D.C.'s Best Burger Joints ... and a Staten Island Extra

After receiving word this week that one of the President's favorite DC burger spots closed - for failure to pay its rent! - I decided it was as good a time as any to finally release the results of a little burger study I did when I lived in Washington. Believe it or not, I've actually had several requests for this, so here it goes ... 

During my four years in the City of Roses, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Portland's gastronomic hot spots and often offered reviews and pictures of wonderful meals on these electronic pages.  In Portland, I found that even the best and most popular restaurants were reasonably priced for a humble religious and I had a cohort of friends always game to try a new restaurant.   

When I first moved to D.C. I had hoped that I'd be able to continue my culinary adventures and report on them here on the blog. But alas, graduate studies kept me busy and the significantly higher prices in our nation's capital kept me from venturing to some of the best and brightest spots. 

I decided I needed a more wallet-friendly way of exploring the capital's food scene. I also discovered that our President (and his lovely wife) are fans of junk food, especially the all-American burger and fries.  Whenever either of them snuck out of the White House to cheat on their diets, the Washington Post would almost inevitably have a brief article and photo covering the event as if it were really news.

Politically speaking, there isn't very much President Obama and I agree on.  But I decided, in a spirit of bipartisanship, that I would visit some of his and Michelle's favorite burger joints and review them on my blog. (Interestingly, it turned out the President and I don't necessarily agree on the capital's best burger either! Michelle and I, however, are more simpatico.)

At the start, I should mention that I was not attempting to find the District's best burger, but to tour the District's burger joints. So I didn't look to visit restaurants or bars that serve excellent burgers as part of a lengthier menu. Rather, I chose to limit myself to places that serve burgers and fries almost exclusively.

My evaluation of the burgers covered the quality, quantity, and flavor of the meat; the texture and taste of the bun; and the quality and diversity of the toppings.  I also took account of the french fries' flavor, temperature, and texture, and noted any special dipping sauces that might have been on offer.

Finally, I gave restaurants bonus points when they offered milk shakes, deserts, or some other pleasant extra. Speaking of points, I should note that, in fact, there really is no point system ... I just made a list of the places I visited in ascending order of enjoyment.

10. Elevation Burger

My least favorite burger came from Elevation Burger which has several locations in the DC-MD-VA area, and is also franchised in eight other states. They pride themselves on serving organic, grass-fed, free-range beef ... but it was the burger itself that I so disliked. The patty didn't seem as if it were made of ground beef at all - rather, it seemed to be more 'lumped' ... which, in these parts, works for crab cakes but not for burgers. The bun was also pretty terrible - basically the starch-white industrial bun found in public school cafeterias. The toppings and fries were fine, but not enough to save the burger. I wouldn't waste the calories on Elevation again.

9.  BGR

BGR, or The Burger Joint, was the first of the D.C. burger establishments that I visited. They have locations throughout the South, in California, and in New York, though outside of the City itself. I enjoyed the burger well enough - it was a good size and it was nice and hot, but it wasn't especially flavorful. I had it topped with bacon, American cheese, and grilled onions - all of which were very good. But the bun was a little too bready for my liking, and the sweet potato fries weren't quite as crisp as I like them to be. BGR was fine, but I would look for other options before making a return visit. 

8 and 7. Z-Burger and Five Guys

I rank and evaluate these two burger joints together because it's hard for me to distinguish between the two of them. Both of these franchises are native to the DC area, although Five Guys has spread to all but three of the fifty states and Z-Burger has remained a local establishment.  Both restaurants serve a quality burger, quickly, and cheaply (and wrapped in aluminum foil!).  Their fries are hand cut, hot, and served in giant portions (their toppings are numerous and adequate) but are rarely crisp enough.

I have a slight preference for Z-Burger's bun, which is loaded with sesame seeds. I also like that they offer a variety of milk shake flavors (75 to be exact) and that they serve onion rings. On the other hand, Five Guys offers peanuts for an 'appetizer' as you wait.  Over all, both establishments are quite good and together they kind of served as a base line for what I expect out of a good burger joint.

6.  Ray's Hell Burger 

This is the President's favorite in-town burger joint. The picture above shows Mr. Obama at Ray's chowing down with then Russian President Medvedev. The locals are also over the moon about this place. They've had to open a second location mere storefronts away from the original to handle the crowds.

Perhaps my own experience suffered from all the hype. It seemed to me that offering extremely large burgers was what most recommended Ray's. Otherwise, the toppings, sauces, bun, and fries, were all pretty standard issue. Sorry D.C., but I don't think Ray's demise is worth shedding tears over.

5.  Black & Orange 

Originally called Rogue States, Black & Orange was founded by celebrated chef Raynold Mendizabal and has two locations in D.C. Black & Orange is known for being open into the wee hours of the morning.  But to me, its true uniqueness lies in the fact that while other burger joints name their burgers by the combination of toppings that adorn the burgers, at Black & Orange the names denote different flavors and seasonings used in forming the patty. These include curry, soy, jerk, and black truffle among others.

I enjoyed the black truffle oil burger which was very flavorful - and the peppered bacon I added on was simply fantastic. I thought the bun was okay, but it didn't stand out as anything special. The fries, too, were simply adequate. However, the Old Bay mayonnaise for dipping is an inspired addition!

4.  Bobby's Burger Palace  

The nearly ubiquitous celebrity chef Bobby Flay has jumped onto the burger craze bandwagon with his BBP chain. The gourmet burgers on the menu are named for different major cities and feature toppings that represent that city's culinary trademarks. These include a Dallas Burger with barbecue sauce, and a Philly burger with peppers, onions, and provolone.

Flay also gives you the option of having any burger "crunchified" which means that it comes topped with potato chips. I went ahead and gave it a try, but it didn't do anything for me at all. After compressing the monstrosity enough to take a bite, the mass of chips quickly became something akin to wet sawdust as it melted into the cheese and soaked up the ketchup. I also didn't think the onion rings were nearly crunchy enough.

Still, the Crunchburger's bun and the cheeseburger itself were quite good, and the fries - both regular and sweet potato - were very good. The sweet potato fries were especially good: crispy and served with a great spicy mustard. And I really enjoyed the black and white milkshake which was the perfect consistency.

3.  Kraze Burger

Kraze Burger (pronounced Crazy Burger) is, believe it or not, a South Korean burger chain. Their first American location was in Bethesda, and they have since opened another DC restaurant.  There are numerous interesting options for burger toppings at Kraze, but unfortunately I don't recall that kimchee was one of them! I ordered a fairly standard bacon cheeseburger with an onion ring added on, but everything about it was perfectly done. And the handcut fries were - unlike Five Guys a few doors away - perfectly crisp.

2.  Good Stuff Eatery

The soft potato bun is probably my favorite nest for a burger, so Good Stuff Eatery was certainly off to a good start. And the burger itself and the toppings were very good as well.  But then I tasted the superb toasted marshmallow shake ... and then I sampled the various dipping sauces for the french fries, especially the fantastic Old Bay Mayo ... these delights allowed me to easily overlook the fact that the french fries were on the soggy side.

1.  Shake Shack

I actually don't know if this is Michelle Obama's favorite DC burger, but after her lunching at Shake Shack garnered a lot of attention from the media, let's just assume it's her favorite ... in which case, I couldn't agree more!

I'm probably a bit biased, since Shake Shack was founded by the legendary Danny Meyer in New York City, but to my mind they offer the platonic ideal of the french fry: crinkle-cut, hot and crisp, and available with a cheese sauce that's closer to fondue than to the toxic canned "cheese" that usually gets poured over fries or nachos. The burger itself is griddle-pressed, hot and just slightly crisp around the edges, and the lettuce and tomato are always cool and fresh. Again, they're all set on my favorite: a soft potato bun.  And then there are the milkshakes and concretes, perfect in consistency and flavor.

Now that I live in NYC there is a Shake Shack just about three blocks from where I live. It is a miracle that I have had the fortitude to resist (I've only eaten there twice since August!) or else I'd weigh three hundred pounds!

A Staten Island Extra ... 

While I was undertaking this survey of DC's burgers, a friend insisted that one would be disloyal to one's home-place if they did not believe that some restaurant in their hometown served the best burger in the world.  When he said this, I honestly couldn't think of a place on Staten Island that fit the bill.  Shake Shack had to serve as my hometown favorite.

But I'm happy to say that the burger craze that Shake Shack helped spawn has now led to at least two burger joints opening on Staten Island: Standard Burger and Burga.  I've gotten to both since I moved back to the city, and although I enjoyed Standard Burger's "Texan" very much ...

I have to say that Burga is simply the best burger joint I have ever been to, anywhere, ever.  Their truffle oil fries, and thin, crisp onion rings; their black and white milkshake; and the fabulously flavorful burger (or should I say burga) have all been absolutely perfect every time I've eaten there.

S.I. Burger Bash

Since arriving in Washington DC I have been conducting a scientific search for the best burger joint in the area. I hope to be able to report on my findings in the very near future.  

In discussing my search with friends in the area, one person has suggested that in order to be truly loyal to your home-place, you must believe that the greatest burger on earth is made in a restaurant in your hometown.

Recently The Staten Island Advance published an article listing the food editors' favorite burger joints on the Island. 

I have to confess that I haven't been to the vast majority of the places they mentioned. But I was struck by the fact that several of these restaurants served their burgers on toasted English muffins!

If the use of an English muffin is indeed standard operating procedure, I guess I will have to fail my friend's test for loyalty to my home-place. English Muffins? Really? Staten Islanders, please do weigh in!

A Priest's Chalice

The Catholic New York has a lovely little piece on New York's recent commemoration of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. The article briefly explains the story behind the chalice that Archbishop Dolan used in the memorial Mass he celebrated at St. Peter's Parish just blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. Go check it out.

A Somber and Solemn Anniversary - UPDATED

Since September 11th there have been any number of attempts to make an artistic response to the tragedies of that day. Unfortunately, the 9/11 films that I have seen have failed because they were too concerned with the overwhelming nature of the day's visuals and insufficiently capable of capturing the rapid and unexpected shifts in the emotional landscape of New York City. Perhaps this says something about the state of the cinematic arts, I don't know.

Then, there are apparently a number of novels that have achieved this goal, but I am not very familiar with the modern American novel. Pete Hamill's "Forever" is the only explicitly post-9/11 novel I have read, and I think it does address the existential issues in an interesting and compelling manner.

I am most familiar, however, with the musical responses to the day. In my homily I mentioned one attempt by Alan Jackson, his song "Where Were You." I've always thought his lyrics displayed an amazing ability to name, without judging or over-explaining, the tremendously varied emotional responses to that day.

Bruce Springsteen's album, "The Rising," especially the singles, "The Rising," "Empty Sky," and "My City of Ruins" have always been my gold-standard for evaluating artistic responses to September 11th.  Springsteen's roots in the New York-New Jersey area, his working class sensibilities, and his theology deeply rooted in Catholic themes of sacramentality and redemption, combine with his singular musical and storytelling abilities to produce a truly amazing album.

But somehow, another fantastic musical response and tribute to the heroes of September 11th alluded my attention until this year: "Grand Central Station" by Mary Chapin Carpenter.  The haunting melody is combined with lyrics that tell the story of a construction worker, helping dig out the pile in the days and weeks after September 11th. The lyrics are his meditation on feeling the presence of all the missing, and sensing their spirits' desire for him to lead them to Grand Central Station for one last journey home. It is a truly remarkable song.

One line in particular stands out: "I guess you're never really all alone, or too far from the pull of home." That's been the theme of my prayer and reflection this day ... for myself and for all my loved ones and fellow New Yorkers: that we never forgot that we're not alone, and home is always closer than we realize ... and for all those who were lost: that they find their way home and await us there.

UPDATE - Of the many touching and inspiring stories from that day, this one had alluded me until now. I was amazed that the marine evacuation of Lower Manhattan on September 11th was the largest in history, larger even than the British evacuation of Dunkirk. Another great story of everyday heroes.

To Eataly Via the High Line

Picking up where I left off, at the end of Matthew and Christine's wedding weekend ... On the Monday after the big festivities, my parents and I joined my aunts Barbara and Ginny for a walk along the newest section of the High Line.

I've posted about this marvelous new park before, and now a whole new section of the old elevated railway has been renovated into parkland with spectacular views of the city ...

... lots of "wild" plantings, reminiscent of the days when the tracks laid abandoned ...

... and meticulously groomed lawns running between newly built, and recently renovated, high end apartments.

At the end of the newly opened section, the staircases that bring you back down to street level, drop you off at a food cart pod that reminded me of my time in Portland, OR. There was even an outdoor beer garden with microbrews from Brooklyn Brewery! Alas, we had other plans for our meal ...

After working up a powerful hunger and thirst, we made a visit to Eatlay, which I have also written about before. It was great to be able to share it with family as last time I was by myself - and Italian food, especially, is meant for family!

We enjoyed our meats and cheeses, and then went in search of pasta! After lunch we also explored the newly opened bar and restaurant atop the Eatlay building.

It seemed to have a fabulous and unique menu, and gave us yet another reason to make a return visit sometime soon!

Good Night Irene

Several friends have very kindly been inquiring about my family and how they survived Hurrican Irene. I'm happy to report that everyone is safe and sound and that they largely avoided even the minor inconveniences of power outages, downed tree limbs, and basement flooding.

That is not to say that Staten Island was unscathed. These pictures from The Staten Island Advance show that there was quite a bit of localized flooding, especially on our South Shore of the Island.

There were also any number of downed trees and power lines. Still, it seems that the worst case scenarios were thankfully avoided. Here in DC that is certainly the case. In Bethesda there were spotty power outages, but little to no flooding.

Let's hope that we can go a week or two without another natural calamity! And may the next weather event involve snow!!

News of My Demise ...

... has been greatly exaggerated. Though word of my hard-drive's demise are entirely accurate! I'll get to that in a moment.

Since the end of the semester I've spent the majority of my time away from Washington, away from studies, and obviously enough, away from the blog. I've been SO busy that I haven't even had the time to blog about my adventures!

Right after I finished up the last paper of the semester, I drove to Staten Island for a week of R&R with Mom and Dad. My itinerary was decidedly low-key and I enjoyed the unstructured time with my family. I then drove from Staten Island to Notre Dame, where I spent a week doing research in the library and in the University Archives.

My research this summer will focus on Catholic Boy Magazine which was published by the Holy Cross Fathers from 1947 to 1970.  There are several interesting angles I'm contemplating for my study, but the topic that first interested me is what the young male readers of this magazine were being told about the qualities required in a Catholic man. The wonderful cover art produced by Charles Kerins is itself a fabulous source for such an investigation.

While in South Bend, I also had the chance to catch up with a few friends. Most especially, I spent some great time with my classmates Frs. Pete and Jim ... and together, we traveled to Chicago to see the Cubs and the Mets at Wrigley. We were hosted by my friend Kirk who is a doctoral candidate at Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't exactly cooperative ...

Between Kirk on the left, and Jim on the right, you can see that Pete needed to find a Snuggie to get through the game! Then to add insult to injury, the lowly Cubs beat up on the even more lowly Mets. On the way home to South Bend, Jim, Pete and I took solace and warmth in a cocktail or two, and in a fabulous Chicago style pizza!

After my time in South Bend, I returned to Bethesda were I continued my rather intensive work with Catholic Boy Magazine. I also had the privilege of concelebrating the Wedding Mass of two of my fellow graduate students at Catholic University. Seth and Mary are both doctoral candidates in the history department and have been so welcoming to me in my first here at CUA. It was a very happy occasion to celebrate with them.

After the wedding, I was back on the road for a few more days vacation and then for lots of community meetings. I joined three C.S.C. friends, Frs. Gerry, Nate, and Steve for some days of vacation on the Jersey Shore. We had an absolute blast relaxing on the beach, swimming, and visiting Atlantic City and Cape May. The weather was absolutely perfect and the beaches were gorgeous. I even beat the guys in miniature golf!

Unfortunately, all of the wonderful pictures I took were lost when my hard-drive crashed a few days ago. The pictures you've enjoyed here come to us courtesy of Fr. Nate.  Thankfully, I didn't lose any of my academic files or homilies, and the lovely people at the Apple Store here in Bethesda had me back up and running with a new hard-drive in a matter of minutes. I then retrieved all of my data, other than those vacation pictures, from my back-up external hard drive. So, in the end it wasn't a disaster, but it was a great reminder to keep backing up regularly!

Our vacation in Stone Harbor, N.J. was followed by Baby Priest Camp. If you can't recall what that's all about, you can refresh your memory here. My classmates and I have been ordained for four years now, so we are among the "senior" members of the group - which is really crazy to imagine! It was wonderful to be with such a great group of guys.

After a weekend in LaPore, we all drove to Notre Dame to join with all the other members of the Indiana and Eastern Provinces of the Congregation for an Assembly.  Every five years all the members of the Province gather for a "family reunion" involving prayer, a few conferences, lots of food and drink, with a premium on time to relax and to reconnect with "family members" we sometimes go a long time without seeing.

This year, our Assembly marked the merging of two Provinces: the Indiana and Eastern Provinces will become the United States Province of Priests and Brothers on July 1st, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You can read more about the Assembly here.

Finally, at the conclusion of our Assembly I made yet one more day-long drive across I-80 and returned to Staten Island for Father's Day weekend.  This trip made it possible for me to attend a family reunion for my Mom's side of the family, to attend the Presidential Dinner for Holy Cross High School in Queens, N.Y. where my friend Fr. Walter Jenkins, C.S.C. is taking over the presidency, and finally to celebrate Mom's last day of teaching before her well-deserved retirement!

It might be a little bit of a stretch to say that I felt guilty about all of this time away from work, but I definitely did feel a bit out-of-sorts after awhile, and I am glad to be back into a routine. Back in D.C. I'm continuing to work on my Catholic Boy project, and I'm also trying to bone up on my French to fulfill one of the requirements of my graduate program. But I promise that there'll be some more summer fun to report on in the days ahead! ;)

Cosmos Comeback?

I very much enjoyed my trip to the DC United game earlier this spring, and I've been really excited by the rise of the Portland Timbers into the ranks of the MLS . . . but this ad campaign tops them all:

Obviously the campaign is for the New York Cosmos who may or may not become the next addition to MLS. I hope they are in fact on their way back ... I just can't quite bring myself to root for the Red Bulls!

Meanwhile . . . back on Staten Island . . .

. . . my poor parents were digging out, yet again, from a major snowstorm. 

It seems all my prayers for snow are being answered - the snow is just being mis-delivered to my former addresses on Staten Island and in South Bend! Hopefully the next big one will catch up with me in my current postal code!

Eataly NYC

Whenever I come home to New York, I have the tradition of making a pilgrimage to St. Patrick's Cathedral. At Christmas time I always combine this trip with a stop at Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree and some other stops for shopping and sightseeing.

I particularly enjoy St. Patrick's when it is decorated for Christmas, and the organist and cantor are still doing Christmas hymns at the daily Masses . . . 

After a few prayers at the creche . . .

. . . I made my way to the tree at Rockefeller Center, and also stopped in the LEGO store!

After spending the mid-morning in midtown, I made my way downtown into the shadows of the famous Flatiron Building . . .

. . . where Mario Batali and company have established Eataly - an entire Italian food market under one roof.  Eataly sells wine and beer, meats and cheeses, breads and sweets, coffee, fresh fish and produce, fresh and dried pasta, cook books and housewares. In other words, almost everything touching upon the culinary life of Italy. The variety is astonishing and the quality is also very high. The displays are absolutely gorgeous and the staff seemed knowledgeable - and busy, given the number of patrons.

One of Eatlay's mottos is, we cook what we sell and sell what we cook.  So throughout the establishment, the various marketplaces are set up not only for retail but for dining as well. I sat in the pizza and pasta section, and was happy to have a seat right at the kitchen counter.

I was dining at the latter end of the weekday lunch rush and things were definitely hopping. I enjoyed my beer as I watched everyone else work.

My first course was a fabulous winter salad of fennel, celery root, cauliflower and Asian pear. I absolutely love fennel, and it was perfectly paired with the sweetness of the Asian pear. If I had nothing else I would have left happy.

But of course I also had pasta! I ordered the pasta al forno with ragu, and it too was very good.

On the way out, I took another swing through the various marketplaces and had a small piece of tiramisu (sorry, no picture . . . there was no room at the very small pastry counter so I had to eat on the move!). It was probably in the top five tiramisu I have ever had.

There's been a good deal of buzz surrounding Eataly and to my mind it basically lived up to the hype.

I can't say if I would make it my regular market if I lived nearby . . . things seemed a little expensive, but I might be unused to NY prices these days. Also, I wonder how many of the things being sold there could also be found at other nearby markets. New York obviously has many excellent bakeries, butchers and fishmongers - and innumerable establishments for Italian specialty foods. Eataly might be a greater resource in smaller or less diverse cities (though those places might also have less interest in such a store).

And finally, although the crowds were reasonable when I was visiting, they were still too much for the location to handle. It was difficult to find a place at the counters and tables to sample the provisions - and if I hadn't been solo, it would have been impossible. I can only imagine what the place is like at peak hours and on weekends.

At the same time, as I have already noted the quality of the food was excellent - and the staff was very friendly. Like Disney World for food, you might not go every day, and you might have to fight the crowds, but it's definitely a lot of fun!

. . . On the Feast of Stephen . . .

. . . when the snow lay 'round about, deep and crisp and even.

Even if the Church didn't observe his feast because it fell on Holy Family Sunday, I think I shall refer to the blizzard of December 2010 as the St. Stephen's Day Blizzard.

On Christmas Eve, Mom, Dad and I watched the eleven o'clock news and the forecast called for absolutely no snow in New York City. The storm which brought the Southeastern United States its first White Christmas in decades (or in some cases ever!) was going to be too far out to sea to hit us. Eastern Long Island and New England would be the only areas effected.

But by the time our Christmas dinner guests arrived at midday on the 25th, the forecast had changed completely. All of the necessary variables had aligned and the storm was now headed right up the coast.

On the 26th, I presided at the 10 a.m. and Noon Masses at Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady Queen of Peace, and the snow was already flying as I greeted the congregation after the 10 a.m. Mass.  It kept snowing throughout the afternoon, and the true blizzard conditions arrived at about 8 p.m.

Throughout the night the snow and wind kept coming, and when we woke Monday morning there was approximately 30 inches of snow on Staten Island. In Manhattan, the 20 inches in Central Park made it the 6th largest snowfall in NYC recorded history. Apparently the snow was even worse on Staten Island and some nearby parts of coastal New Jersey: further inland, in New Jersey and upstate New York, the accumulations were not as severe.

What most makes this storm stand out, however, is the wind and the amazing drifting that it's caused. All of us have said that we've never seen snow drifts like this on Staten Island.

This storm won't affect any of my travels to or from Washington, D.C. so I'm just enjoying the snow - but obviously many others are dealing with cancellations and closures. I wish them all good luck and safety!