Maple Tavern - Maple Grove, MN - Half & Half

The burger was a blend of bacon and beef seared together deliciously.  This mixture went so well together and tasted delicious.  The problem with the blend was that it did not stick together very well which led to a messy meal.  The mixture was topped with American cheese and an aioli sauce.  The combination was fantastic.  It was very tender and juicy which made for a tasty concoction.   The place itself seemed pretty decent.  The staff was very nice and a "manager" (I am assuming he was a manager...) asked us a couple of times if we were happy or if we needed anything (which we did need refills one time).  Overall a decent place.

Price: $12.45 with substitution of fries

Burger: 10/10

Bun: 8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Overall: 9/10

Website

5-8 Club - Champlin, MN - Juicy Lucy

I am kind of biased when it comes to the place because it is so close to my house and I have been here many times.  This time I chose the American Cheese Juicy Lucy and it lived up to its name, Juicy.  The burger takes time to get made (about 30 minutes to cook the burger) but goodness takes a while.  One of the perks of having gooey cheese is that when it comes out you can eat it up with the fries.  Oh so delicious.  The burger was a little bit overdone for my tastes but overall this was delicious.  The staff let me come and grade papers without being too pushy to get me out which was very nice. 

Price: $9.25

Burger: 8/10

Bun: 6/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Website

Snuffy's Malt Shop - St. Paul, MN - Mushroom Swiss Burger and Chili Burger

So this is a rare moment when I will rate 2 burgers in the same sitting.  My friend and I cut them in half and shared so I only had half of each burger.  The prices are without fries or any side, those can be ordered individually or to share with the table.  So here we go...

First the atmosphere, it was a malt and burger shop with the red and white stripes all over the place.  The place was packed and the service was so so.  I would say it was a cool experience but really it was adequate at best.  I would go back but would not be the person who said we should go there.

The left picture is the Mushroom Swiss Burger.  The bun was toasted which made this step up from what it would have been otherwise.  The mushroom and the swiss overtook the taste and made it so they were the main part of the meal rather than the burger.  I think this would have made for a much better burger had I ordered a double.  The meat was tender but seemed a little like it was frozen.  A decent burger but nothing to call home about.

Price: $6 (burger only)

Burger: 5/10

Bun: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Overall: 6/10

The right picture is Chili Burger.  The chili added goodness to this burger.  It was decent chili but not great.  Most of the observations from the first burger are the same for this burger.  I think having a double would have made it so the burger would have been the main event rather than the chili.

Price: $6.50 (burger only)

Burger: 5/10

Bun: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Overall: 6/10

Website

The Bulldog Northeast - Minneapolis, MN - Tillamook

This burger was decent at best... The only bright part of this burger was the bacon.  The bacon was thick cut, cooked so it was soft.  That bacon was delicious.  I would give the bacon a 10/10.  The fries were pretty darn good as well.  I would definitely not make the trip to get this.  The parking is terrible.  The people serving were nice but clearly in a hurry.  This is a meh for sure and somewhere I would probably not go again.

Price: $12

Burger: 3/10

Bun: 3/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Overall: 4/10

Website

Lions Tap - Eden Prairie, MN - Double Cheeseburger

Delicious.  Not much more you can say than that.  This was a nice greasy burger that is quickly made with love.  They have a very small menu and really stick to what they know (which are burgers).  Once you take a bite, you will have greasy goodness dribbling down your chin but you will be oh so happy about it.  The downside, this is definitely a destination burger.  For most, it is in the middle of nowhere and will take a while to get to.  It is also usually busy but the service is awesome.  Heck, they won't even get mad at you if you spill your Mt. Dew all over the bar (yep, I accidentally tested that theory).  Another downside is that you have to order fries separately.  As most of you already have tried this you will not be surprised that I recommend this most definitely.

Price: $7.45 (Burger Only)

Burger: 9/10

Bun: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Website

VFW - Golden Valley, MN - Cheeseburger

Well lets start with the fact that this is a VFW.  There are obviously a lot of vets around who are extremely friendly.  They have pull tabs and bingo nights which is a bonus.  The servers are nice but rushed as there is usually only one person on when I have been in there.  On Tuesdays they have a deal for 1/2 burger for $5 (to add cheese and fries the total is a wallet breaking $6.50).  The burger was cooked to order which I asked for a Med and definitely got Med.  The burger was juicy enough but not completely red on the inside.  The beef tasted like quality meat which you will not always get for a $6 burger so I was pleasantly surprised.  The size and price really made this a great Tuesday night place to get a burger.

Price: $6.50

Burger: 7/10

Bun: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

Website

The Crooked Pint Ale House- Minneapolis, MN - "Sconnie" Cheese Curder

So, this burger is topped with cheese curds... Do I really need to go any further?  This thing is amazing.  It has a special "bistro sauce" which is a bit like the Big Mac sauce but oh so better if you ask me.  The burger was cooked medium and was cooked perfectly.  The sauce and cheese mixed together extremely well.  This is the best burger I have had to this point.  The bun was just the right size, there was enough of it to keep the burger and sauce on the bun, but not too much bun so that it did not overtake the taste.  This is probably not a burger you want to eat weekly but it is a great destination burger or one to get before you head to a Vikings game when they get into the new stadium.  The bar itself was packed with downtown professionals who just got done working and you had to go downtown to get there so that is a down side.

Price: $11

Burger: 9/10

Bun: 9/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Overall: 9/10

Website

The Tavern Grill - Blaine, MN - Build Your Own Burger (Bacon and American Cheese)

This was a pretty good burger overall.  Got to order to a temperature I like (I ordered Med-Rare).  The burger had a good taste - nothing amazing but also not a bad taste to it.  The bun seemed like it had been sitting out all day and parts of it were harder than others.  I would say that I was happy with this burger but definitely would not write home to tell anyone about it (although I guess I am kind of doing that right now... weird).   I went during happy hour and there were a lot of older just got done with work people there.  The service was good but they definitely had their regulars that they focused on (and this being my first time there I clearly was not one of them).

Price: $10

Burger: 7/10

Bun: 4/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Overall: 6/10

Website

The Nook - St. Paul, MN - The Homer Simpson Burger (Burger of the Month Special)

This burger was flat out ridiculous.  It was a bacon cheeseburger with a glazed donut as a bun.  I did not think the sweetness of the donut would mesh well with the burger but it surprisingly went smashingly well together.  I would say this burger was very good and one of my favorite but it has its downfalls.  Mainly, the extremeness of this burger and all of the calories that I ate with it.  I felt like going into a food comma afterwards.  I do not know if I could eat one of these on a regular basis (maybe the once a year that the Nook has offered it in the past years - it was their BOM for April).  The rating of this burger only falls due to this not being one I could eat even twice a year (ok that is an exaggeration but not by much).  We did get to sit downstairs in the bar next to the old bowling alley.  It was interesting down there, the people were really awesome and actually had conversations with people (when they had time of course).

Price: $9.95 (I think I cannot remember for sure)

Burger: 8/10

Bun: 9/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Website