Recently in Burgers Category

As hesitant as I am to link to anything from FoxNews, I can't help but share Shephard Smith's horror at this concoction, which came from a bar owner in Georgia who had run out of hamburger buns, so he just started slipping his cheeseburgers (with bacon, no less!) in between the halves of a Krispy Kreme donut. But maybe we can help to fund healthcare reform by slapping a big tax on these, seeing as how they are a one-way ticket to the cardiologist.

The Obamas love hamburgers. This past week, both the President and the First Lady made trips to hamburger restaurants in and near Washington. Everyone has heard about President Obama and Vice President Biden's lunch excursion to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va. last week, but not as widely reported was First Lady Michelle Obama's burger jaunt.

The Washington Post reports that Mrs. Obama and her staff dined at the Good Stuff Eatery, on Pennsylvania Avenue, this past Friday.

"The outing was just one of several the first lady and her staff have made to local eateries for lunch, also visiting Five Guys Burgers and Fries and a barbecue place," the Post reported.

The restaurant assembled platters of various house specialties, so everyone in the group of around 18 could sample a variety of burgers. The burgers they got to eat included the Colletti's Smokehouse burger, free range turkey burgers, the "Prez Obama" burger, regular burgers and bacon cheeseburgers. The burgers were served with two kinds of French fries -- sea-salt dusted ones and a thyme, rosemary and cracked pepper version. "Also on offer were Cliff's Homegrown Vidalia Onion Petals, a kind of high-end blooming onion," said the Post.

Who knew the Obamas were such burger fans? Maybe next time they're back in Chicago we'll catch them at Kuma's or Hamburger Mary's.

The AP reports that President Obama and VP Biden went on a burger binge today to a small strip mall joint called Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va.

Amid a gaggle of photographers, the two paid with cash and waited for their number to be called.

Ray's Hell Burger, also called Ray's Butcher Burgers, does one thing (and well, at that, according to D.C. foodists) -- a $6.95, 10-ounce burger made from freshly ground, prime beef.

Sara Levine of the Washingtonian.com said, "Ray's creations aren't of the truffle-and-brioche gourmet variety à la Palena or Central Michel Richard; they're more like great made-at-home burgers from the backyard grill, taken up several notches thanks to the quality of Landrum's meat." Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema's only quibble: the brioche bun tends to fall apart.

Ray's doesn't even sell French fries.

The foodie(s) on the White House staff know their local grub. The cheeseburger at Ray's Hell Burger is on the list of the 50 best burgers in 50 states in the June issue of Food Network Magazine. It's one list we won't quibble with, at least not where Chicago is concerned -- the Slayer burger at Kuma's Corner is the magazine's pick for Illinois.

Update: We just heard back from Ray's owner Michael Landrum, who apologized for not being able to call us that day the Prez came in. Kinda busy, we guess.

Anyway, Landrum tells us he's humbled by the impromptu visit from Obama and Biden to his 9-month-old shop. And contrary to what some were reporting Tuesday, he says Obama ordered a cheeseburger with Vermont cheddar. And Biden ... uh, Landrum doesn't remember what theVP ordered.

"The tour buses haven't started rolling up yet, but seeing your restaurant discussed on The Daily Show and Dave Letterman is kind of cool," Landrum says.

Like other national burger chains, Burger King has beefed up its menu with the Steakhouse and Loaded Steakhouse Burgers, and now McDonald's is poised to produce a new premium sandwich -- the Angus Burger -- Crain's Chicago Business reports.

The Angus Burger, weighing in at one-third of a pound, is McDonald's first new hamburger on its menu in eight years, and it is McDonald's answer to bigger burgers introduced by rivals in recent years, Crain's says. The $3.99 burger, made from a better grade of beef than Big Macs and Quarter Pounders, will be rolled out nationally this summer.

While Americans' appetites certainly aren't subsiding, Crain's notes that the state of the economy could dampen the demand for pricier offerings like the Angus.

In the spirit of all those silly Facebook questionnaires (If your life was a movie, what would it be? What Peter Paul and Mary song are you?), here's a burger personality quiz. (Just call me Nurture Burger).

C'mon, it's Friday.