Remember when "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" was the height of burger innovation? That would never fly with gourmands these days. Check out these 10 totally epic variations on standard burgers from some of the hottest restaurants and chefs in the country. Well, after you get something to wipe up any drool.
The chef: Richard Blais
The restaurant: FLIP Burger Boutique in Atlanta and Birmingham
The burger: Lob-steer burger
Patty type: Hand-ground beef
The add-ins: lobster, garlic butter, mushroom ketchup, caramelized onions, mustard caviar
Difficulty factor: medium to high
Impressiveness: Mushroom ketchup and mustard caviar? Mmmmhmmmm.
Get-in-my-belly scale: Love a good customized condiment.
The chef: A Lockdown Bar and Grill joint collaboration with Chef Jason Slimak
The restaurant: Lockdown Bar and Grill in Chicago
The burger: The Green Mile
Patty type: 100 percent certified Angus beef
The add-ins: house-made sauerkraut sautéed in Guinness stout, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, melted Irish white cheddar, homemade stone-ground mustard, corned beef, and served on fresh-baked marble rye topped with
Difficulty factor: hard
Impressiveness: Ireland's classic dishes finally unite as one.
Get-in-my-belly scale: Might only be able to handle this one once a year on the occasion for which it was created, St. Patrick's Day.
The chef: Alex Garcia
The restaurant: A.G. Kitchen, New York City
The burger: The Gaucho Burger
Patty type: 100 percent ribeye
Add ins: Crispy onions, guava BBQ sauce
Difficulty factor: medium
Impressiveness: Guava...nice touch.
Get-in-my-belly scale: Unique BBQ sauce recipe? Check and mate.
The chef: Jeff Richard, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America
The restaurant: Crave Real Burgers
The burger: The Luther
Patty type: Colorado Proud certified ground chuck beef burger
The add-ins: bacon, cheddar, onion, and a perfectly-fried egg between two glazed donuts for buns.
Difficulty factor: Medium-to-hard: "You'll need to procure the best ground chuck available and two glazed donuts for each Luther," says Chris Burchard from Crave.
Impressiveness: Glazed donuts instead of buns. Yup.
Get-in-my-belly scale: We're both intimidated by and scared of combining a cheeseburger with eggs and donuts.
The chef: Rob Shanahan
The restaurant: City Streets Restaurant, Waltham, Massachusetts
The burger: Mac & Cheese Stuffed Burger
Patty type: 100-percent ground beef
The add-ins: fresh mozzarella, Cavatapi pasta, cheddar cheese
Difficulty factor: low to medium
Impressiveness: This burger has us wondering what other classic comfort foods should be combined for total nirvana. Hot dogs and apple pie?
Get-in-my-belly scale: Sure, as soon as you can get the image of hot dog apple pie out of your head. (Sorry.)
The chef: Chef Anthony Meidenbauer
The restaurant: Holsteins Shakes & Buns at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
The burger: Billionaire Burger
Patty type: special-blend Kobe beef
The add-ins: Foie gras, port onion marmalade, frisée, truffle mayo
Difficulty factor: High
Impressiveness: This burger lives up to its name: fois gras and truffle mayo? Excusez moi.
Get-in-my-belly scale: To reiterate: Truffle. Mayo.
The chef: Adam Fleischman
The restaurant: Umami Burger, California, Florida, New York City
The burger: The Original Umami Burger
Patty type: signature hand-cut beef blend
The add-ins: Umami Master Sauce, Umami Dust, Umami Spray, Umami Ketchup, Parmesan Frico, oven-roasted tomato with an Umami Glaze, sh*take mushroom
Difficulty factor: medium
Impressiveness: Not as flashy as some of the others on this list, but Umami's special sauces are renowned in the foodie community.
Get-in-my-belly scale: We want that Parmesan frico like, yesterday.
The chef: Tim Byres
The restaurant: SMOKE in Dallas
The burger: E,B&D Loaded up & Truckin' Burger
Patty type: beef
The add-ins: thick, hand-cut bacon, frittered egg with runny yolk
Difficulty factor: Medium to hard
Impressiveness: That's a tall order (pun intended).
Get-in-my-belly scale: Sure, just need to unhinge our jaws.
The chef: Chris Nirschel
The restaurant: SLIDE in New York City
The burger: Chicken and waffle sliders
Patty type: Fried chicken breast
The add-ins: cheddar waffle with maple-bourbon pear butter and spicy cole slaw
Difficulty: Hard
Impressiveness: While these might not qualify as "burgers" if we're getting technical, they're definitely a feat of culinary adaptation.
Get-in-my-belly scale: You had me at "cheddar waffle."
The chef: Emeril Lagasse
The Cookbook: Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches: Stacked with Flavor
Name" of burger: Tunisian Lamb Burger
Patty type: Ground lamb
The add-ins: Emeril's Bamburger Seasoning, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, Aleppo pepper, allspice, yellow onion, fresh parsley leaves, garlic
Difficulty factor: Easy to moderate
Impressiveness: It's not as out-of-the-box as other burgers on this list, but the Middle Eastern influence makes this a delish alternative to a regular beef burger.
Get-in-my-belly scale: Throw some hummus on that bad boy, and we've got a deal.
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