33 Club

I love the 33 Club for dinner. I don't love the 33 Club for lunch, at least for burgers. I hear their lobster roll is awesome. This day, however, was not a lobster roll kind of day. We were on our usual Saturday burger hunt. We actually didn't intend to go here for burgers but after a long morning/afternoon of walking around, farmers markets, etc. I was tired and hungry, not a good combo. So we stopped. I got the turkey burger, which as you know the Dirty Gherkin finds this against all rules. It had such great sounding topping through; Chipotle Cheddar and Poblano Peppers. I was just in the mood for that. What can say, meh. It was a handmade burger which gave it a plus in my book. It certainly was salted (perhaps too much) but that's where it ended. The Chipotle Cheddar and Poblano Peppers I was excited for fell off the mark. The peppers didn't have much flavor although nicely grilled. The Cheddar had no zing which I think was what I was really looking forward to. Bun was fine, toasted which I appreciate. Fries were decent. The Dirty Gherkin got the bacon burger (SHOCKING!) and he had the same impression although he thought the fries were fanastic or at least that is what he said when he ate all of mine. All in all if I could give it a meh grade that's what it gets, a C, meh.

Hamburger Mary's

The ambiance in Hamburger Mary's can be described as hanging out at your best gay friend's drag queen house eating crazy burgers and drinks. It's over the top ambience adds some fun to an already fun event. This particular trip we brought the Burger Baronness with us on our adventure. HM is a hike for us but we have been wanting to try to this place for awhile. After doing my first triathlon I thought that a nice burger was proper celebratory food! HM has a large menu of burger choices, the typical build your own to stuffed burgers to crazier concoctions. The burger of the month was something disgusting, I don't remember specifics but basically was like crab meat a weird sauce and a fried piece of fish. Pass. After a long debate I went with the Queen Mary Burger, perhaps a little subconscious plug to my enflated ego after the race. Pretty simple burger; cheddar and jack cheeses melted over grilled onions, bacon, lettuce, tomato and Mary's special sauce. As all of my faithful readers (ok my one, John) know I love some sauce, give me a dipping sauce and I am in heaven. I liked the toppings and the bun but the burger itself was clearly a frozen burger, not a nice handmade one that I had hoped. It wasn't a bad burger just could have done more with it, they spend so much time and care on creating toppings, etc, they could spend a little more time with the star of the show (and not meaning our drag queen waitress). Fries were decent. The Mary sauce I am pretty sure was just 1000 Island sauce which was meh. The Burger Baronness had the Bloody Mary Burger which was my second choice. This tasty burger was stuffed with crushed tomatoes Bloody Mary spices topped with Cheddar and Swiss cheeses and a tomato-Vodka sauce. The sauce was awesome, a little heat a little sweetness. Was definitely jealous of this part of the burger. The burger itself was better than mine probably because it was stuffed. The BB seemed to enjoy it as well. The Dirty Gherkin got the Barbara-Q Bacon Burger which he enjoyed, the bbq sauce was a nice edition he got some spicy sauce on the side which tasted more like wing sauce than a chipotle sauce but whatever. I would have to give the sauce price to the Bloody Mary Burger.

While I did not think that Hamburger Mary's had the best burger in town, it was decent and the fun environment certainly made for this to be a pleasant experience. If I found myself up in that neighborhood again (Andersonville) I would go back. Perhaps for their drag queen bingo!

I give it a B