A Recent History of Hamburgers

History of hamburgers: in the beginning Mr Gordy created The Varsity. Used to be you could get a hamburger at McDonalds, Burger King, or Hardees.. Wendys never frozen burger was a slight step up. Krystal doesn’t count. Recently Whattaburger and In-n-Out opened in the area, bringing raves from transplants – but to me they seem like just another fast food burger.

A Shoneys Big Boy burger was a step up from fast food. Then came steak houses like Ponderosa and Western Sizzlin. I remember when Western Sizzlin had the baked potato bar alongside their all you could eat salad bar. In the mid-80’s I’d go with Rob Suggs and the Sepco crew to feast at that Western Sizzlin salad bar / potato bar in Doraville. Fuddruckers baked their own buns and ground their own meat, producing one of the tastiest burgers around.

Then slightly nicer restaurants like Applebees and Chilis featured bar food: even nicer burgers and fries. Big salads for the ladies. O’Charleys joined the mix. Even nicer places like Houstons and Hamburger Hamlet feature burgers that are even nicer. Holman & Finch debuted their limited edition H&F burger. Canoe and King + Duke feature luxury burgers, that are excellent – though Canoe’s burger is almost too fancy.  A great burger these days, not quite so fancy is Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar.

The bun can make or break a burger. Taste and texture are critical. I also like my bun lightly toasted. Wheat buns are okay, but some “all natural” and gluten free buns are tasteless, and have a horrible texture you can’t easily chew.

A local spot in Roswell / East Cobb is Moxie Burger is a current favorite. NFA Burger in Dunwoody is said to have one of the best burgers in the state. I got a good burger at Goldbergs Deli. Ted’s Montana Grill has a good burger, as does Longhorn Steakhouse. A top ten…

1. Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar

2. King + Duke

3. Holman & Finch

4. Fuddruckers

5. NFA Burger

6. Moxie Burger

7. Goldbergs Deli

8. Ted’s Montana Grill

9. Longhorn

I had the Wendy's single at ten, but the service is so freakin bad. Shame on me for eating there. Drove through yesterday (had a coupon). Service was fast - but they left something off.

We wound up eating at Houstons last night. Very nice. Burger presentation was great. Just not worthy of my top ten. Fries okay but not super.

Lifted weights at the gym this AM. Fixing to go in to a long meeting at 8:30. New boss took us out to lunch today. Burger at Medlock Tavern was good, but the bun was just too much. Good fries.

I was wrong about W&MC – they left for upstate NY this morning. 6:15 am flight. They took the girls.

WILLIE STARGELL [SABR Bio] took the title of all-time, career strikeout king away from Mickey Mantle. The Mick retired with 1,710, having passed Babe Ruth’s record of 1,330 in 1964. Stargell struck out for the 1,711th time on 06-Aug-1978(1) and retired after the 1982 season with 1,936.  Reggie Jackson passed Stargell in 1982 and hasn’t been caught, ending with 2,597. Stargell also hit his 417th HR in that game. He founded the Black Athletes Foundation, an organization aimed at finding the cause of Sickle Cell Anemia in young black children. Stargell was in involved in many good causes, but he was the president of the B.A.F. He hit the first home run Shea Stadium, on 17-Apr-1964.