The burgers at the Haberdasher on Dauphine Street in Mobile are really good.
We also like the burgers at Lota Bier Garten on Dauphine street too.
Mooyah burger in the Colonnade is good for a chain.
Freddy's Frozen Custard burgers are good for fast food.

The thing about burgers that make them good or bad is very subjective. It's like Pizza. Some like thin crust, some like thick crust, some like them well done, other's don't.

With burgers there are a few things I like and although I will eat what I would call "specialty" burgers with things like BBQ sauce, fried onion rings, fried eggs, bacon, mushrooms, jalapenos, etc... on them I think when you compare burgers you need to compare apples to apples and stick with traditional garnishments like: Lettuce, Tomato, onions, cheese, mustard and mayo.

There are a few things that I judge a good burger on...

1. The bun. It needs to be soft and light, but not falling apart. Buns like ciabatta bread, kaiser rolls and pretzel rolls are usually just too bready. What you really want here are either Brioche buns or Potato buns. I also think it's important to butter the buns on the inside surface and then toast the buns on a skillet or griddle so just the inside buttered portion of the bun gets toasted and the outside stays soft. The butter and toasting is really important.

2. The burger. The meat needs to be a 70/30 blend with plenty of fat in it. I'm OK with stuff like brisket trimmings or steak burgers, but most good burger meat will be fine here. The trick on the burgers is to NOT form them too much and make them tough and chewy. Definitely not the premade patties of any kind. They always seem to turn out tougher than hand made patties. And 100% definitely not premade frozen patties. You don't want the burger falling apart like a meatloaf sandwich, but you don't want a piece of ground beef shoe leather either. There needs to be a good bite to it and the texture is important. Don't over work the burger patty.

3. Seasonings. You don't have to get cute here, just salt and pepper is fine, but if you really want to get fancy you can make your own Montreal Steak seasoning and use that for added flavor.

4. Toppings. Again, no reason to get too fancy here, just crisp, fresh, cold iceberg lettuce. You want the crunch. A good beef steak tomato. Just one nice slice is all you need. A little thinly sliced onion for the bite. Preferably a Vidalia for the sweetness. Leave the damn pickle off the sandwich. This is not a pickle sandwich it's a hamburger. Serve a nice Clausen dill pickle spear on the side.

5. Condiments. Dukes mayo and French's mustard. Stop. That's it. That's all you need. Save the damned ketchup for the French fries. You already got a tomato on the sandwich.

If you add cheese it is no longer a hamburger it becomes a cheeseburger and if you add bacon it becomes a bacon cheeseburger and now we are into a whole other line of "specialty" burgers and there's no end to that mess, next thing you know we are serving burgers with glazed donuts for buns...

Last edited by Irishguy; 04/23/26 06:06 AM.
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