Lyndale Tap House

I'm going to say it at the beginning: This is a great burger, and one that I can unreservedly recommend. See addendum at end of review!

Lyndale Tap House is a relatively new establishment on the 2900 block of South Lyndale (duh) Avenue, near Lake St, occupying the former space of jP American Bistro. Their focus, in terms of food, is on so-called "pit beef", which is basically a hand-rubbed, long-marinated, and slow-roasted hunk of beef which is then sliced thin and piled onto sandwiches. I've had their pit beef sandwich before and it's pretty good, but on this particular occasion I decided to try their burger.

They have a few different variations around a basic theme, but I decided to go with their basic cheeseburger (cooked medium) which comes equipped with lettuce, tomato, and battered-and-deep-fried onions on a kaiser roll. To this I added white cheddar cheese and asked them to hold the pickles. Total cost, with the included side of fries: $9.50.

The burger arrived a short while later with a steak knife impaling the whole affair rather than something wimpy like a toothpick. The first impression was great: the burger was clearly hand-pattied, with an irregular shape that couldn't be replicated by mass production. The meat had a nice sear on it and the cheese was fully melted. Cutting it in half revealed a burger cooked perfectly medium all the way throughout. Impressive.

But the really impressive part was that this burger just plain tasted good. The seasoning was spot-on. I mean, perfect, and regular readers (all two of them) will know how fussy I am about that. And the fried onions: some places put onion rings in burgers, which is certainly delicious, but often causes problems with actually eating the thing. The thin fried onions avoid the logistical issues often inherent in onion rings on a burger (such as the whole onion pulling out from inside a deep-fried 'sleeve', uneven burger coverage, and construction-related instability due to the extra height, not to mention that it makes it harder to get in your mouth). In this case, the fried onions added a nice crunch and flavor without any of the drawbacks of full-on onion rings. The bun (actually a kaiser roll) was nicely toasted and had pretty decent flavor and texture, but it wasn't as remarkable as, say, the Common Roots sourdough bun. Still, that doesn't detract much, if at all, from an otherwise excellent performance all-around.

I'd say this is the best burger I've had so far. Go get one, you won't be disappointed.

Lyndale Tap House
2937 South Lyndale AvenueMinneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 825-6150

Addendum 6/6/2013: Last time I had this burger, it wasn't as good as previous times. It was overcooked and dry, and not nearly as well seasoned. Sad.

Rudolph's

Ok, I know. Rudolph's, at the corner of Lyndale and Franklin, is a BBQ joint. But they've got a cheeseburger on the menu! How was I to resist? I chose to build my own burger with cheddar cheese, no "special sauce" (supposedly something like a Russian dressing) on their regular burger bun with fries. Total: $7:50.

When the sandwich arrived, I was dismayed to find a small pickle (a cornichon, perhaps) speared right on top of the bun -- you'd think that, with a food item as polarizing as pickles, restaurants would be smart enough not to force them onto unsuspecting patrons, or at the very least inform us that pickles were in the cards. Anyway, the burger looked good aside from the pickle. I was pleasantly surprised to see the use of red onion as opposed to the typical white onion. The menu didn't specify how big the patty was, but it seemed to be somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 lb.

Cutting it in half revealed the burger was overcooked -- probably towards the well-done side of medium-well. This manifested itself in a slightly dry patty, but the big surprise here was that the meat was actually seasoned! After so many bland burgers in a row, I had almost forgotten what seasoned meat tasted like (ok, not really). Sure, the seasoning level wasn't dead-on perfect, but it was close. The cheese was melted nicely, and the bun, toasted perfectly, had a pleasant, slightly chewy texture.

Overall, this is a pretty good burger. I'll be going back.

Rudolph's
1933 South Lyndale Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403-3104
(612) 871-8969

The Herkimer

Today's cheeseburger is from The Herkimer, a brewpub/restaurant on Lyndale near Lake St. The Herkimer, besides brewing their own seasonal beers, has the distinction of being where I first met up with my future bandmates in Orange Tour and where we have often met up before, or occasionally in lieu of, band practice.

Their menu is pretty typical bar food, with the usual assortment of sandwiches and sides. On this particular day, I ordered a mushroom and Swiss burger, cooked medium as usual, with a side of fries for a total of $8.95.

The burger arrived (with a pickle spear strewn haphazardly across the veggies) with the cheese nicely melted onto the mushrooms, some green leaf lettuce, red onion, and two small slices of tomato. The bun was grilled with butter and all in all was a quite appetizing looking burger. The section cut showed a burger more medium-well than medium, but not bad.

Unfortunately, this burger suffered from the typical affliction: underseasoned meat. That and the meat was on the dry side. The bun tasted good but was actually a little over-grilled, with an unpleasant slightly burnt taste. The mushrooms also seemed like they might have come from a can. Overall, average.

The Herkimer

2922 South Lyndale Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55408-2110

Get Directions

(612) 821-0101

The Bulldog

The Bulldog is a local bar that happens to have great bar food. The location nearest me, in Uptown, is the original location, while the one in Northeast is supposed to be in more of the 'gastropub' vein (I don't know anything about the St. Paul Lowertown incarnation). Whatever. The Lyndale location is within walking distance so that's where I went.

I went in on a Wednesday night and found it surprisingly full. I ordered a patty melt, since I hadn't had one in a while and I happen to love patty melts. For those that aren't familiar with the concept, allow me to explain: Start with a burger patty. Cook. Add cheese and caramelized onions. Throw the resulting assemblage between slices of rye bread and grill until crispy and melty, then eat. The variant at the Bulldog is an excellent example on paper (both figuratively and literally, as it's served in a paper-lined basket), with a half pound of Angus beef, both swiss and cheddar cheese slices, and marble rye. I ordered mine medium with a side of tater tots (a 50 cent upcharge over the standard fries) which put the total at $9.00 even.

Or, at least I thought I had ordered it. After sitting and watching numerous other tables get their food, it turned out that my server had forgotten to put my order in with the kitchen. She was very apologetic and confirmed my order before sending it to the kitchen, and she comped my beverage as a way of apology.

When the patty melt came out, I was first disappointed by the pickle spear resting across my tater tots, contaminating their pillowy, golden, crunchy deliciousness with vile pickle juice. I removed the pickle posthaste and quarantined the contaminated tots before inspecting the patty melt. The slices of rye were thick and unseeded and the cheese was melted and gooey -- a promising start.

The melt arrived already cut in half and initially looked like the meat had been overcooked, but I think this was just some sort of edge effect: the interior of the patty was cooked to a perfect pink medium, while the cut edges were a little more cooked due to whatever residual heat was casting about. Sadly, the interior of the meat was not seasoned to a perfect level of seasoning. In fact, I doubt any salt was added at all (I think I'm starting to sound like a broken record with my constant harping on the excess or lack of salt in the various burgers I eat, but...it's important!). On the other hand, the rye had great flavor and the caramelized onions really tie the whole burger together. Also, I didn't have meat juice napalm squeezing out onto my hands or basket, so that was nice.

Besides the lack of seasoning, I think they could have given a little more flavor just by searing the meat a little more. The patty had only a minor level of browning (possibly due to the lack of salt to draw moisture out of the meat) and could easily have used more Maillard reaction to create delicious flavors and texture at the surface of the meat. Similarly, the bread, which is supposed to be grilled to give a crispy, toasted surface, felt like it only had a perfunctory look at the griddle. It's possible that my server had put my melt in as a rush order, though, so it would take some more data to see if this was just a one-off fluke. And I'll definitely be back.

The Bulldog
2549 S. Lyndale Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612) 872-8893‎

Common Roots

The cheeseburger of the week is from Common Roots Cafe at Lyndale and 26th. Common Roots opened a few years ago and has become very popular for both the quality of and their commitment to using as much environmentally-friendly and/or locally-produced food as possible.

On paper, this is a quality burger; the specs listed on the menu are Thousand Hills grass-fed beef, cheddar cheese, and a sourdough bun. When I ordered, they asked me how I wanted it cooked -- always a good sign that a place has confidence in their meat. I ordered mine medium and sat down at a table to read The New Yorker while I waited.











(Apologies for the low-quality pictures...it was fairly dark and I had to turn the ISO setting on my camera up to avoid having to use the flash.)

When it arrived, the first thing I was struck by was the smell -- it was this glorious, rich, beefy smell that other burgers just don't have -- I'm assuming this is a result of the grass-fed beef. I actually spent a while just appreciating the aroma. It looked to be about 1/3-lb, which to me is the perfect size for a burger. The burger was served with a slice of tomato, some mixed greens, and what I at first thought was mayo but turned out to be a powerful garlic aioli. And, hallelujah, no pickle!

Cutting it in half revealed that it was indeed cooked to medium as requested. A few areas were done a little more than others, but that's ok by me. It was plenty juicy without having the plate pooled with delicious beef nectar. Then I took a bite and was assaulted by a nearly overpowering amount of salt in the meat. Now, don't get me wrong. I love salt. I am a salt fiend. And this burger was overseasoned to my taste -- I actually had to force myself to finish it. It's so sad because everything else about this burger was so promising. The real standout here, besides the intoxicating smell, was the bun. It had a distinct-but-not-overpowering sourdough taste and a pleasant amount of chewiness without being so tough as to make eating the burger difficult (imagine trying to eat a burger on a baguette or the like -- it just isn't a good idea). The garlic aioli was a nice surprise as, besides loving salt, I love garlic too. The tomato was low on flavor, but it is the dead of winter in Minnesota so accommodations can be made.

In the end, I wanted to love this cheeseburger. It had all the elements for success but was brought down by the overseasoned meat. Sad.

Common Roots Cafe
2558 South Lyndale Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612) 871-2360

Until the next post...happy cheeseburgers.

Uptown Diner

Welcome to the first post of the Twin Cities Cheeseburger blog. Besides being a cheeseburger review, this post will also lay out the structure of the posts and what will or will not be included in reviews so as to give a taste (hah!) of posts to come (yes, as a general rule, bad puns are included in 'things to come').

To wit: I will only be reviewing cheeseburgers. Patty melts are included, and hamburgers without cheese will be grudgingly included if at the particular establishment no burger-with-cheese variety is available. I will not review steak sandwiches, nor will I review any other sort of sandwich. I will not review side dishes such as french fries or tater tots or chips (those would be different blogs, naturally). I will not review beverages. I will not make a note of service unless it's somehow notable, either exceptionally good or excruciatingly bad. Also, I hate pickles. This blog is about cheeseburgers: Let's stay focused, people!

My first cheeseburger review is from an old standby: the Uptown Diner, on Hennepin Ave. and 26th St. Now, I typically go to the Uptown Diner for breakfast-type things (in particular, their crab cakes benedict is my kryptonite), but I decided to use their cheeseburger as my reference point -- not because it's a standout but because it's fairly average.

First, the stats: It starts with a half pound patty. I ordered mine as a "California burger", meaning it comes with lettuce, tomato, (red) onion, and mayo as well as a heaping pile of waffle fries or hash browns (I opted for fries), cole slaw, and a pickle spear (shudder). Adding cheddar cheese put the total at $8.95.

When the burger was set down in front of me, the first thing I noticed was the cheese: They had thrown a pile of shredded cheddar on top instead of a slice. This wasn't particularly a bad thing, but it did mean the cheese layer wasn't evenly distributed. After I cut into it, I noticed that the cheese wasn't fully melted either. The section cut also revealed that the burger was, as expected, cooked well-done (they say "grilled to perfection" in the menu, and in this case I'd imagine "to perfection" means "to kill any trace of e. coli that might exist").

Taste-wise, the burger was as I had remembered it: underseasoned but overall a solid burger. I'm not sure if they make their patties on site or have them delivered frozen by some giant food services conglomerate like Aramark or Sysco (I'd bet its the latter). The burger itself tasted like...well, ground beef. I like to see the meat seasoned with some salt and pepper before the patty is formed, because putting salt and pepper on the patty after the fact doesn't have the same effect. Because it was cooked well-done and I think the meat started out fairly lean, there wasn't much juice dripping out (though it wasn't noticeably dry either), meaning the structural integrity of the bun wasn't compromised by dripping blood and molten fat. Speaking of the bun, it's a decent sesame affair that is hearty enough to withstand handling but not so dense that it gets in the way of biting into the burger. It had been grilled lightly on the flattop as well.

Overall, this is a solid burger. It's not going to make you redefine what a burger should be; it's just pretty much what you'd expect from a diner burger.

Uptown Diner
2548 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612)-874-0481

Until the next post...happy cheeseburger.