The Backyard Cafe - the 2009-2010 Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl

May 1, 2011

The tenth place on our cheeseburger crawl was The Backyard Cafe, a relatively new restaurant (by cheeseburger crawl standards - it only opened up in the last three years) in West Columbia.  The first thing to note about this place is that it is really far away from the center of downtown Columbia, about a solid 20 minute drive...I really wish it was closer, because I would probably be going there much more often, but it is a bit far away for lunch if you want a quick bite to eat and you are in downtown.  The second, more noticeable thing about this restaurant is that it is in a small converted one-story ranch house - basically, the outside still looks like a regular ol' house (and is in a residential neighborhood), but the inside walls were all knocked out to provide a homey locale for the Backyard Cafe.     

This place was also the source of some drama among our cheeseburger crawl denizens.  Yes, you may ask, rightly so:  how in the world can you have drama over the rating of cheeseburgers?  Well, it can happen - mainly because some of our venerable cheeseburger raters believed the cheeseburger offered at the Backyard Cafe violated our original competition rules - the patty was a lot bigger (more like the places we excluded from our list like Pawley's Front Porch) and it didn't really qualify as a dive or established local place because it has only been around for a couple of years.  But, this was one of those times where I decided to put it on the list anyway because I felt that the cheeseburger was just within the bounds of the rules - I call my choice "editorial discretion."  =)        

At the Backyard Cafe, they offer a whole bunch of other lunch dishes other than the burgers (including homemade ice cream, which is absolutely delicious, btw!), but their burger menu is also pretty varied, with bacon cheeseburgers, chili cheeseburgers, and even a garden burger for vegetarians out there.  They don't automatically put ketchup and mustard in the cheeseburgers though - a problem which lowered the scores of Flarké particularly.   

A couple of general comments about the cheeseburger: almost everyone who ate the burger (or other sandwiches) raved about their food.  I ordered their pimento cheeseburger (pictured above), and thought it was the best I've had in Columbia so far - great quality meat, the patty and the burger bun were just big enough to make for a good-sized burger, without being too hard to eat (a problem I sometimes have with Pawley's Front  Porch, but that is another post entirely, I suppose).  They also provided a side of dill sauce, which added a great dimension of flavor to the cheeseburger which I liked.  Andy excitedly commented: "Clearly, this is the best burger we've had so far - that's what a burger should be like."    

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:

Average Rating: 4.125

Epicurious E.: 4.5

Flarké: 3.0

Hambone: 4.5

Andy: 4.5

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun was a regular white burger bun, not toasted.

Meat: It was a thicker patty, nice grill marks, juicy, with a tasty, meaty flavor.  Evidently they make handmade patties each day.  
Cheese: They have a good variety of cheese toppings - from cheddar to bleu cheese and a homemade pimento.  I lived the pimento cheese a lot - it was a really high quality cheese, lots of flavor, yet not too strong to be overpowering, and they melted the cheese well on the burger.
Fries:  Slightly thicker-cut steak fries; they were fried perfectly, salted just right.  

Presentation and condiments:  Because this was a restaurant, they had a leg up on the presentation - a large, black plate for the burger.  They did provide ketchup, but as Flarké noted, they didn't automatically put ketchup or mustard in the cheeseburger.

The Kingsman - the 2009-2010 Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl

May 1, 2011

I know, I am incredibly late on finishing these cheeseburger tour posts, but fortunately, I took notes right after we ate the cheeseburgers at each of these places in 2010, so all the ratings and comments were still preserved for memory, even though it is now 2011.  Better late than never, I guess?  =P  But I will finish up these last couple of posts, if only to make sure that I can declare a winner in the Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl!    

The ninth place on our cheeseburger crawl was the Kingsman, a local restaurant on Knox Abbot just over the Blossom St. bridge in the Parkland Shopping Center.  It has a wide menu of sandwiches and other lunch fare, but I came here specifically to try their pimento cheeseburger (which is not that easy to find, even around here).  During their lunch hour, it is really full and busy with locals - they have a counter up front, as well as two large busy rooms in the back.    

At the Kingsman, they offer a whole array of different cheeseburgers, from their "Famous Pimento Burger" to a bacon/mushroom cheeseburger, and a curious-sounding "Kingsman Pizza Burger".  

A couple of general comments about the burgers: Flarké said "It's a commentless sort of place...this is the kind of place where you should only have the burger simply with mustard and ketchup, because adding stuff on it messes it up."  Both Hambone and I ordered their "Famous Pimento Burger", but noted was that our buns, burger patties, and the pimento cheese were both cold, which was really odd, especially considering that I knew that they were cooking up burgers fresh, because I walked past their cooking area where they were flipping patties.  Maybe they were just really busy or having an off day, but it definitely negatively affected the ratings of the cheeseburger.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:

Average Rating: 2.83

Epicurious E.: 2.0

Flarké: 2.5

Hambone: 3.0

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun was a slimmer white bun, not toasted.

Meat: It was a slimmer patty, and again, the meat was kind of cold. Strange, because it is cooked fresh. Only slightly flavored.

Cheese: They offer a lot of different kinds of cheeses (cheddar, mozzerella, and of course, pimento). The pimento cheese had an interesting flavor – even though it was cold, and not really melted, it had that a sharp pimento as well as a slight cheddar component as well.
Fries:  They offered steak fries, which weren't bad, but they could have been crispier.

Presentation and condiments: The burgers came on a simple large white plate; it was appreciated that the burger was already cut in half!  They had a nice variety of condiments on the table – both ketchup, A-1 sauce, salt and pepper.

Frank's Market - The 2009-2010 Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl

The seventh place on our cheeseburger crawl was Frank's Market, a small restaurant on Two Notch, right past Beltline Blvd. in a small plaza next to an Auto Zone store. Frank's is a local place that has been around for thirty years or so and is mainly known for its "meat and three" offerings, but we also heard the place served up a pretty decent cheeseburger as well.

Everyone raved about the waitresses at Frank's - Flarké and Hambone said: "We liked the waitresses, and how they know what you want to eat and how much of it you should be eating", and Betsy noted: "I thought the waitstaff was super nice, and they even brought us Hershey's Kisses afterwards!"

Their cheeseburger menu is pretty simple, but they offered it in two sizes, in both a 6 and 8 oz. One important thing to note - the fries don't come with the burger, and have to be ordered separately. The fries had a good flavor and texture (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside), but they could have been warmer. Flarké said the fries at Frank's usually come out better though.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.87

Epicurious E.: 4.0
Flarké: 3.5
Hambone: 3.5
Betsy: 4.5

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: Bun was a thicker white cafeteria-style bun, not toasted. Flarké liked the bun-to-meat ratio here.

Meat: The patty was a good, thick-sized patty, with nice grill marks and a slight crust on the outside, juicy on the inside. The flavor of the meat was great and the meat could be tasted more because of the thicker sized patty. The 6 oz. patty was definitely enough for a lunch meal. =)
Cheese: Just American cheese.
Presentation and condiments: This is a simple diner, so the burger and fries came in a large basket, but there was plenty of space for the burger, fries, and some ketchup. There was salt and pepper on the table, but we had to ask for the condiments separately.

Frank's also offers fried hot dogs - I ordered one with slaw and chili. This was one of the better chili/slaw dogs I've had around here - chili was decently flavorful and the dog itself was juicy, but Edna's is still the best around Columbia so far.

Rockaway Athletic Club - The 2009-2010 Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl

The sixth place on our cheeseburger crawl was Rockaway Athletic Club, on Rosewood Dr. I heard that this place used to be a true dive before it burned down, but with the rebuild, it is now a lot nicer. A lot of people are probably know this place because of a visit by President George W. Bush back in 2005, in which he ate one of their pimento cheeseburgers which they are known for. The place itself is one of those places you would never find even IF you were looking for it - there is no sign in front, and the only way you can find it is to look for the long brick building pictured above.

So this place does have one sign to identify it...it is just a really, really small one that is partially hidden behind a tree, and on a fence behind the parking lot of the actual building. =)

At Rockaway's, they offer a lot of different cheeseburgers, as well as sandwiches and other dishes, but I obviously had to order the Rockaway Pimento cheeseburger. =)

A couple of general comments before we get into the details about the cheeseburger and fries:

Hambone said: "This is the place to come to for a pimento cheeseburger." Hambone reported feeling sick afterwards, but said, "If it makes me feel really sick, it is really good."

Andy commented: "The pimento cheeseburger and pimento cheese fries are an interesting concept, but it could have been executed better."

Flarké commented that the cheeseburger was much better before the building burned down the first time, and would have rated a 4.0-4.5, but it was not as good now, although the bacon on the cheeseburger was well cooked.

Beandip, a regular on our cheeseburger crawls who doesn't usually eat cheeseburgers, had one at Rockaway's and concluded: "I haven't eaten a cheeseburger in over a year, but that was pretty damn good and I would eat another one."

For me, I found that the pickles were really sour to me, and so I didn't eat any. I found the burger itself to be a healthy size, just a bit smaller than Endzone Grill. They offer an option for grilled onions. The burger had a lot of pimento cheese on it, which made some of the ingredients slip around (e.g. grilled onion), and made it slightly messy for me.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.75

Epicurious E.: 3.5
Andy: 3.5
Flarké: 3,5
Hambone: 4.5

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: It was a bit too thick and sometimes getting in the way of the flavor of the burger, and not toasted. I was a bit puzzled about the flavor of the bun; I think it is just your standard white restaurant bun, and when I asked about it, the person said it was just a regular white bun purchased in bulk from U.S. Foods. Andy didn't like the bun, he thought it was just an average store-bought bun, which I found to be a an accurate description of its flavor.

Meat: It was a thicker patty, and it came out overcooked and a bit dry for some of us
(as well as a little more flavorless for me). Flarké noted "Usually the burgers are undercooked (more of a medium rare), but today it came out overcooked (more of a well-done).

Cheese: They have a lot of different choices for cheese, including American, Swiss, Cheddar, as well as the pimento cheese. I thought the pimento cheese was pretty good, although Andy was not as impressed with it as he thought he was going to be.

Presentation and condiments: A white dish with lots of space, you order fries in a separate basket. Ketchup comes on the table, along with salt and pepper.

If you go to Rockaway's, I personally think the pimento cheese fries are a must-order. They usually come with the pimento cheese poured over the fries, but we ordered it on the side, to avoid the coagulation you get when the cheese gets cold. The Big W told us he heard the pimento cheese dip for the fries had some Velveeta cheese mixed in. I thought the fries by themselves were your average crinkle-cut french fries that were warm, but a tiny bit too crunchy. But, with the pimento cheese dip, it was much more delicious, although they can really fill you up fast though. Hambone says: "Melted pimento cheese to dip fries in is always a plus."

Rush's - The 2009-2010 Columbia Cheeseburger Crawl

The fifth place on our cheeseburger crawl was Rush's, a local fast food restaurant chain with six locations throughout Columbia (as well as two other locations in Lexington and Camden). It was a rainy day, but any day is good for cheeseburgers and fries in my book, so we drove over to the Rush's on Broad River Road by the I-26 to see if Rush's really offered "Fabulous Food . . . Fast!"

The menu at Rush's is clean and simple, with three main types of food of the menu: it offers hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chili burgers, chili and slaw dogs, and fried chicken. A regular cheeseburger comes all the way with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion.

A couple of general comments about the cheeseburger at Rush's: I thought the cheeseburger was pretty similar to Palmetto Sandwich Shop except without the pimento cheese, meaning it was a simple, solid cheeseburger that didn't stand out very much...the burger was definitely made fast though - less than a minute after ordering, the food was ready. Flarké liked that the fries came in a cup. Hambone added "It is better than fast food", and Andy said "This cheeseburger is a step above McDonald's - at least it didn't make my stomach hurt." Andy's comment initially sounded kind of harsh, until I found out that whenever he eats a burger from McDonald's, he gets a stomachache - so, in context, it was a compliment...I think?

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 2.87

Epicurious E.: 2.5
Andy: 3.0
Flarké: 2.5
Hambone: 3.5

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun was a regular cafeteria-style white bun, and it was not toasted. Andy complained about his bun, he thought there was too much bun on my burger compared to the patty, but no one else had this problem.

Meat: The meat was ok - it was not overcooked and the flavor was fine, but it didn't stand out, either.

Cheese: One choice - American cheese.

Presentation and condiments: As you can see from the photos, this is a simple fast food setup restaurant - the burger came in a simple bag, and there were no condiments on the tables.

When I saw that Rush's also offered chili dogs, I figured I'd try one as well. This is a slaw dog, which comes with chili, slaw, and mustard. If I were to rank this dog with the ones I've eaten so far, I would say it was middle of the road, better than Mack's, but not as good as Edna's. The dog itself was a decent size and cooked decently (not grilled enough for me, though), but the chili was a bit bland, not flavorful as Edna's.

Endzone Grill - The 2009-2010 Columbia SC Cheeseburger Crawl

The fourth place on our cheeseburger crawl was End Zone Grill, in Rosewood. End Zone Grill is a typical easily missed hole-in-the-wall on Rosewood Dr. near Assembly St. that mainly seems to operate as a bar, but they have a pretty decent selection of food as well on the menu (including an appetizer of gator meat that I wanted to try, but did not end up ordering). Because it is a bar, there isn't much seating - maybe about ten smaller tables, total, although you can also sit at the bar and eat too, I suppose.

At Endzone, they offer three different kinds of burgers - your basic cheeseburger, the "Zone Buster", 1/3 lb. burger, with a slice of American cheese, the "Have It Your Way" burger, with your choice of three different cheeses (American, Swiss, Cheddar) and other accouterments, including bacon, chili, sauteed mushrooms or onions, and guacamole, and the Strasburger, a 1/4 lb. cheeseburger with a 1/4 lb. crabcake. All burgers come with shredded lettuce, tomato, and pickles and curly fries. The above photo is of the "Have It Your Way", and the next photo is of the "Strasburger" (the crab cake is kind of hard to see, but you can tell where the crabcake is, if you look closely at both photos and compare them). Btw, the photos have a blue tinge because we sat below a neon-blue beer light.

A couple of general comments about the cheeseburgers offered at EndZone Grill before I get into the details: Andy said ""Good atmosphere, a good overall burger, nice balance of texture and taste, a bit too toasted for me." Flarké and me both had the crab cake burger - Flarké noted: "Liked the crab, if you are in for something different. A little too well-done." I thought it had all the elements to be a really good burger: toasted bun, large burger patty, lots of selection in accompaniments to the burger, but for me, the Strasburger a bit heavy for a cheeseburger, and I eat a lot.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.5

Epicurious E.: 3.5
Andy: 4.5
Flarké: 2.5
Hambone: 3.5

Although I don't usually qualify the scores, I will this time, because most of us lowered the scores a lot for Endzone because of the fries that we received: they were pretty uninspiring curly fries, without much seasoning, and were a bit cold, like they had been sitting there for a bit. I have a feeling the scores would have been higher had the fries been good. To be fair though, we were a large party in the middle of a lunch rush, which seemed to affect the quality a lot - other than the fries, the Big W reported the cheese on his chili burger was not melted which was a big negative for him (the rest of us did not have that problem, luckily).

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun is a larger cafeteria-style white bun that is slightly greasy on the outside (probably from being on the grill?). It could be a bit thicker for the Strasburger: some people (including me), were having some problems with the bun, as it fell apart. I did order a lot of stuff with mine though. But, for me, a gigantic plus because they toasted their bun, the first place on our list to do so.

Meat: The meat was cooked perfectly for Andy (he got the have it your way), but for me, Flarké, and Hambone, the meat was slightly overdone. We were a big party, so it is possible the burgers may have been a bit overdone because of that. It was a nice, large, meat patty though, and I liked how it had a bit of a crust. Regarding my experience with the crabcake: It is a pretty heavy meal, but I did like the addition of crab. The crab cake itself was really mild, so there was just a mild, crab aftertaste in some bites. It added another dimension to the burger.

Cheese: As noted before, they serve American, swiss, and cheddar.

Presentation and condiments: The presentation was fine, but because the burger was pretty big, the plate was bit crowded. On the table, they had malt vinegar, salt and pepper, and ketchup.

Mousetrap - The 2009-2010 Columbia SC Cheeseburger Crawl

The Mousetrap Restaurant is the fourth burger place on our cheeseburger crawl. It is a nicer restaurant than a lot of the places we visited so far, at least in the sense that it offered tables or booths to sit at, we ordered from a waitress, and there was even a covered-up piano, which I assume people sometimes sing at in the evenings? In that sense, this isn't quite as fair a comparison to the other places, but we decided to include it on the list anyway. It also offered a wider variety of food other than just burgers, but since this is a cheeseburger tour, all of us ordered the cheeseburgers from the menu.

This restaurant is definitely one of those word-of-mouth places that you would never know about unless someone else told you about it. You would never drive past the place (see the next photo and description), so you could never just randomly drop by. The main patrons of the restaurant seem to be a lot of old-time locals who probably have been eating weekly at the Mousetrap since it opened in 1978.

Two comments about the ambiance of the restaurant: Betsy says: "I like the atmosphere, being in a restaurant that no one knows about, surrounded by older people." Andy says: "I liked Edna's better – I liked being outside at a burger stand on the side of the road."

I included this next photo as a guide to help anyone interested in going to this restaurant. The Mousetrap is a HARD place to find, and is in possibly the most random location for a restaurant that I've ever been to. It is at the back end of an office building on Middleburg Dr. (which itself is a side street one block north of Forest Drive), and if you just try to find the restaurant based on its address (2711 Middleburg Dr.), all you'll see is an office building. BUT, if you drive around to the back northwest corner of the office building, you'll find the Mousetrap tucked away, just like you see in the photo.

And here is a photo of the burger I ordered - the Mousetrap burger. It is basically a bacon and swiss cheeseburger. In addition to regular hamburgers and cheeseburgers, they also offered a pimento cheeseburger using homemade pimento cheese, but none of us tried it.

We all talked about the fries offered here: they were definitely a bit disappointing. Betsy said they were mediocre. Andy says: not impressed. Consensus: middling. They were advertised on the menu as steak fries, but they ended up being thicker crinkle cut fries, a bit too crunchy.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.7

Epicurious E.: 4.25 (yes, usually the ratings are in increments of .5, but this is called the author's prerogative)
Andy: 4.0
Flarké: 3.0
Betsy: 3.5
Hambone: 3.5
NoName: 4.0

-Some overall comments about the burger:
I noticed that the burger is pretty big - not enough to split for two people, but definitely bigger than any that we've tried before. Andy says: "I liked the bacon, it was crispy. Pickles had a good crunch." Both me and Flarké liked the bacon, I thought it had a good smoky flavor, but we both agreed there could have been more bacon offered.

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: I thought it was a great flavor! It is an onion roll, just thick enough and soft. But not toasted =(. Flarké noted hers came out cold.

Meat: The meat was a thick hand-formed patty, big thumbs up, by both me and Flarké. They probably used better meat than the other places. It was a bit dry (Andy concurs), but that also may have been because we were a big party, Flarké pointed out.

Cheese: Standard swiss cheese. I didn't try the pimento cheese, but heard it was uninspiring.

Presentation and condiments: Presentation is good, this is a sit-down restaurant with lots of other dishes, after all - a nice big plate, and ketchup was on the table.

Edna's - The 2009-2010 Columbia SC Cheeseburger Tour

Third on our cheeseburger crawl is an old Columbia mainstay, Edna's. If you polled a lot of long-time residents of Columbia about their favorite burger/hot dog stand, a decent amount would probably pick Edna's as their favorite. This one is officially Edna's #1, and it sits at the intersection of three roads - River Dr., Sunset Dr., and Clement Rd. From what I understand, the reason for the number was at one time, there were several Edna's scattered throughout Columbia, but now, there is only one Edna's left.

All of us talked about the ambiance of the place: It is a true dive - the place seems like a random old burger stand by the road; for seating, they have old wooden picnic tables outside to eat, and there is a local cat that the place feeds. A lot of people take the food to go, or eat in their car. Betsy said it was a place that she might not stop by at normally, but was a place that you only go to if referred to by someone else. Andy said: "The food alone wasn't enough to keep me coming back, but combined the the dive-y ambiance, I'm coming back."

Edna's offers a lot of different hot sandwiches (ham, BLT, ribeye, chicken fillets), but most everyone that comes here orders either their burgers or their chili dogs. Me being the hungry and occasional glutton that I am, I ordered their bacon cheeseburger basket and chili dog. =)

A closeup of the bacon cheeseburger. They have hamburgers, cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger, and chili burgers.

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.9

Epicurious E.: 3.5

Andy: 4.0
Flarké: 3.5
Betsy: 3.5
Hambone: 4.5

-Some overall comments about the burger: Andy liked the balance of the burger and ratio of ingredients. I liked that they were generous with their lettuce, tomato, and onion; there were multiple large pieces of each.

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: A larger size white restaurant bun, but not too thick. Not toasted. =(

Meat: A thick, larger sized patty. For me, the meat could have been a bit more flavored, and had more char on the outside. But, it was juicy.

Cheese: Standard slice of American cheese, nothing special.

Presentation and condiments: Everything comes in a white bag, nothing special; but, the burger is wrapped separately. There was a slight problem with the condiments - they only offered ketchup packs.

The Big W (our in-house connoisseur of Southern cuisine who isn't participating in the ratings of our cheeseburgers, but often attends our cheeseburger crawls), told me to try the chili dog because it was his favorite in Columbia, and he usually goes to Edna's for the chili dogs instead of the burgers. I definitely agree. I thought it was great; the chili was rich and flavorful, the dog was a good size, and it was cooked well and had a good snap to it.

Mack's on Laurel - The 2009-2010 Columbia SC Cheeseburger Crawl

Mack's on Laurel (also known as Mack's Cash Groceries and Mack's Restaurant) is the second place on our cheeseburger crawl. We call it Mack's on Laurel in an effort to distinguish it from the other Mac's that people know about (Mac's on Main in downtown Columbia, where they play jazz). Mack's on Laurel is, well, on Laurel St. a couple of minutes from downtown Columbia, between Barnwell and Gregg St., and sits across from a local firehouse.

Although it's called Mack's Cash Groceries on the web, I don't know why, because there aren't any groceries within the place - I think it started out as a small market a long, long time ago, before they started making their burgers.

This is definetly a local hole-in-the-wall with its own set of rules that you learn very quickly about: everyone goes through the back door of the restaurant (not pictured) to order their food, because the line starts in the back of the place. Also, don't talk on your cell phone while in line, because you will get yelled at! (They have a sign to remind you, and anyway, the telephone conversation can't be that important, can it?). This restaurant definetly has a lot of character, as Betsy noted: "It is your classic Columbia Dive, you need to be in the know: e.g. should be entering through the back door to get in line and order. Don't be talking on your cell phones! Lots of interesting photos, pictures, and knick-knacks to look at."

In addition to the cheeseburgers that you can order, they also have chili dogs (and slaw dogs, if I remember correctly). The chili dog can be ordered all-the-way with mustard, onion, and chili . It was ok, but was a bit small - if you go, I definetly recommend ordering the burger instead.

And here is the cheeseburger from Mack's on Laurel. It can be ordered all-the-way, with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Ketchup has to be added on separately.

-Everyone had a lot to say about the cheeseburger:

NoName says: "Pretty standard greasy spoon burger, better than average with a sturdy, perhaps too sturdy, bun. Disappointed at the lack of pickle (personal pref.) and the "all the way" was a little heavy on the mayo. Not exactly spectacular but definitely a good burger accompanied by better than average fried accoutrements. The vintage cafeteria/diner atmosphere unchanged since 1971 along with the no nonsense staff go very well with this traditional short order burger."

Flarké says: "The burger is very soft overall, but I appreciate the staff."

And everyone else's comments: "The burger is a bigger burger than Palmetto Sandwich Shop. It is good, lots of flavor in the meat, but also really messy (they put a lot of mayo in it). A good classic burger. It is offered with shredded lettuce, and two well-sized tomatoes on it. No pickle. The fries were excellent -the texture and saltiness were good!"

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.8

Epicurious E.: 4.0
Flarké: 4.0
Betsy: 4.0
Hambone: 3.5
NoName: 3.5

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun is a larger sesame white bun, which may be too thick and soft for some. I thought it was good, but again, they do not toast it. =(

Meat: The meat patty was a good size – just thick enough, with a good mild meat flavor to it. Again, would be nice if it had a little crust to the meat, but the texture was really good, and it was well cooked, juicy.

Cheese: Nothing special - just a slice of American cheese.

Presentation and condiments: Presentation was good – burger looks delicious, and they serve fries separately. Condiments on the table include texas pete's hot sauce, salt, pepper, and malt vinegar. Very nice. But no ketchup on the table, they give you packets with the tray. A tiny bit odd.

Palmetto Sandwich Shop - The 2009-2010 Columbia SC Cheeseburger Crawl

For no reason in particular, we chose Palmetto Sandwich Shop as our first inaugeral place to start off this cheeseburger crawl. Palmetto Sandwich Shop definetly fits the bill - it is a random hole-in-the-wall that is pretty easy to miss on Sumter St. (between Hampton St. and Washington St.) in downtown Columbia. We heard they had decent pimento cheeseburgers, so of course, we had to try it out! They do serve sandwiches, but everyone I saw in there ordered their burgers, so their name is a bit of a misnomer.

And here is the burger all of us ordered: The Palmetto Cheeseburger. It is a cheeseburger with pimento cheese, which can be ordered all-the-way (with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard). You have to add the ketchup separetly.

-Some overall comments from everyone about the cheeseburger:

"A solid, if simple and unassuming, burger. Its strength is also its weakness; the burger doesn't stand out, but it also doesn't get anything wrong either. A tiny bit on the smaller side. It's offered with a bit shredded lettuce, not too much (good or bad, depending…), and two smaller tomatoes (would have maybe liked bigger tomato slices?). No pickle."

-Here are our ratings on the cheeseburger and fries:
Average Rating: 3.0

Epicurious E.: 3.0
Andy: 3.0
Flarké: 2.5
Betsy: 2.5
Hambone: 4.0

-And a breakdown of each of the components of the cheeseburger:

Bun: The bun is a normal cafeteria-style thicker white bun, which they press down a bit before serving (for easier eating). But they do not toast it. =(.

Meat: The meat was a tiny bit thin (I would have liked it just a bit thicker, to enjoy the meat flavor a bit more), although it was cooked well (not dry, it was cooked completely through and juicy). Would be nice if they flavored the meat, though, because the flavor of the meat was a bit light, IMHO. Also would have been nice if the meat had a bit of a grilled crust on it, for better texture.

Cheese: The pimento cheese was good – just enough to enjoy the flavor, without overloading on the cheese. It was a more mild pimento cheese, shredded.

Presentation and condiments: Why can't they serve it on a plate? The small little paper container only holds the burger and fries (if barely), and there is no place to put your ketchup. But, the condiments were provided on the table, that was convenient, thanks!

Quick Eats - Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers to go - San Francisco Trip

While I lived in Berkeley for college, one of every student's favorite places to go (other than Top Dog & Zachary's Chicago Pizza) was Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers, a local chain in the Bay Area. They put a lot of non-traditional ingredients in their burgers, but it makes it sooo good! When I went up to SF, I had to at least get some of these burgers to go - hence, the to go packaging in the photos... Jen ordered a North Beach burger - with sauteed mushrooms and artichoke hearts.
I ordered a "Sunshine Burger", with sprouts, aged cheddar cheese, and avocado on a whole wheat bun. Yes, you burger purists may scream in fury, but I think this burger tastes great with sprouts. Unfortunately, it seems that only in the Bay Area do they consistently offer sprouts as a choice in sandwiches and other foods, like burgers.
Some of Barney's curly fries - a perfect combination with the burgers. *drool*.

Quick Eats - Best In-N-Out in the World - Kettleman City

In-N'-Outs across the western U.S. are all good, to varying degrees - still better than any other burger out there, of course - but in my opinion, the In-N'-Out in Kettleman City - rather, off the Kettleman City exit of the I-5 up to San Francisco (or down to Los Angeles, whichever way you are heading), is always the best one for me. And it is not because I am hungry after a two/three hour drive from whichever place I left from - I have been full, but still tried eating a burger and it was still as good as always.
So why is this In'N'Out so good? I think that since it is in the California Central Valley, surrounded by fresh produce and a cow farm just north of there, it just tastes better. And it does - the ingredients are always fresh at that one, and for some reason, they always toast their hamburger buns just right. So, the burger comes out perfectly. And the fries are always fried just right - not too soft, not too crunchy. Just enough for the perfect texture.

I ordered my usual - two cheeseburgers, with grilled onions and extra tomatoes, and Jen ordered her burger - grilled onions and extra tomatoes. Jen is the one who introduced me to this particular combination - it is perfect, and especially perfect at this In-N'-Out. This is the one place I will always stop at on the drive, it is the best place to eat on the road by far!