Thursday, July 16, 2009

Cheeseburger in Paradise


From reading my first post, you may already know that I recently moved to Dallas. 2 years ago to be exact. Before moving, I lived in Ohio, where I'd lived for my entire life. We never had local burger chains, so if you wanted a burger, you just went to TGI Fridays, The Cheesecake Factory, or Good Old Mickey D's. Until I moved to Dallas, I don't think I knew what the real definition of a burger joint was. I mean, in Cincinnati we had Zips, and in Columbus we had Brazenhead, but never a plethora of options. When I moved to Texas, I began seeing signs for Snuffers, Jakes, Scotty P's, and the Angry Dog. I had never seen so many burger joints in my life. And, after talking with family who'd lived in Dallas for years and years, they recommended Red's Patio Grill.


Of course I had to try all of these places. I liked cheeseburgers, but they weren't my favorite. But, in an effort to try as many new places in town as I could, I went to each place and critiqued it....


I don't think I knew how much I actually loved cheeseburgers.


Snuffer's was first. My boss went once a week, and told me I HAD to try the cheesefries. Well.. I'm not one to turn down cheesefries, so I went and tried them. Seasoned fries LOADED with shredded cheddar, topped with jalapenos, bacon, chives, and ranch dressing. Oh my God I was in heaven. Then came the burger.. we ordered it medium, and it came out well done. The lettuce was chopped up into tiny squares instead of being leaf lettuce, and so were the onions. This made for a very messy burger. Cheese cost extra, and there were no side items. Okay, I wasn't digging it at this point, but I hadn't tasted it yet either.

Once I took my first bite, I regretted all of the things I'd been disappointed with. This burger was wonderful. Very salty, but wonderful. Snuffer's was an A in my book, especially because of the cheese fries and $1.50 margaritas!


Now onto Jakes. This place had a green logo just like Snuffers, but has palm trees on all of their patios. That's my kind of place! I went for lunch to check it out. Fried pickles for an appetizer, and a cheeseburger for dinner. Long story short, everything was very similar to Snuffer's, althought I liked the sports bar atmosphere better than Snuffer's restaurant feel. The burger was really good, and tasted just the way I like it. They didn't have cheese fries though, or $1.50 margaritas, so Snuffer's still beats them.


Scotty P's hamburgers was next. At this point, I'd begun to realize that all of these places must compete for the best cheese fries, and if you were a burger joint, you HAD to have famous cheese fries. This place had some loooooaded fries! I didn't try them since I was there for the burger, but they looked mighty fine. Somehow I don't think they're as good as Snuffers :) Anyways, I digress. Back to the burger. I ordered a regular cheeseburger, since I don't really like the fancy stuff. It was good.. nice and juicy, cooked well, and not overly seasoned. However, there was too much lettuce... 2 layers to be exact. That took away the beef flavor, and I was not pleased. Overall, this place gets a B-. It was in a strip mall, too. Boo.


Last but not least, that leaves Red's Patio Grill. It's a family owned place in Plano, TX and, of course, has a nice large patio. In Texas we have about 9 months of patio weather, so a place like this is very nice to have. I was told by a family member that everything in this restaurant is fresh because they don't have freezers. Ground beef has never been frozen, fries are hand sliced, chicken is cooked in house, etc.. so it sounded very good to me! I love fresh food way more than the pre-done stuff. So I went and got a cheeseburger, only to be questioned about what kind of cheese I wanted. And the choices weren't just cheddar, pepper jack, and American. These choices were Blue (yum) and Manchego (drooling) and all kinds of delicious cheeses! I adore manchego, so that's what I got. When my burger came out, it looked absolutely perfect. The meat was nice and pink inside, and the sandwich had crispy pickles, fresh tomato, onion, and mustard on it. Not to mention it was on a soft poppyseed bun. The fries I had ordered with it were twice fried and very crisp, with a side ramekin of ketchup.

My first bite of this delectable sandwich almost gave me a mouth orgasm. It was juicy, layered with wonderful flavor, and mushed up well in my hands. It didn't fall apart when I picked it up, and the bottom bun wasn't soggy. I'd never tasted something so wonderful in my life... except the pomegranate margarita I was drinking with it. This was definitely a Cheeseburger in Paradise. If only I'd had some Jimmy Buffett playing in the background...


Red's Patio Grill wins the comparison. I've eaten some darn good burgers in my day. Hell, my dad makes the best one I'd had to date, but this one was something special. And the best part? It was only 2 bucks more than the other ones, at $8.50.


Anyways, there are many more burger places around town that I need to check out. I've had some bad visits at a couple joints around town and they're not even work writing about.. But, if you've got any good suggestions, send them my way! My next adventure will probably be to Milwaukee to try a Juicy Lucy burger :)





No comments:

Post a Comment