville for pizza.

The next morning we tried again for breakfast. Walking into Northgate one can travel back to 1947 when the place opened. Jim DeYoung had bought the place in the 60’s. Over the years he filled it with memorabilia he had been collecting. Old soda bottles, model boats, photos and traffic lights were arranged neatly on the shelves. Jim himself was there having coffee with his buddies. We were introduced to Jim by Tom Carr, the cook and host in the morning at Northgate. Tom’s sister Catherine Christophillis bought the shop a few years ago.

Tom gave us the nine-item breakfast menu consisting of various biscuits and eggs, but no burgers. I asked Tom if he would mind making me a burger for breakfast since I had driven all this way. Of course he would. Tom fried me up a Chris Evans Burger with bacon, American cheese and a fried egg ($4.15). Mom had an egg biscuit ($1.25).

While Tom was cooking up the grubb, Mom and I took in the museum that doubles as a soda shop. There is a long old counter with black Naugahyde stools. Various faux wood tables and chairs sit among shelf after shelf of memorabilia. Brass nameplates grace tables. Each plate holds the name of a patron who has passed to the burger joint in the sky. Jim pointed to the end of the counter and said only one nameplate has a name of a patron still alive. “He has been in a few times.” Jim said.

Tom brought over the breakfast and it was just as good as advertised. The burger meat was thick and juicy, old-fashioned burger style. The white sesame bun was grilled inside and out. American cheese melted down the sides. I bit in and the yolk from the egg ran out the side, a great breakfast sandwich. Why hasn’t McDonald’s tried this? Mom’s biscuit was buttery and tasty, like you would expect in the south.

We paid our bill and said our good-byes. As I was walking out I remembered to take a peak at the nameplate at the end of the bar. Elvis Pressley [sic] was the name.

Burger 5 spatulas out of 5

Northgate Soda Shop
918 North Main Street
Greenville, SC 29609
864-235-6770

B&D Burgers - Savannah, GA

B&D Burgers in Savannah, GA, is a great place to take Mom for Mother’s Day. I know because I did so today. Mom and I are on a drive from Florida to Indiana. We are taking the scenic route through the Carolinas, so that means a swing through the lovely and historic town of Savannah, Georgia on our way.

B&D resides in the middle of the busier more touristy part of Savannah. It sports clean wood booths and alligators on the walls (photo above). Our lovely and charming server was a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which dominates much of Savannah, in a good way. She suggested I have the Colonial ($8.29 for 1/2-pound), from the expansive menu of burgers. Mom had a 1/3-pound Broughton, a cheeseburger named after the street in front. All burgers are available in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 pound versions of fresh ground Angus. Burgers include fries. I had potato. Mom ordered sweet potato.

We started it all off with onion rings. I really liked these beer-battered lovelies, which are crunchy and almost hushpuppy-like in their cakey consistency.

The burgers came next. They are served open faced with lettuce, tomato and onion. Mustard, mayo and other condiments sit at the table. My Colonial sported American cheese, bacon and a fried egg, ordered over-easy by this reviewer. I assembled the burger, capping it with a very white and fluffy bun. The first bite squirted yolk out the side onto my hand and face. All the flavors ran together for a satisfying, breakfast-like burger. This worked well for me being on California time and eating at 9 A.M. as my stomach saw it. (Noon in Savannah.)

The sweet potato fries were cooked with a firm outside and a sweet inside. They were not heavily salted or spiced, but served natural style. Same with the potato fries. Skins on and thin-sliced, the fries were presented in a similar bare-bones fashion. They tasted fresh as if cut on site.

As we ate another charming student/busgirl stopped at the table and chatted us up about the alligators sculptures all over the walls. All were just castings it turned out. Except for one skinned fellow hanging on the wall in front of the restaurant. It had been killed in the restaurant owner’s yard. Our trip was of to a fun start.

Burger 4.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 3 spatulas
Onion Rings 4 spatulas
Sweet Potato Fries 3 spatulas

B&D Burgers
13 East Broughton Street
Savannah, GA
912-231-0986
www.bdburgers.net

Stations Burger Challenge

Stations is my labor company in the office furniture business. When their people go ninety days without an injury at work, they throw a BBQ. The theme of the most recent BBQ was a burger challenge. Andrew and Brian, the owners, decided to see who could cook the best burger and they asked me to be the judge.

When I arrived at Stations, two grills were hot and smoking in the back. One grill, a smoker, puffed smoke out its back chimney. Andrew cooked up his burgers on this one. He decided to let me try two different burgers.

Burger #1, sat on a beautiful sesame bun, that looked vaguely familiar. Andrew placed a large patty, estimated at about a half pound, on top of the toasted bun slathered with “secret sauce”. Grilled onion, tomato and crisp, honey-tasting bacon sat on top of a patty whose juices flowed despite the burger being cooked medium well. With no cheese on the burger, I noticed the unique taste of the patty resulted from bleu cheese in the burger.


Burger #2, also Andrew’s, had the same bun, sauce, vegetables, but added jack cheese to an even juicier patty. The flavor of this burger was exquisite. I could taste a little garlic an Andrew confirmed he added garlic salt, pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce to the meat. He had cooked it a perfect medium to my enjoyment. I preferred the cheese outside the patty.

Next came Brian on the gas grill. As Brian unwrapped his patties, I was astounded at the size. Some pushed close to a full pound. He cooked them up along with slices of thick bacon on the grill right beside them. He finished grilling and had me grab a whole-wheat bun, laying the massive patty of Burger #3 on the bun and topping it off with the bacon. Left to choose from the many condiments Brian had provided, I picked them all, putting a little mayo, mustard and Brian’s special BBQ sauce on top. I also added some lettuce.

The burger was very smoky and flavorful. Like nothing I have tasted before. I wished I had not put the BBQ sauce on. It masked the burger flavor a bit. I took some of the meat by itself and could not figure out what I tasted. Brian confided that he had purchased really low-fat ground beef and then added bacon fat to the mix to bring the fat up to 20 percent. The bacon was a little undercooked for my taste and that may be what pushed me to giving Andrew’s number two burger a slight edge in the contest.

As the guys pounded down their burgers, a little secret came out. I had been played. Andrew sandbagged me by reading my blog and cooking his burger to my taste. He purchased the déjà vu buns from the Palo Alto Creamery, my current favorite. The crisp bacon was cooked just like I describe in several of my blogs. He kept the meat seasoning to a minimum and relied on the meat to provide the flavor. The "Secret Sauce" was Thousand Island.

Then again, after thinking it over, maybe I hadn’t been played. Maybe I had unwittingly schooled Andrew on how to cook a fine hamburger through the blog and my search to Master the Hamburger.

Sliders Burger - San Jose, CA

Sliders Burger in San Jose, CA hides in a strip mall. I drove right by the first time. But was glad I turned around and headed back. Started about 4 years ago, the place takes its burgers seriously, grinding their own chuck in the store and grilling them up on a very cool rotary grill over coals.

Given a choice between a six-ounce and an eight-ounce burger, I chose the half-pound. The Bacon Cheeseburger combo with fries and a drink costs $7.50. Add onion rings into the mix for an extra buck.

Sliders features a clean dining room with wood tables and a tiled floor. CNN blared from a flat screen mounted on the wall in the back of the restaurant. Everyone in the crowded place watched the updates on swine flu. Stainless steel and black-and-white tiles on the walls give the place a slight retro feel.

The burger comes with only the patty, American cheese and bacon sitting on a nicely toasted sesame bun. Someone else got the grilled onions and mushrooms. I will try that next time. The well-equipped condiment bar features lettuce, tomato, onion, and several sauces. I added some lettuce and thousand-island dressing to my burger.

The burger sported a juicy and flavorful patty, very nice with a charcoal-tinged flavor. The bun sprang fresh and tasty, the bacon crunching along.

The thickly cut fries radiated their heat but disappointed when compared to the burger. Though hot and crunchy, the unremarkable onion rings sat blandly on the tongue.

Putting as much energy into the side dishes as the burger would make Sliders a standout burger joint in San Jose. But the burger alone makes the trip worthwhile.

Burger 4.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 2.5 spatulas
Onion Rings 2.5 spatulas

Sliders Burger
1645 W. San Carlos St.
San Jose, CA 95128
408-298-4340

Juicy's Giant Hamburgers - Reno, NV

Juicy’s Giant Hamburgers in Reno, Nevada is a clean, new burger joint on Wells Avenue, a recently paved and face-lifted area that is in sharp contrast with much of the rest of Reno. There are no slot machines; this place is about the burger.

There are lots of places in the Bay Area named Giant Hamburger. They tend to be older burger places where you get a 1/4-pound burger that might have been considered giant back in the day, but now seems average at best. This is not one of those. The standard patty is 1/3 pound of fresh ground beef. I got the Double Cheese burger ($6.57). I added fries ($1.47). There were no onion rings.

The burger came out quickly, wrapped in white paper, with the fries in a plain white bag. Piled on top of ample lettuce, tomato and onion, the two patties covered in melted American cheese towered above the tray. I took a big bite and was very impressed that the burger was indeed juicy. Although presented like your classic burger with all the vegetables, mayo and mustard, this one had enough beef that the meat dominated the experience in all the right ways. The sesame bun was grilled nicely as well.
The fries were thicker than most, with the skins on. They were very crisp and tasty.

With its spare concrete floor, wood walls and basic laminate tables ad vinyl chairs, the restaurant was a clean, friendly port in the midst of all the casinos and cigarette smoke I had experienced the previous day or two. I recommend Juicy’s, especially if you are looking for a burger with your family.

Another nice escape in Reno is to walk out the river trail west toward the mountains. There are rapids, geese, people walking their dogs and a couple nice parks. It is a great way to work off your burger.

Burger 4.5 Spatulas out of 5
Fries 4 spatulas

Juicy’s Giant Hamburgers
301 S. Wells Ave.
Reno, NV 89502
775-322-2600

The Nugget Diner - Reno, NV

The Nugget Diner in Reno, Nevada represents much of what Reno is all about. From a run down strip near downtown Reno, one enters through the gaudy exterior, which portrays a nugget of gold glistening in the sun. The Metallic rendering of the shining nugget is preserved from an earlier time. After entering the door, you see a seedy bar and rows of slot machines. Nestled in the back under a little red sign that says “Diner”, awaits the Awful-Awful.

The Awful-Awful ($6.00) is a half-pound burger that sits on an onion bun. Called the Awful-Awful because it is awful big and awful good, the burger is indeed an impressive stack when you add in the lettuce, tomato, onion and the Thousand Island-style sauce. The burger sits on top of one pound of fries, seasoned and cut thin. It is rare to find both fries and burgers this good, especially at that price.
The burgers are griddled and greasy, but in the right way. The meat is seasoned with pepper and has a great flavor. American cheese blends well with the whole stack. The grilled onion bun is fantastic as it holds together the entire production.

We also had onion rings a big basket of massive Maui style beer-battered onion rings. At $6.75 they cost more than the burger and fries. They weren’t up to the high standards of the rest, but the onions were sweet and hot and the batter crunchy.

I realized I hadn’t ordered the shake and got a chocolate shake ($5.25). It was a little too Hershey’s syrup for my taste and not that thick.
As my friend Bill and I sat at the counter and took in the place, a constant flow of customers ordered their own Awful-Awful burgers. I loved the signs above the counter. “The Famous Nugget Hangover Omelet – a 4 egg omelet stuffed with chili grande and smothered in melted cheese and salsa.” My favorite was “9 out of 10 Vegetarians Don’t Eat Here.” That says it all.

Burger 5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 5 spatulas
Onion Rings 3.5 spatulas
Shake 3 spatulas

The Nugget Diner
233 N. Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89501
775-323-0716

Good Burger Hunting

Nicholaster posted a second Burger video about the hunting of the hamburger and its history. Very funny. See it on youtube.