So Good » Burgers http://www.sogoodblog.com An absurd look at the world of food Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:26:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 McDonald’s Burger Domination: A Tale of Conflicting Maps http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/03/10/mcdonalds-burger-domination-conflicting-maps/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/03/10/mcdonalds-burger-domination-conflicting-maps/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:28:13 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=3433 A few days ago, Consumerist had a blog post showing an interesting map alleging to show the concentration of fast-food burger joints across the U.S.

The Consumerist post is based off an “Infographic of the Day” post from the magazine Fast Company.  The map above appears to show a far less dominant market position for McDonald’s than many had assumed. In fact, the blogger for Consumerist notes:

I had always assumed that McDonalds’ hamburger hegemony of the United States, if not the world, was complete. I was wrong. Clearly, I need to leave the Northeast more.

Indeed, the map seems to convey that McDonald’s has extreme concentration in the Northeast, but not many other places of dominance other than a scattering of black dots across the Northwest and upper Midwest.

There’s just one problem: by making the claim that McDonald’s is not as dominant as they thought, and by failing to explain the nature of the map seen above, Consumerist (as well as Fast Company) is essentially misreading and misinterpreting the data  by failing to note the map above is labeled McDonald’s vs. Allied Competitors.

So what does “Allied Competitors” mean? It means the total number of stores for McDonald’s top 7 competitors are being added together and compared directly with McDonald’s. So if there is a black dot in the region you are looking at, i.e. the Northeast, than McDonald’s in that region has more locations than its next 7 rivals COMBINED.  In any region that is NOT black, the 7 other competitors have more stores than McDonald’s, but only AFTER you combine all their stores  into one cumulative number. In these circumstances, a black McDonald’s dot is simply ineligible to appear on the map for that location and the color of the competitor with the most locations in that region is highlighted on the map.

So let me emphasize that again: the most predominant competitor is highlighted EVEN IF THAT COMPETITOR HAS FEWER STORES IN THE REGION THAN MCDONALD’S.

What is a more interesting question is WHY did Consumerist and Fast Company both highlight this map?  The original blog that posted this visualization, WeatherSealed, provided the map you see above as somewhat of an after-thought, imagining it as a Star Wars-esque “rebel alliance” of McDonald’s competitors who are able to  “beat” McDonald’s only by collectively banding together.  In fact, WeatherSealed led off their original blog post with a map that is a much more accurate representation of just how much McDonald’s dominates vs. other fast food joints on a per-location basis:

Here we see some sheer dominance of Texas and Oklahoma by Sonic, a smattering of Burger King & Dairy Queen clusters in the Upper Midwest/Plain States, some Jack-in-the-Box love for So-Cal and Arizona and some Wendy’s strength in the Appalachian belt.  But the blasting of black across the rest of the United States outside of these clusters makes clear the control McDonald’s wields over the U.S. market based on the number-of-locations metric.

So why did Consumerist and Fast Company highlight the other map? Because it’s prettier? Has more psychedelic colors? Conveys the more interesting (although completely inaccurate) point that McDonald’s might not be as dominant as people thought? Either way, Consumerist and Fast Company appear to have done a disservice to their readers by not better explaining the context of the map they were highlighting and/or noting the more relevant map of the two.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/03/10/mcdonalds-burger-domination-conflicting-maps/feed/ 5 Burger King Wants You Fat And Drunk http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/01/22/burger-king-fat-drunk/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/01/22/burger-king-fat-drunk/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:03:04 +0000 JT http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=3367

Apparently, fat, drunk and stupid actually is the way to go through life – at least according to Burger King.  BK, the creator of such brilliant concepts as “Singing in the Shower” and “Burger Shots,” today announced that they will start serving beer along with their plethora of food-like products in mid-February at a trial location.  This establishment, fashionably dubbed “Whopper Bar,” will be in South Beach, which shouldn’t surprise anyone.  If successful, the chain will spread these eateries to other towns featuring elastic-waisted-pants-wearing-tourists, like LA, Vegas and NYC.  It clearly is not enough for the chain to fill you up with salt, saturated fat and cholesterol – you have to be boozed up as well.  Ahh, the American dream.  I can’t wait to place my next drive-though order.

H/t to Carl for the picture.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2010/01/22/burger-king-fat-drunk/feed/ 3 Burger King Double Cheeseburger Now = $1! http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/10/19/burger-king-double-cheeseburger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/10/19/burger-king-double-cheeseburger/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:27:34 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=3184 Burger King has been testing the $1 Double Cheeseburger in various markets for the past 18 months, and as of today, unveiled it nationally. After fighting tooth and nail against it, franchise owners seem to have relented, and BK is talking tough about the superiority of their Double Cheeseburger:

“With more beef and cheese, the $1 ¼-pound Double Cheeseburger beats competitors’ sandwiches, such as McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger and Wendy’s Double Stack,”

Burger King Double Cheeseburger

“1/4 pound of hot, not so fresh, delicious preservative laden beef!”

Dollar menus or value menus have been all the rage in the fast food world in the last few years, as companies look to offer as many deals and variety as possible to bring in more customers. Consumers love it, because instead of paying $6 for a value meal, they can fill themselves up on the cheap. For example, a McChicken and a McDouble at McDonalds is my go-to order – only $2 and it leaves me pretty satisfied. Well, satisfied from a fullness perspective, I am never satisfied when I’m forced to eat McDonalds.

The dirty secret of dollar menus though, that I alluded to in my opening paragraph, is that franchise owners HATE them. They feel that dollar menus allow people to load up on a few cheap items, instead of paying more for a value meal, costing them valuable sales dollars. Burger King has been fighting this battle with their franchisees for nearly 2 years now, as BK owners aren’t exactly eager to sell a burger for $1 that has been retailing for nearly $2.50.

Just last year, McDonald’s gave up their $1 double cheeseburger gambit, raising the price to $1.19 and adding the “McDouble” (essentially a double cheeseburger, sans one slice of cheese) to the dollar menu in its place. Yet now, BK is offering up a 1/4 pound version of what McDonald’s couldn’t afford to keep on its dollar menu? Good luck with that BK.

On the topic of cheap burger sizes, do you remember when the quarter pounder was considered to be literally a huge thing? People were all “whoa dude, quarter pounder. Alright. You aren’t messing around at this meal.” Uh yeah. Not so much anymore. A quarter pounder ain’t shite anymore people. Sorry dudes, but you are definitely not ballin’ if you are all about the burger that the local homeless dude can afford with a good 20 minutes of panhandling. But hey, in this economy, that’s a lot of sustenance for not a lot of money, so go buy it. Or don’t. I really don’t care.

H/T to Fast Food Maven and GrubGrade.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/10/19/burger-king-double-cheeseburger/feed/ 8 Butter Burgers http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/09/27/butter-burgers/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/09/27/butter-burgers/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:23:38 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=3164 Greetings So Good readers. Eick here, with a post for the first time in a month. Yikes. The craziness of real life has gotten the better of me in the last month, and the result has been devastating for So Good, I admit. But I’m back and excited to be spouting off my thoughts on food.

So this is a new one to me. A burger with butter on it? Hmmmm. I know places that butter, or sometimes even heavily butter the buns they put their burgers on, but putting a big old slab of butter directly onto a burger? Wow. I stumbled across these butter burgers when reading a post on Andrew Sullivan’s blog, featuring a new ad for Miller High Life that prominently features this high-fat treat.

That looks awful and awesomely appealing at the same time. Apparently butter burgers are a Wisconsin favorite, and have been made famous by a place called Culver’s. Check out a review of these burgers from Would I Buy It Again?

Anyone tried one of these bad boys?

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/09/27/butter-burgers/feed/ 19 Bill Clinton Visits Z Burger http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/27/bill-clinton-visits-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/27/bill-clinton-visits-burger/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:34:09 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=3004 Continuing the new 2009 tradition of Presidents visiting popular local burger joints, this past weekend fmr. President Bill Clinton paid a visit to Z Burger (see my review HERE). The irony? He was in town to speak at a conference on obesity prevention and control.

Clinton Ordering

So what did Bill Clinton order? A double hamburger with all the fixings but no mayo. He opted for the combo side, which includes both fries and onion rings. To drink, he went with an apple pie flavored milkshake. NBC Washington has a collection of 9 photos from his trip.

Clinton Z Burger

Update: Everyone’s favorite right-wing host, Bill O’Reilly featured a segment on Bill Clinton’s visit, even calling Clinton a “pinhead”:

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/27/bill-clinton-visits-burger/feed/ 7 Stop Putting Bacon on Your Burger! http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/16/stop-putting-bacon-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/16/stop-putting-bacon-burger/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:45:52 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2934 Anyone who has read a food blog in past 2 years knows that bacon is beloved by many foodies.  Whether it’s creating bacon vodka or electing bacon the top meat in the land in So Good’s Meat Madness, bacon is HOT.  Anyone who dares criticize bacon on their blog will likely be hit with a flurry of comments along the lines of, “bacon is the greatest meat ever,”  “EVERYTHING is better with bacon” or “bacon can improve any food.”  While I’m not crazy about the obsessive level of bacon fervor, I do think bacon is delicious and has its place.  But I’ll tell you one of the places bacon should NOT be: on your burger.

baconator

Many of you are probably thinking, “whaaaaaaaaa? how can you not like bacon on a burger?” It’s seems like one of the most obvious and easy uses for bacon.  Most people believe that if you add some crispy, greasy bacon to pretty much any burger, good, bad or mediocre, it WILL be better. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.

How many times have you ordered a mediocre fast food burger that came with soft, chewy or generally gross, low quality bacon? In those cases, you aren’t adding anything but cost, calories and consternation to your burger order.  But the main reason that your opinion is WRONG?  It completely disregards a new food fad that has been trending mainstream like crazy in the past five years: the rise of the easily accessible & affordable premium burger.

California residents, with access to In-n-Out Burger, have long known the joys of being able to get affordable, fresh and delicious burgers. But  in other parts of the country, many consumers are just now becoming able to find premium, fresh (not frozen) hamburgers at affordable prices. Whether it’s the expanding-faster-than-you-can-blink Five Guys, or city specific chains like Shake Shack in NYC or Ray’s Hell Burger or Z Burger in DC,  there are a LOT of really, really good burgers available to the public in the $4 – $10 price range.  Not to mention the growing number of bars and restaurants who are now putting a bigger menu focus on burgers.  Many of these are damn tasty burgers, with fresh, well seasoned and perfectly moist and greasy hand-formed patties.

You want to taste bacon? Eat a BLT or order it with your eggs at breakfast. You want to taste a burger? Then really TASTE a burger. Don’t mask it with the flavor of bacon. Yeah, it’s delicious, we know.  But what are you really in the mood for? Bacon? Or a juicy burger? If it’s the latter, your addition of bacon to the mix is preventing you from enjoying the full wonderfulness of a well-made, perfectly cooked burger.  There’s a reason In-n-Out doesn’t serve bacon on their burgers: they don’t NEED bacon. They are f-ing awesome on their own, and if you want to take issue with the menu options of perhaps the best burger chain in the country, then be perpared for a horde of burger loving Mormons to hunt you down.

There are so many good burgers these days, and if you haven’t enjoyed the taste of one of them without the addition of bacon, you aren’t doing justice to the tremendous amount of time and work burger joint owners have put into raising the quality of this classic American dining staple. Your decision to add bacon is an insult to the high level of quality and deliciousness of these burgers.

So give it some thought So Good readers. Are you always ordering bacon on your burger?  STOP. Dial it back a bit. Recognize that sometimes, you don’t need bacon.  Sometimes, you need to appreciate good burgers for exactly what they are: good burgers.   There ain’t nothing wrong with that.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/07/16/stop-putting-bacon-burger/feed/ 15 Z Burger: Squint and You’ll Think We’re Five Guys http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/11/burger-squint-guys/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/11/burger-squint-guys/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:05:00 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2728 A month or two ago I had the opportunity to try Z Burger, an up and coming burger chain in the DC metro area.  The worst part about Z Burger is the fact that it is essentially a blatant copycat of Five Guys.  However, this is also the best part about it.  Instead of falling short, they seem to have risen to the challenge of largely measuring up to Five Guys.

z-burger-logo

When you enter Z Burger you are confronted with a menu almost identical to Five Guys – fries, single or double burgers, cheese burgers or bacon cheese burgers, plus a list of 20 or so toppings, all at no extra charge.  The differentiation from Five Guys comes in the form of additional menu items – cheesesteaks, onion rings and about 70 different milkshakes, with flavors ranging from Birthday Cake to Peanut Butter & Jelly.

We placed our order and our burger arrived wrapped in tinfoil adorned with the Z Burger logo:

z-burger

A healthy sized burger for sure, and as I always do, I loaded it up with almost every topping available:

burger

The burger is juicy and tasty, although a little cleaner and less greasy than a Five Guys burger. It lacks the depth of greasy flavor most Five Guys burgers have, but hits about 90% of the flavor notes necessary for a good burger.  On to the sides:

french-fries

The fries might actually be slightly better than Five Guys. They have a good fresh taste and are complemented perfectly with vinegar.  But after that, we moved on to the real star of the Z Burger show, the onion rings:

Click below to keep reading for more photos and thoughts on Z Burger!

onion-rings

Put simply: these are da bomb.  Lots of breading that is perfectly crispy and manages to stay flavorful without being greasy.  One of the most jonestastic things about eating onion rings is when you bite into one and end up pulling out a huge piece of onion, leaving you with an empty shell of onion-less breading. It sucks, but it’s inevitable, it always happens at least once an order with onion rings. But not with these onion rings my friends. I have now had them three times, and every single time the onion rings break off into perfectly balanced bites.  For some extra flavor, try dipping them in the Z Sauce, which is essentially a hybrid of russian dressing and remoulade sauce.

z-sauce

People, people, we haven’t even gotten to the shakes! I had a strawberry cheesecake which was perfectly solid, but unspectacular. My friend got a rocky road shake:

strawberry-cheesecake-shake

rocky-road-shake


On my most recent visit to Z burger I got a Peanut Butter & Jelly shake, which I was curious to try. Sure enough, it tastes EXACLTLY like peanut butter & jelly. Unfortunately I realized about 5 sips in that is not a flavor combo I can drink 16 oz’s of without feeling a bit bloated and nauseous.

Overall Z Burger is very solid. Those who say it is better than Five Guys have a pretty good case to make – the burger is of almost equivilant flavor, but less greasy, while the onion rings are outstanding and the shakes get the job done while giving you incredible selection.  There are two locations in DC right now, TenleyTown and Glover Park, but expect Z Burger to keep expanding to Dupont, Chinatown and other neighborhoods.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/11/burger-squint-guys/feed/ 13 Heart Attack Alert: Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/06/heart-attack-alert-applebees-quesadilla-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/06/heart-attack-alert-applebees-quesadilla-burger/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:24:17 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2713 Center for Science in the Public Interest (you know those guys like to party) has awarded a “Xtreme Eating Award” to Applebee’s for their Quesadilla Burger. Now you may be thinking to yourself, “I like things that are extreme”, “I like eating” or maybe even “I like awards.”  That seems to be part of the problem. The award is intended to “single out foods high in calories, fat and sodium in restaurants.”  Oh. Well that sounds bad. But the “Xtreme (note the use of no “e”, which makes it more awesome) Eating Award” makes it sound like something awesome.  But no, they want you to be aware that this monstrosity of a burger contains 1,820 calories and a stunning 46 grams of saturated fat. Yikes.

applebees-quesadilla-burger

Photo via the Applebee’s website (hence why it looks kind of fresh, and good).

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/06/06/heart-attack-alert-applebees-quesadilla-burger/feed/ 14 Bacon Lube http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/13/bacon-lube/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/13/bacon-lube/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 22:07:36 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2551 I know, I know, more bacon products. I’m as sick of them as you are. Good lord though, how could I not mention this? I don’t have any snarky comments about people “porking” or your next session in the sack being “sizzling.”  I think the absurdity of this product speaks for itself. Insert your own joke/pun here.  Oh, and also go read more info about it on Don Chavez.  Also, check out the video below of them doing a taste test.

baconlube

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/13/bacon-lube/feed/ 50 Obama, Biden, Eat at Ray’s Hell Burger http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/06/obama-biden-eat-rays-hell-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/06/obama-biden-eat-rays-hell-burger/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 02:57:56 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2483 Update: Some moronic right-wing media pundits are trying to attack/make fun of Obama for ordering his burger with spicy mustard.

Politico reports that yesterday afternoon, President Obama and Vice-President Biden stopped into Ray’s Hell Burger, a burger joint just up the street from my office.  For those of you outside DC or unfamiliar with this place, let me just say that Obama has excellent taste in burgers. This place is hands down one of the best burgers you’ll ever have.

With 10 oz patties and a bevy of toppings, this burger is messy. It’s the kind of burger that once you pick it up, you can’t put it down. Both because A) it’s f-ing tasty and you don’t WANT to put it down, and B) if you put it down while eating it, you risk it totally falling apart.

USA Today reports that Obama ordered a basic cheeseburger and asked for spicy mustard.  Biden ordered his burger with swiss cheese and jalapeno peppers.

rays-hell-burger
(photo via DC Nearly Weds)

Well played Obama, well played.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/05/06/obama-biden-eat-rays-hell-burger/feed/ 12 The BK King Likes Square Butts…. http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/08/bk-king-likes-square-butts/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/08/bk-king-likes-square-butts/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:22:40 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2272 The BK King, rapping, dancing, and getting DOWN to the lyrics,  “I like square butts and I cannot lie.”  Part of the new marketing campaign for Burger King kids meals with a Spongebob Square Pants toy.  What do you think of the ad?

Seems like a pretty adult oriented ad for a commercial that is promoting kids meals. Trying to convince parents to take their kids to Burger King? Also, what’s the message to kids? Booty is booty?

H/T to So Good commenter Youppi.

Update: SongSpeak posts video of the full song/music video as well as the full lyrics of the song.  He also asks the obvious question that still must be asked:

Is it wise to use a song that glorifies fat asses to advertise a fast food restaurant that gives people…well…fat asses?

The full music video appears below:

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/08/bk-king-likes-square-butts/feed/ 30 Who’s Hungry For A Burger? http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/03/hungry-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/03/hungry-burger/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:58:39 +0000 JT http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2230 murder2

After spending a few weeks touring New Zealand and its cuisine on behalf of So Good, I have returned with a full belly and fresh perspective.

I will spare you the details of my trip, but will share one of the more curious photos taken along the way. 

See above for a burger joint in Auckland, romantically called Murder Burger. No punches pulled here.  Also extra points for the kitten logo. (I also love that they have no website, instead just a funky blog.)

H/t to A Hamburger Today for spotting a “Staff Wanted” sign c/o MB.  Only in New Zealand.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/04/03/hungry-burger/feed/ 4 Padma Lakshmi for Hardee’s: Burger Commercial or Soft Core Porn? You Make the Call! http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/03/27/padma-lakshmi-hardees-ad-commercial-soft-core-porn-call/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/03/27/padma-lakshmi-hardees-ad-commercial-soft-core-porn-call/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:15:52 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=2126 So Good previously wrote about plans for a new Western Bacon Thickburger Hardee’s ad starring Top Chef host Padma Lakshimi.  Well that ad has now been released, and it does not disappoint. This ad is HOT.  AdRants says the commercial “redefines food porn.” Watch Padma seductively eat a burger, even using her finger to grab the drop of ketchup that drips onto her leg.

Via pretty much any food, advertising or Top Chef blog, including EOnline, YumSugar, AdRants, Buzzfeed and Lemmonex.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/03/27/padma-lakshmi-hardees-ad-commercial-soft-core-porn-call/feed/ 36 Padma Lakshmi Now Promoting Hardee’s http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/26/padma-lakshmi-now-promoting-hardees/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/26/padma-lakshmi-now-promoting-hardees/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:36:06 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=1824 Update: You can view Padma’s seductive new commercial HERE.

Specifically, she’ll be promoting the Bacon Western Thickburger in a new commercial. She joins  Head Judge Tom Colicchio, who recently stared in an ad for Diet Coke, in the world of junk food promotion.  People Magazine has obtained an image from the new ad which is slated to start running in March.

padma-hardees

Via Amuse-Biatch and Grub Street.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/26/padma-lakshmi-now-promoting-hardees/feed/ 13 Bacon Cheese Pizza Burger http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/22/bacon-cheese-pizza-burger/ http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/22/bacon-cheese-pizza-burger/#comments Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:51:26 +0000 Eick http://www.sogoodblog.com/?p=1732 An enormous burger patty with two large meat pizzas serving as the buns.  Also includes eggs, bacon, colby and pepper jack cheese.

bacon-cheese-pizza-burger

Via Buzzfeed and No-Name247.

]]> http://www.sogoodblog.com/2009/02/22/bacon-cheese-pizza-burger/feed/ 18