In 1805, explorers Meriwether Lewis and Daniel Clark were deep in the midst of the first transcontinental exploration to the West Coast of the United States; in 1905, to celebrate the centennial of that expedition, Portland hosted a “world’s fair”, the Lewis and Clark Exposition.  At that time in history, “World’s Fairs” were held annually in cities around the world, as showcases of the local resources and potential opportunities for both companies and individuals.

The building which housed the entrance area to that exposition now houses Meriweather’s – an apt location for a restaurant that concentrates on featuring food prepared using local resources – in fact, Meriwether’s has their own nearby farm and serves in excess of 8 tons of locally grown produce annually.

Open for lunch  Mon-Fri, dinner seven days, and weekend brunch, the chef has come up with an interesting menu with new twists on old favorites, and created a number of his own daring entrees; the restaurant offers full meals, small plates, and a great variety of ‘samplers’  one can order in multiples from their happy hour menu.

We had received a gift card from some dear friends, and had it in our mind to spend a leisurely weekend afternoon happy hour at the restaurant.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy had been once before for a business engagement, but it was my first visit.  She started happy hour with an adult beverage, Meriweather’s French Pair, featuring Grey Goose pepper vodka, sweet liqueur, and prosecco.

On our small plate “board”, we went with five choices for $16: anchovy and avocado toast, chickpea fries, artisan salami, cheese & honeycomb, and raw oysters;  I added the bacon and cheeseburger as an afterthought, but it was served to us first.

The high quality ground beef was served medium rare at my specification, thick-sliced bacon, a mild cheese, and marsala mayo adorning possibly one of the finest hamburger buns the planet has ever witnessed.  The beef was lightly-seasoned and the seasoning did not overpower the ‘beefy’ taste of the thick patty.

While the sampler plate servings were small, all were pleasing, with Mrs. BDB especially enjoying the anchovy and avocado toast, small whole anchovies adorning a spread of very creamy avocado adorning slivers of toasted bread. I enjoyed the small square of honeycomb adorning a piece of cheese, and knew well enough that if I reached for one of the oysters, I might lose a finger to Mrs. BDB’s protective eye.

We arrived at 3pm and the bar (the only venue the happy hour menu is served) attendance was fairly light; by 5p, that had changed considerably.

Service was perfunctory, but the food is the real attraction.  I’m sure Meriwether’s will be added to our new favorites list.

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(Kat Stromquist) I knew of (but had never eaten at) Serio’s from my days working nearby in the Central Business District of New Orleans. They had a reputation for good sandwiches and a long lunch queue, which is generally – though not always – a good sign.

So imagine my trepidation when I encountered, at 1:00 on a Tuesday, a deserted restaurant. A few employees lounged about a table, apparently enjoying a lunch break. Otherwise, not a soul stirred in the Louisiana-sports-themed dining room.

But alas, blogging requires us to undertake many questionable ventures. So I stepped to the counter and ordered a cheeseburger po-boy (basically a cheeseburger on French bread.) The counter attendant/chef, displaying exactly none of the typical NOLA short-order surliness, helpfully inquired after my choice of cheese (from American, Swiss, and Provolone – I chose Swiss) and offered mustard when I mentioned my contempt for mayonnaise.

The Serio’s cheeseburger po-boy is two half-inch-thick beef patties cooked toward the “well” side of “medium-well,” with cheese melted on and a slice thrown on afterward (presumably for texture). It’s dressed classically with iceberg and a few fatigued-looking tomatoes. They use a “hard” French po-boy bun, as opposed to a soft one. I prefer soft, but hard is more traditional.

As you can probably tell, I wasn’t expecting much from this sandwich. But as I bit into it, juices seeped from the meat, the bun crackled satisfyingly, and the well-seasoned beef (strong flavors of onion and a certain je ne sais quoi spice blend) filled my mouth with its savory flavor. Amazing! This unremarkable-looking sandwich was, somehow, delicious.

I’m going to attribute this one to the patty’s quality seasoning – a real “mystery meat” if ever I tasted one. Add that to the heartfelt service that continued throughout my meal (the chef checked on my food, and another employee offered to wrap up the remains of my extremely generous portion for me), and I’d recommend Serio’s anytime.

Next time, I’ll go for the muffaletta (available in whole, half and quarter portions.)

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Geez, FINALLY.  Truth in labeling about a  “Kobe” burger.  You know those restaurants where you are shelling out $10-$20 for a “kobe” burger?  It ain’t “Kobe.”   It’s American beef in the kobe style, whose actual name is Wagyu.  The full explanation is in Wikipedia, so I won’t delve into it at this point.   It’s akin to labeling sparkling wine from California as “champagne.”  (It’s not, technically).

Well, enough snobbishness for one article.  Point is, Trader Joe’s continues their not-so-subtle campaign to garner more and more of my weekly grocery budget.  In the frozen foods department, I picked up their American “Kobe Style” frozen burger patties, two half-pounders to a package, and the copy proclaims “may be one of the best burgers you have ever had,”  or something along those lines.

And damn.  May just well be.  At minimum, it is the best frozen burger patty I have ever consumed.  Most of them I take umbrage to.  Too fine a grind, a lingering frozen meat aftertaste.

Not so with TJs.   This is a fine burger.  Pan fried low and slow at my house this morning, very little shrinkage or fat left in the pan, a nice coarse grind, a hearty beef flavor.

You guys continue to amaze me with your quality, taste and price points.  I’ll be back later today to clean out your freezer of these puppies!

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Billy Heartbeats, an outlet of the Restaurants Unlimited empire, is tucked away adjacent to the food court in the Lloyd Shopping mall in Portland, OR.  It’s a schnock-0ff of Johnny Rockets, serving a limited, table service menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and shakes, with the addition of a few standard diner entrees.

I’ve passed by it quite a few times, never in the mall long enough to check it out.  Last nite we had time before a movie, so Mrs. BDB and I sampled the wares of the kitchen and enjoyed the (decade appropriate) tunes being spit out by a lovingly restored 1952 Seeburg B-100 jukebox.

They offer a daily special burger and shake.   I went with the former, bacon and blue cheese, and our over the top server answered my questions with prescient knowledge.  “And the blue cheese are the big crumbles, not that sickly salad dressing stuff.”

Sold.

Service was prompt and the burger at definite curb appeal.  Food is served in a basket, and most orders are accompanied by fries.  I liked the burger, it’s hand formed and pre-seasoned and suits my palate.

The fries weren’t spectacular but there was nothing wrong with them, either.  Mrs. BDB went with a veggie sandwich and a traditional soda, strawberry, which I had a sample of, and enjoyed that very much.

While I have rarely contemplated a shopping mall as a dinner destination, perhaps I should more often.   Billy Heartbeats makes a burger worth stopping by for.

Billy Heartbeats

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Hmmm, where to begin this one? Where to end. Shall I write a couple hundred words about Joe’s? Or simply (spoiler alert) “Meh.”

I was running around downtown today when I spotted the latest location of Joe’s, which started as a “kiosk” type operation at the fancy pants Bridgeport Mall, and although people urged me to try it, I never got to it.  Every time I go to Bridgeport, and pass the burger stand, I’m either on my way into or out of the cinema.   He has another location at his former Italian dining estab on BHH, but I don’t get over that way much either.  Bored yet?  I’m am.

I sauntered (sashayed?) in to the downtown location and was promptly greeted by the counter person;  the place was “moderately’ busy for a weekday lunch period, but I was the only one ordering.   Joe’s menu is spartan – burgers, dogs, rings, fries, shakes.   If there are topping options, neither I, nor anyway else who has read the menu, is aware of them, and the counter people aren’t coughing up any suggestions either.

I went with the regular burger, “Oregon all natural beef”, iceberg lettuce, tomato and sauce.   I could see by the pile of packages in the corner they use locally baked Franz buns, as well.

I was not asked if I wanted any other condiments, if any where available, or how I wanted it prepared.  I was told that it would be ready in ‘six or seven minutes.’  A burger with a side of fries clocked in at $6.75, I could have added a soda for another 50 cents I was informed.

I wiled away my time sitting at the counter facing the street, and the sandwich was done in less than the estimated time.

Like In N Out (I am not comparing, I am saying ‘in the style of’) Joe’s hopes that a bunch of produce a glob of sauce (both top and bottom bun) will discuss the paper thin patty, cooked into the realm of oblivion.

The prices were hot, crispy shoestring style, lightly salted.

The burger sauce was a variation of the standard secret sauce (thousand island-ish).

I’m not a fan of In N Out.  Fatburger also employs a similar style patty, well done, crispy on the edges, and for some reason, I like theirs.

I wish Joe all the success in the world, I know how hard the hospitality business is, and I’m sure he will prosper for awhile.

But like one of Portland’s other “faves” at the moment, “Little Big Burger,” all I can say is (yawn).   As always, this is MY opinion.  You may find Joe’s to be the perfect burger for you, and I urge you to try it!

Sorry Joe, for me,  no go for the dough.

If that thick pink slab was meat instead of 'mato....I'd be happy!

Why yes, that IS a bag of Moonstruck Chocolates for Mrs. BDB!

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Minnesota Burger Reporter Kawikamedia checked out the Zeitgast Arts Cafe in, part of Zeitgeist Arts, a combination cafe, arts cinema and theater in the downtown neighborhood that is rapidly becoming Duluth’s “Art Sector”.  He and his pals took in  “The Skin I Live In” which he pronounced to be the strangest movie he had seen in a long time, and then popped into the cafe for a bite.

The cafe has  a large bar, with windows overlooking Superior Street, with the splendor of the ediface of the former Hotel Duluth in view.

Kawikamedia had the grilled Angus burger, with melted cheddar, dressed with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mayo, plopped on toasted bun and accompanied by pommes frites.  (I never knew there was anything “French” about Duluth, except for the founding father).

He pronounced the burger and fries as A-OK!

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As a regular reader, you know one of my “acid tests” for how much I like a pizza, is how it holds up to eating the next morning.  I might add a similar criteria for burgers.  Tho I seldom like “leftovers”, I do admit to putting a few extra patties in a frying pan when I am cooking burgers at home, and on occasion, eat those patties out of the frig in the morning.    But restaurant food?  Nah, not for me.  Or so I thought.

Mrs. Burgerdogboy and a her pal Tiffany, Portland’s “hair extraordinaire lady“,  were meeting for lunch yesterday, and they went to Portland’s “Killer Burger“, an odd choice for my wife, as she doesn’t really care for ground beef and might consume two burgers in a calendar year. (But yes, in spite of this, we are still together!).

She reported that the joint is small, very small, but the food more than made up for it.   Killer is known for hand-crafted burgers to the extreme, with toppings and add-ons made in house from the highest quality ingredients.  To quote her directly, “My sandwich was delishus! (Sic)  It created a party of flavors in my mouth!”

That’s awfully high-praise from a non-burger person.  She texted me at work and said she was bringing me one, I said “don’t bother, I won’t see you for three hours, and I don’t think it will hold up all that well.”

But of course, one of her missions in life is killing me with kindness over and above what any husband deserves, and when she picked me up later, she presented me with Killer’s ‘peanut butter bacon pickle’ burger.

It had come off the griddle approximately 3 hours earlier, sitting in its take out packaging, it was……..in a word……..beautiful.

I cautiously lifted it to my burger hole, took a bite……..and swooned.  This is a burger.  A hand crafted 1/3 pound patty, smeared with peanut butter, bacon strips, their in-house smokey sauce, crispy dills, mayo, grilled onions……a delicate blend of sweet and savory on a soft, delicious, over the top bun.

Even the cold fries stood out.  The little woman told me I wouldn’t believe how they tasted just out of the fryer. “When we go back,” she started to say…… and I interrupted, “Us, go to a burger place together?  Who are you and what have you done with my wife?”

But return I am sure we will.  Together.

Thank you Mrs. BDB, and that YOU, Killer Burger!  Superb!

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If you ever visit St. Louis, MO, locals will encourage you to spend some time on the “Hill” one of the local ethnic neighborhoods that remains relatively intact and true to its roots.   In the early days, the “Hill“, so named because it is the highest point in St. Louis, was home to clay mines, and immigrant Italians settled in the area in the 1890s – mostly as workers in the mines.

Shops and restaurants opened to cater to the Italians, and the “Hill” remains an oasis of Italian focused eateries to this day.

Specific to the area is one popular dish, which may have originated there – toasted ravioli.  Ravioli pasta is stuffed with meat or cheese, and deep fried until crispy.

Louisa Foods, of St. Louis, has elevated the status of toasted ravioli, by making it available as a frozen “heat and eat” dish available to the home consumer.

The people of Louisa have mastered the creation of a crispy ‘eat at home’ product that actually DOES crisp up in the oven.    When you think about all the frozen products you have tried for the home, that promise ‘crispness’, you will be aware of what a great feat Louisa has achieved.

The pillows of pasta are stuffed with seasoned minced beef, and come out of the oven piping hot and crispy in the right places, chewy in the center, just as you would find in a local St. Louis eatery.  I AM impressed!

Mrs. Burgerdogboy heated some as part of an appetizer dinner last nite, and served them with a side of marinara and shaved Parmesan (not included), and the package easily serves 4-6 on an appetizer basis, and for the 2 of us, would have been more than enough for a meal, all by their lonesome.

I always enjoy partaking in regional specialties, and when you find manufacturers that are successfully able to take a regional dish and make it available to the world, well, that’s a treat.

Congratulations Louisa, on a fine product.

I think I found these at our local Wal Mart.  I was not able to find a website for the company, but they have a Facebook page.  Call them to ask about availability in your area:  314-868-3000.

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A colleague at work ran out to Wendy’s today to fetch a pail of ….burgers for the crew.

They were doubles with cheese.

They were the pretty standard rectangular patties reminiscent of Wendy’s of old, but it was the new bun and pickle. I’m not one for burger pickles on the “sweetish” side, and Wendy’s are.

The lettuce was in tough shape and got discarded immediately. As I said in a previous post, the new fries are great just out of the fryer, but don’t hold up over any period of time.

Lunch at Wendy’s today was one of my favorite “F” words: FREE.

Other than that, I don’t have a kind word.

Dave Thomas would probably be as unhappy as Ray Kroc, if either were alive today.

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It’s the hottest new spot in one of the oldest buildings – Duluth’s original city hall, and Minnesota Burger Reporter Kawikamedia was there for the early days opening.

He started with the smoked fish appetizer, and said the whitefish was grand.

On to the burger.  “The best burger I have had in a restaurant ever!”   That’s pretty high praise.

They start with a 1/2 pound of local grind, sprinkle their own magic seasoning on it, and chargrill it to your order.  Kawika went with the “Pacific Style”, which  adds avocado, lettuce, tomato, shaved onion, and garlic mayo.

Menu is online.

Tycoon's Duluth Minnesota

Photographs copyright 2012 Kawikamedia.

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