The Return of the Burger Tour!

Non-Burger Post

2014-05-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

If you need something to do on May 23, the Kennedy High School Symphony would appreciate your support. Thanks!

It's my blog, I'll post what I want!

Irish Democrat - 5/1/14

2014-05-02T22:01:00.001-05:00

MAYDAY MAYDAY!

We've got a situation brewing here at the Burger Tour. Seems one of our staffers was caught on tape (not the intern thank god, you don't wanna know what THAT GUY is into), in a somewhat compromising situation, and that tape went viral. You've no doubt heard about it, perhaps seen it, it's been quite the scandal du jour.

Rest assured, we're taking steps to ban this person for life, along with their children, and their children's children. For three weeks. We'll also be forcing them, via a majority vote of our various and diverse shareholders, to divest their share of all Burger Tour ownership and revenues. It's OK folks, we'll make the bad man go away, and everything will be OK again.

Yeah, it was pretty much just like this. It's good to be the King.

Not really. We'd never make someone sell out because of a scandal involving a red head in pigtails. Can't blame a guy, her dad is mad crazy rich and a pretty decent fella to boot. We're not the Taliban, we're the Burger Tour!! And besides, I'm not even using "Mayday" in the proper context. May Day, May 1st, is actually an ancient northern festival that celebrates the German holiday of who gives a rat's ass. Tell us about the burger.

Irish Democrat

Irish Democrat, aka "The ID", like many of our stops, is located on 1st Avenue in Cedar Rapids. It's a quality establishment that has stood the test of time. In fact, as we found out, the bar opened on May 1, 1984. As luck would have it, we were there on the day of their 30th anniversary. There was swag. The Burger Tour loves swag.

Stuff We All Get

Free Babies!!! Let's hear it for the Swag Wagon!!

I also feel it's important to note that the property that The ID occupies today is important, nay, sacred ground for me, your MC, your ring leader, your burgermeister, if you will. Before it was the ID, lo those many years ago, the bar was known as "The Web". And, if family legend holds true, it's the bar where my parents met at. So, no Web, no Captain Willy Redbeard, no Burger Tour. All hail, or curse, the bar that led to my eventual conception. Huzzah!

Recreation of my parent's meeting. Historically accurate, classy, and multi-ethnic to boot!

The ID is open daily at 11 (11:30 on Sunday for you church types). The bar itself is decorated with an assortment of antiques and other old timey hang on the wall type stuff, which is always popular in these types of establishments. Among the memorabilia is a wide variety of campaign paraphernalia from 50+ years worth of various state and national Democratic candidates. Even if you don't agree with the party's platform, the history that's displayed on the walls inside is always interesting.

The ID offer's a full menu that includes salads, ribs, burgers, sandwiches and more. And, let me just add a shameless plug: The Cheese Wontons are a MUST HAVE!!!

The Burger
An even dozen of us showed up for our reviewing duties. Not everyone ate, some were mere well wishers who wanted to bask in the ambiance and greatness of who we are and what we represent. Or perhaps it was the lure of 2 for 1 drinks at Happy Hour. Whatever the motivation, we were happy to see them!

Blurry bacon cheeseburger. Note the "frilled sandwich pick", always a good sign!

Of the 12, 8 of us shared the results of the day. For the Irish Democrat - the burger received, was given, earned, awarded a score of 6.38/10.

Comments on the burgers:

Burger with crusted maytag blue cheese and pepper jack cheese. I have had it in the past and I remember it being better. The burger seemed a bit small and the bun big. Mine was a little under cooked to medium but that is how I usually like it anyway

I had the Cuban burger. american cheese, grilled ham, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion. The burger was good. Someone mentioned that it reminded them of burger kings flame broiled burgers.. I would have to agree. - I don't know if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.

Got a patty melt. The meat was unremarkable, and the bun was a little over-toasted. Not bad though.

If you love the KING, you will worship this burger. Charbroiled like a boss. Asked for Medium and received medium. Classic burger king kind of taste but slightly elevated with the condiments and bun. Meat was seasoned nicely and bacon crisped to near perfection.

Burger was OK, fairly juicy but not a lot of flavor.

Bacon Cheeseburger. It was largely uninspired. It was fine, just nothing special about it. Better than a 5, not a 7, so a 6.

Bacon cheeseburger, under the hood.

Fries & Sides

I do believe the sampled sides were limited to the standard crinkle cut fries, and cottage cheese. Sides as a whole received a 6.57/10, but I suspect the numbers may be skewed due to some weird fetishization of the Cottage Cheese.

Bacon Cheeseburger attempting to devour the cottage cheese. Note the destroyed plate of nachos.

Comments:

The cottage cheese was creamy, with just the right sized curds. I will dream of this cottage cheese until the day I die.
Again, the cottage cheese was ridiculously delicious. Of course, I was starving and waiting for my damn ketchup and mayo for the burger so I indulged in the 80% fat cottage cheese gravy.
Fries. Crinkle cut. Good. - You cannot argue with the wordsmithing that went into this verbose and adjective laden description.
Crinkle cut fries. I love crinkle cut, but these were just, meh.
Very average fries. Nothing to brag about here.

The Cuban Burger, under the hood.

Service

Not sure what happened in the service department today. Maybe we were sitting in the bar area, and should have been in the dining area. Maybe we were too early. Maybe we were rude. Maybe our server didn't like us. Service received a 4.25/10. Ouch.

Comments:

The server seemed to forget that silverware, napkins, condiments, etc would have been nice to accompany the otherwise good food that was served. The 2 for 1 drink specials were the highlight of the evening.
The girl was very rude. Acted like we were a bother and wasn't very attentive
Very slow. Although, I probably should give a higher mark considering I ordered 2 beers and was only charged for 1. Yes, that's a 4 for 1 happy hour for this guy.
Lots of folks commented on the lack of napkins, ketchup/mustard, cutlery.

Conclusion

While Irish Democrat didn't hit it out of the park, I think it's worth noting that the place does have a sizable fan base here in town, has been around for a long time, and will likely continue to be one of Cedar Rapids more popular, better than a chain restaurant, bar and grille. Despite the average numbers on the burger, I will definitely be eating here again, and I think the group agreed with me.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? Irish Democrat earned a 3.88/5.

Final Comments:

Its a bar and its pretty good bar food. The nachos that were ordered were pretty tasty. I like the old time décor.
Always liked the ID. With all the new bars/restaurants opening up it hasn't offered anything that makes this a MUST STOP place anymore.. Other than the wontons.
Atmosphere was good, very comfortable, but that was due to the company present. The wait staff seemed interested, but unprepared for a group of 5 or more.
The atmosphere is always great at the ID. The price was not bad either! I only paid 14$ for my beer and burger and tip was included as well since we had a big group. Not too shabby.

Couldn't have been too bad - looks like we managed to choke 'em down.

Dublin City Pub - 7/31/13

2013-07-31T22:42:00.001-05:00

So it's come to my attention that, sometimes, I may lay the sarcasm on a little thick. No, it's true. I don't know when to back off, I don't know when a jokes run it's course. So, if I should have offended anyone at Burger Tour today, by perhaps insinuating that they had less than ample love for people of color and of differing national origins, than I truly apologize to those whom I have offended.

That said, I will continue to refer to Canada, our "Neighbor of the North" as "America's Hat".

On a happier note:

GUESS.

WHAT.

DAY.

IT.

IS???

It's Hump Day! Which of course, this week, also makes it Burger Tour Wednesday!

DUBLIN CITY PUB

Dublin City Pub, is located on 1st Street in downtown Cedar Rapids. The location has been home to a number of bars and restaurants over the years, notably "Charlie's on the River" and also "Muddy Waters". The latest incarnation in this location is of course Dublin City. You can read all about their history on their webpage, I'm not in a plagiarizing mood today. Something about marrying an Irish theme to a bar, well...that just makes sense. Good sense. Good Irish sense!

The Burger

Today, a dozen or so folks made the trek to Dublin City, to see how their burgers stacked up against the rest of the local competition. As far as I am aware, there were 3 different burgers ordered:

The Shannon Burger - Mushroom n' Swiss. I have fought valiantly against this glorified sloppy joe, yet it just keeps showing up. I give up, the Mushroom n' Swiss may be considered fair game, but damn it, at least be honest about it.
The Kerry Burger - Bleu Cheese, bacon, and chipotle mayo. Pretty fancy, hoity toity, pinky finger out whilst sipping tea with the Queen.
The DCP Burger - Served on a Kaiser bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and your choice of cheese. Do you see this? DO YOU??? THIS IS THE STANDARD by which all other burgers should be measured.

Enough burger based ranting. That guy never shuts up. With six surveys submitted, we award Dublin City a 7.25/10 for their burgers. It should be noted that this represents only 4 votes, as 2 people enjoyed Bar Sammich's today. Bar Sammich's were awarded an 8.5/10.

As presented. All the proper toppings artfully arranged, and a big heap of waffle fries! Some folks had a frilled sandwich pick; alas, I was not so lucky.

Comments on the burgers:

Standard: bun, burger, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup and mustard. Nice sized piece of meat. Seemed juicy and fresh, not greasy, overdone, dried out or burnt anywhere. It was delicious :) I have no complaints.
Feels like I've had this before...except one other place..

There were no comments on the Bar Sammich's.

The classic "under the hood" pose, made famous by the CR Burger Tour.

Fries & Sides

I want to point out that Dublin City offered, in my opinion, a wide variety of sides to compliment their burgers. Regular fries, waffle fries, cheesy fries, onion rings, Irish potato salad, and I'm sure there was probably cottage cheese (ugh!) in the mix there somewhere. Fries and sides were given a 5.5/10.

Comments:

Waffle fries. Good, but not great.
I had waffle fries. Love waffle fries :) Most of them were perfect. Over time they got cold and hard. (That's what she said...I mean....you need to eat faster!)
Cottage cheese....tried to dress it up a bit...still cottage cheese in the end though (<---This!!!)

Service

Now, as I've said, I always try to give the service at these places the benefit of the doubt. We drop in, usually unannounced, and expect them to treat us the same as their regular lunch crowd. Most places do a pretty good job. Dublin City did an EXCEPTIONAL job, and was given an 8.17/10, which MIGHT be a Burger Tour high score for service!!

Fast, courteous and split up our meal and check for us!
Awesome! They pushed together three tables right away, no wait. Took our drink orders immediately. Food came out within a decent time frame for a group of 14/15 people. She made sure we had any extra condiments, napkins etc. They took our trays away promptly when we were done eating, brought our checks and change. Great job girls!

Conclusion

By the numbers themselves, Dublin City has earned a spot in our Top 5. HOWEVER, much like the baseball accomplishments of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire, I feel compelled to note an asterisk next to the score, as only 4 votes went into this. So, we'll allow it, but we should probably give their burger another try one day, just to be sure!

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? Dublin City earned a 4.5/5.

Final Comments:

I really like the atmosphere of the place. For an Irish bar I would like to see Irish whiskey on the walls...nothing really exciting though. I had high hopes on the burger, fixings were really fresh...in the end though same burger..different place.
They give you plenty of food. Large sized burgers/sandwiches, big pile of a side and a pickle. More than you can eat at one sitting, if you do eat it all you're stuffed. Nice large glasses for drinks, less waiting on the server to refill because it takes quite some time to get to the bottom of it. Nice clean atmosphere. Laid back. Plenty of TVs to catch the latest news. Lots of yummy options on the menu. This is one of my favorite places to eat :)

You can trust us! We're experts in all things experting.

3rd Base Brewery - 7/11/13

2013-07-11T20:51:00.001-05:00

WELCOME BACK loyal reader to the best damned blog about burgers this side of the Mississippi. I don't know who you are, but I'm glad you showed up. We've been out of the burger game for awhile due to things like "work" and "family" and "court ordered community service", but that's now all behind us, and we are free to patronize businesses that serve both food AND alcohol, even if societal mores dictate that we not imbibe due to the hour of the day.

Mental note Einstein, next time you go to the brewpub to review the burger, perhaps you should do it at a time of day when it would be feasible to actually drink one of the many beers that are brewed on site.

It should be pointed out that this week marks the 1st anniversary of the Burger Tour. It was one year ago this week that my friends, co-workers, well-wishers and various hangers on and lickspittles chose to join me in the quest for Cedar Rapids best burger at Al's Red Frog. In that year, we've managed to review 15 different burgers, and I have high hopes for the 2nd year as well.

3rd Base brewery

3rd Base Brewery, located on Blairs Ferry Road, is the first and only brewery to be located in Cedar Rapids since the madness of Prohibition was struck from our nations laws. That other place on 1st Avenue has their wort delivered by truck, and finished on site, so it doesn't count as an actually brewery, in this blogger's opinion. I have enjoyed many of the beers that they offer, but as stated, I was not able to enjoy one today, nor are we here to discuss beer, tasty tasty beer.

3rd Base offers a number of beers on tap, both their own and other breweries, and has a very good menu to choose from. As our review numbers indicate, it's a place worth checking out.

The Burger

I chose to relax the draconian rules of the burger tour, and allowed people to order as they wished. I'm getting soft in my old age. I counted 16 total reviewers today, and I truly want to thank everyone for coming out to keep this enterprise of ours moving forward. I could not do it without all of your input.

OK...so...3rd Base Brewery, with 10 of 16 surveys submitted, has earned themselves 7/10, which earns them a spot in our current Top 5. Bravo!

The Pub Burger, as presented. Note the careful alignment of the pickle slices , that there is QUAL-I-TEE!

Comments on the burgers themselves included:

Bbq bacon burger. Hot fresh juicy, crisp bacon. Just awesome.
Swiss and mushroom!!!!! Big thanks to the dictator for relaxing the rules. It was good! (The Dictator acknowledges your thanks, then subtly gestures to his guards to seize the traitor who dared to speak up!)
Pub Burger. I neglected to get cheese, a decision I'll regret the rest of my days.
Burger with pepper jack and bacon, ketchup, mustard. Burger was pretty good, was juicy without being greasy (unlike Starlite burger where i kept tasting the grease hours later).
I had the mushroom and swiss burger with lettuce, tomato, pickle onion and BBQ sauce. The bun made the burger huge so i decided to take the top part off and that left me with a soggy bottom... ;)
Had the cheese head burger. The meat was very tender and good flavor with lots of cheese but the bun killed it. The bun was to big and dry. If it were not for the bun it would have been a very good burger.

Some assembly required.

Fries & Sides

Fries were given a 7.18/10. Again, pretty respectable. The fries were shoestring, which are not my favorite, but they were hot, fresh, lightly seasoned, and quite good. Based on comments, it sounds like enjoyed a wide variety of sides, and pretty much everyone was satisfied. Comments:

Seasoned fries were hot and very good.
Onion Rings, done just right, very good
Love the homemade chips! Salty, crunchy and delicious.
Potato wedge. Crisp and hot, didn't taste like they've been sitting for hours
Green beans-fresh and cooked just right-good flavor. (Hippie)
I had the brew city fries, the waitress described them as Arby's curly fries but straight which was pretty accurate. The weren't bad but nothing to write home about.
Crinkle fries, they were meh.

Service

Despite the waitress being a little slow to get our orders taken, I thought she did a good job. 16 orders, all brought to the table in a reasonable length of time once the orders were actually taken. She kept my soda full, which is sometimes all I need to be made happy. Cheap date that I am. Service was given a 6.64/10. Comments:

It took some time to get our food but I think mostly for the large group.
Server was very nice but i did have to sit with an empty glass for about 5 minutes
Big crowd so took longer than I liked but expected for as many people we had.
Decent service. Liked that she brought the checks out right away after delivering the food so we didn't have to wait. (Ben's idea. Good show old man!)

Conclusion

All told, a pretty successful stop on the tour following the hiatus. I need to make a point of getting back to 3rd Base sooner, rather than later, and try one of the tasty tasty beers I mentioned.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? We rated 3rd Base a 4/5.

Final Comments:

Nickelodeon on in a bar? 4 TVs tuned to static - epic fail
If it was not lunch I would have sampled some micro brew.
Typically good beerz for after work.
Fix your satellite or turn the TV's off that were scrambled
Good atmosphere, could have had better selection of TV stations or TVs that actually worked and possibility of a bigger table. Took quite awhile to get our food, but was a large group. I liked the large selections of sides and actually had a healthy option. Would be nice if they offered whole wheat buns. All in all very good. (I need to figure out who the hippie is.....)

Giant Burger Photo

2013-07-09T22:59:00.002-05:00

Too good to NOT share. Please click to drink in the goodness of a 39 mega pixel photo of a burger. That is all.

Hiatus

2013-04-23T21:06:00.001-05:00

Hey folks. Just a quick note to let you know that the burger tour is on hiatus. Work's kicking my tail these days, and I just don't have time to devote to the burger tour right now. We'll fire this thing back up mid-June. Thanks!

McDonald's - 4/1/13

2013-04-01T00:32:00.001-05:00

Have you heard about the man who got the job driving the bus for Sesame Street? He was really looking forward to meeting all the Sesame St. characters, and so he was filled with great anticipation his first day on the job. As he stood outside the bus waiting for his riders to begin to arrive, the first person he saw approaching the bus was an *extremely* large woman. Before she boarded the bus, he asked her her name. Huffing and puffing from the exertion of walking, she replied, "My name is Patty." "Well, Patty, climb on board. We'll be leaving shortly." The next passenger, a man just as big as the woman, was wearing a large green suit. When asked his name by the new driver, he replied with a noticeable accent, "My name is Patrick...I'm Irish, you know. My friends all call me 'Patty'." "Patty, meet Patty. You two can get to know each other while I await several more passengers that I see coming."

As the new driver stood there, he found himself thinking, "Where are Bert and Ernie???" The next passenger was a little retarded boy. "Hi, little boy. What's your name?" "My name is Ross, and my parents tell me I'm special." "Ross, I'm really glad to have a nice boy like you ride on my bus today. Climb on, and we'll leave in just a minute." The last person to approach the bus was a really strange looking man. "Hello, sir. What's your name?" In a surly manner he answered, "My name is Lester Creep!" For lack of anything better to say, he told him, "Lester, we're about to leave so please have a seat."

Now the driver was really thinking, "I thought I was going to meet Big Bird and Cookie Monster!!!" As he was pulling away from the curb, he looked in his rear view mirror. Much to his horror, he saw Lester sitting there with his shoe off, picking at a bunion or something on his big toe. "Oh, gross!" he thought. "This is nothing like I thought it would be! No Bert, no Ernie! Just a bunch of weirdos!!!"

He mulled it all over for a while, then suddenly he began to smile. He thought to himself, "Who would ever believe that, the first day on my new job I have two obese Patties, special Ross, and Lester Creep pickin' bunions on a Sesame Street Bus?!?!"

MCDONALD's

Today is April 1st, and it is also the day that the esteemed, illustrious Burger Tour shifted our sights in our quest for THE BEST burger in Cedar Rapids, and instead chose to focus this one day on finding the blandest burger in Cedar Rapids. Pubs, bars, taverns, greasy spoons; all were set aside and replaced with the lowest common denominator that we could find: fast food. And not just any fast food, no sir. No, we wanted to find the single most homogeneous, plain, ordinary, sanitized, white bread fast food that money can buy. No "Angus", no flame broiling, no butter burgers, nope, nope, nope...nothing but a generic patty of genuine "beef product" fried on a hot griddle and served up fresh on a bun that's been identified by countless focus groups and committee's as the "least offensive". Ladies and gentlemen, the Burger Tour has arrived beneath the Golden Arches of McDonald's.

Turns out, Mickey D's isn't all that bad. It's not all that good, but it's not all that bad!

Yes, yes I would.

Everybody knows that Ronald McDonald is the official mascot of McDonald's. Has been for years. He's got a wholesome public persona, friendly and a little goofy, always entertaining to children, and he's got a real soft side as well.

What a lot of folks don't know is that, on his days off, when the cameras are supposed to be put away, is that Sir McDonald is a stone cold player.

Who's lookin' to be Super Sized today???

The man himself was in CR April 1st, and let's just say we know who coined the phrase "Super Sized", if ya know what I mean....

The Burger

A variety of beef product menu items were acquired and sampled for this round of the Burger Tour. All passed muster, and were presented in an acceptable manner without the aid of any frilled sandwich picks.

Double 1/4 pounder with cheese, fries, and one of the last Shamrock Shakes of the year. TASTEEE!!!

HOLY COW (cow...get it...I slay me sometimes...)...THAT is a tasty looking burger. Good looking bun, stacked neatly, cheese and condiments JUST peeking out from under the bun. Bravo McDonald's staff....bravo indeed!

A peek under the hood isn't QUITE as pretty, but the cheese WAS melted. MKOP....if you know what that means, then you too have worked the backline for Ronald McSlavemaster.

On to the numbers! A number of us visited McDonald's and were on the receiving end of all the teaching that the McDonald's College of Hamburgerology could offer. As a result, our highly trained and WELL compensated staff has awarded the McDonald's burger experience a score of 6.57/10.

Another excellently crafted beef product based comestible...is that "Special Sauce" that I see????

Comments (the only part of this crap that anyone actually reads so they can say "Hey, looky there....Mister Fancy Burger Man done went and put my words on the intertubes!")

Had the double cheese burger only ketchup. It was hot otherwise just a McDs burger.
Two single cheeseburgers with ketchup, pickle, and onion. I forgot to taste the first one but did notice the cheese was not all the way melted. I slowed down for the second one expecting to experience bliss but just had childhood memories but now i enjoyed the onions. Good burger but not high quality...
Double 1/4 pounder w. cheese. Bland and largely flavorless, but edible.
Double quarter pounder with cheese. However I had it dressed like a Big Mac. Big Mac sauce rocks...seriously.

Fries & Sides

Not a lot to say here folks. McDonald's fries. Interesting fact that vegetarians and vegans might find interesting...and if you are either of those, WHY are you reading this????....McDonald's fries contain a small amount of "natural beef flavor", which makes them NOT approved for vegetarians or vegans. Sorry hippies. Fries were awarded a 6.67/10.

Comments:

Their fries are too salty for me. But they still make you crave more. (Editor's Note: Much like crack. Not that I know...but I've heard...from...a guy...yeah....)
French fries, best of the best!! Crunchy, salty, delicious and surely laced with crack. (See "a guy", mentioned above)
French fries were awesome-crisp and salty!
McDonalds has the BEST fries when fresh and hot these however were only so,so as they were NOT fresh nor hot... Kinda dissappointing since it was over the lunch hour.
Uninspiring.

Service

You know what I like when I order fast food? The FIRST THING I like to see when I walk in is cleanliness. Spic, and also span. What I don't like is having to walk over and around the guy power washing the sidewalk during the lunch hour on a weekday. Now, that said, I'm not knocking the guy, NOT AT ALL. Man was doing a job that he was told to do, doing it well, gettin' paid for it. I'm a fan, bravo man. However, the dude who's idea it was for the man to be out there power washing the sidewalk likely needs a McBoot upside his McHead, because that was a bone headed decision. Additionally, not sure the ENTIRE seating area needed to be mopped, again, during the lunch hour.

The SECOND thing I like to see when I order fast food is a neck tattoo. Yep...the whole world says that a neck tattoo will limit your career possibilities. However folks, I am here to tell you, a neck tattoo is NOT an impediment to your succeeding in the high stakes world of McDonald's supervision and management. Hell, I think it might even be a REQUIREMENT!!!

Except at McDonald's...please come in, have a seat. Would you like some crystal meth while you complete your application? No...why...you may be Manager material!

Service received a 6.83/10. Comments...

Very busy with long lines waiting for food. Very unorganized.
Pretty damn fast! And they make 'em like you want 'em! But why were they mopping the floor and power-washing the sidewalk in the middle of the lunch rush?? Seems counterproductive.
I hate that you have to ask at the counter for mustard-they should have it out with the ketchup. (Editor's note, the Burger Tour had a guest reviewer this week. Queen Elizabeth II ladies and gentlemen! Give it up for Her Majesty!!!)
Was pleasantly surprised that an employee came and took a few of our trays before we were done :) This helped me forget the guy powerwashing the sidewalk in front of the door as we entered, again over the lunch hour...
Restaurant was clean, and was being cleaned while we were there. Staff was friendly, prompt, and attentive.
I felt like a minority and my wallet could be taken at any second. Seriously. I'm not kidding.

Conclusion

Let's be honest folks, no one goes to McDonald's for the best burger anywhere. You go there to shovel some food down your throat so you can move on to whatever next thing it is you've got to deal with. If you go to McDonald's for the best, you REALLY ought to raise your sights to something with a little more promise.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? We give McDonald's a 3.43/5, but let's be honest...McDonald's is like that sketchy massage place on the edge of Marion. Sure, you SAY you'll never go there again, that this was the last time, and yet, there you are...1:45 in the morning...half drunk and lonely with a few bucks in your pocket, and the sign beckons you, a red and yellow siren call in the dark of the night that will not be ignored..."Asian Massage..."...I mean..."Over 99 billion served..."..wait...which one has which sign again????

Final Comments:

Apparently nothing, not even a Starlight burger, beats Mickey D's. As much as I love it, it's still feels shameful to eat there, lots of guilt, not to mention the stomachache, afternoon brain fuzziness and the unpredictable explosive diarrhea.
Probably shouldn't choose the lunchtime to powerwash their sidewalk and the floors in the restaurant. (Yeah, we get it...it's been mentioned...let it go...)
I like this Mcdonald's as it is clean and has Ronald inside, good photo op.
I had never seen someone wait in line before for a small coke. Side note..my server axed her boss about making my order. Did I miss something because her version of axed is much different than mine.

Bonus Content (for those who actually read this far down!)

It's a little known, and barely advertised fact that McDonald's has a Super Secret (hence the lack of advertising...this is not rocket science folks) menu that every McDonald's employee knows about, but can not, WILL NOT discuss in public. So, the next time you're there, look that McDonald's employee square in the eye...do not be intimidated by the neck tattoo....and order your choice of delicious, secret, forbidden awesomeness from the menu that only the cool kids know about. Trust me, you will never, ever walk in to McD's and be asked:

The Starlite Room - 3/20/13

2013-03-20T23:31:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not dear readers, I do not like or enjoy giving a local establishment a bad review. Not at all. The whole point of the Burger Tour is to identify THE BEST Bar Burger in town, NOT the worst. Sure, it's inevitable that, as we look for our Prince, we're going to have to kiss a few frogs. I accept that. I welcome frog kissing. Some of my best friends are frogs. If two frogs love each other and want to get married, I support their decision as two rational, consenting adult frogs. Where was I? Oh yeah...our review.

THe Starlite Room

Please be sure to note the burger illustration, proudly depicted upon the establishment's signage along a heavily traveled thoroughfare utilized by a variety of motorized vehicles and pedestrians each and every day.

The Starlite Room has been on 1st Avenue NE for a long, long time! For YEARS their sign out front has proclaimed that they are the "Home of the Super Burger", whereas their menu proclaims them as the "Home of the Original Half-Pound Super Burger".

Photographic PROOF! Again, note the appearance of the illustrated, symmetrical burger, complete with a "frilled sandwich pick", which loyal readers will know makes everything classier!

Well? Which is it? "Super Burger" or "Original Half-Pound Super Burger"? I feel so deceived, cheated, lied too....anyway....

I got to say....these days, proclaiming your business as the "home" of the 1/2 pound burger just isn't that big of a deal. Finding a half pound burger around this town is a pretty easy feat, whereas, I suppose, back in the day (HOW LONG IS IT???), The Starlite Room had a bout of marketing inspiration that made them a must stop establishment for local diners. "Well golly....a half pound of burger Ma! Can ya believe it? And on a bun too! Why, they even put a frilled sandwich pick into it! Hop on into the Jalopy, we's a goin' eatin' tonight!".

Half pound burgers live just about anywhere now, they're no longer ghettoized to only certain, selected northeast side watering holes and speakeasy's. "Home of the Original Half-Pound Super Burger"....please....gettin' so you can't swing a dead cat in this town and NOT come in contact with a half pound burger!

Please don't swing cats. Alive OR dead. Thank you.

It would seem, over the years ,that Starlite's marketing has paid off, as year after year after year, various and sundry "surveys" and "opinion polls" and "votes" (Democracy...that's just a fad...it'll NEVER work....) have proclaimed the venerable old Starlite as "the best" in Cedar Rapids. And don't for a MOMENT think that the Starlite hasn't continued to cash in on this notoriety. In fact, as recently as 2012, Starlite was proclaimed as "THE BEST" in town by KCRG A-List Dining. It's true, check it out, I'll wait.

Sadly friends, the Burger Tour cannot, WILL NOT support these same claims of greatness. A dozen of us journeyed there today, armed with our vast wealth of burger knowledge, to put the venerable old Starlite's claims to the test. What were the results? Sadly, they were frightening and more than a little disappointing.

The Burger

As we all know, "the rules" of the Burger Tour strive to keep the experience as pure and consistent as possible from one establishment to the next. No fancy toppings or sauces, we want to rate the burgers in an unadulterated state. Starlite is PERFECT for that, as their Superburger was offered with cheese, lettuce, onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard. Classic. The way a regular burger is meant to be enjoyed. Twelve of us made the journey to the Starlite Room today and everyone filling out a survey ordered a burger, so no Bar Sammich's to contend with. Or salads.

Surveys have been completed, results tabulated, threats made, judges bribed and the results are in. Starlite's burger has been rated as a 4.13/10.

As presented. Note that there is no plate or other tableware to distract me from my burger.

The Superburger, unwrapped upon it's waxed paper "plate" and ready for consumption. Note the "symmetry" of the burger, as depicted earlier on the establishment's various marketing devices. Please also be aware of the "textured" bun, and the lack of a "frilled sandwich pick" which would be far too distracting and an unnecessary nuisance for "the best burger" of 2012.

Now, don't just take my word for it! Comments from the group included:

Was okay, seemed more "packaged" than what I have had from before (long ago).
With the works. Burger presented well. I had to almost tear apart my sandwich in order to put ketchup and mustard on the bun. Overall a little dry for my liking. But overall a pretty good burger, good flavor and seasoned well.
Plain hamburger with ketchup and mustard with pickles. I didn't think it was the greatest. Not as greasy as the past times I've visited but still had plenty of it.
1/4 cheeseburger w/everything. Tasted like it came off a 30 year old, never been cleaned, heavily grease coated gas grill. Yuck!
Not the best looking burger ever assembled, and tasted kind of dry and "mealy". Good, but not great flavor. Middle of the road at best

Fries & Sides

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but around these parts, one can often order what's known as a "burger basket". It's a plastic, reusable basket, lined with waxed paper, wherein a burger and fries are placed and served. A combo, if you will. A burger basket. Well...despite the burger NOT being served in a plate or a basket, the fries WERE served in a basket. Why not put the burger in the basket with the fries and serve it all at once? Just a suggestion. Fries and sides were given a 3.75/10.

Comments:

I had onion rings which did not have a lot of flavor, but were warm and crisp
Fries, just kind of plain.
I like their Ranch to dip the fries in :)
Ordinary fries. MANY small fries in the basket, would have preferred longer fries, and not the scraps.

Service

Despite a lack of plates, I thought the service was OK. I ALWAYS try and give the service a bit of a break when the Burger Tour drops in unannounced, as we tend to make an impact in an establishment's normal course of business. That said, it looked like the Starlite was enjoying a fairly healthy lunchtime crowd, so our 12 people shouldn't have made too big of a dent in their capabilities. Group rated the service a 5.00/10.

Comments:

Wait staff was not very organized. Delivered the burgers first and then tried to match up the sides. I had to ask to get my onion rings and waitress was a little snotty. Pay the bill at the bar just by what you tell them you had-no bills were given to us.
The burgers were wrapped in paper and handed to us without a plate or silverware. Sides were in a basket-they could have combined the 2?? Not particularly fast.
Place was busy for lunch. And is actually a decent size. Thought it was odd not having silverware and the fact that they just wrapped the burger like its fast food.
I believe they could improve on the method of payment. Going to the register is pay is not timely.
Had to pay at the bar. $12.75 for lunch (burger, fries, soda). Fries and burger were NOT sold together, which made the burger appear cheaper, but ultimately, you pay the same as anywhere else.

Conclusion

Well, we didn't rate the Starlite real high. Someone, somewhere must love the place, because they keep winning local awards, and people were obviously there for lunch today. That said, there are MUCH better burgers to be found in Cedar Rapids.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? We scored Starlite a 2.50/5.

Final Comments:

Prices were good, food and service not so much. Atmosphere on the low end.
In the past this has always been the best hamburger place to go to. Now it has been more than 2 years since I've been there, so things may have changed. My guess, they stopped hand pressing the patties, went with frozen for consistency and cost, but they lost what made them great.
Overall I liked it.. Worthy of the BEST Burger award in Cedar Rapids...... I question #nosipnstir #bestyet
Could use a remodel.
I'll never understand why anyone would say that Starlight has "the best burger in town". I just don't get it.

Parlor City - 2/28/13

2013-03-02T10:59:00.000-06:00

Little known fact time: Back in the day (and, for those who know, I'd like a definition of just how far back one has to go for an item to OFFICIALLY, actually be...BACK IN THE DAY...but I digress), Cedar Rapids was nicknamed "The Parlor City". This was due to the fact that the city had a reputation for being so clean, nice, and enjoyable. While we could go on and on making crude, unfair jokes about whether or not the city still fits this bill, I think it's safe to say that the business that is now Parlor City Pub & Eatery is an establishment that is clean, nice, and enjoyable.

Seriously, is it a week, a year, five years??? I wanna know!

Parlor City Pub & Eatery

Not gonna lie to you folks, Parlor City is a favorite place of mine, and I'd been looking forward to the Tour visiting there. Great food, a wall of beer taps (50+!), and an excellent liquor selection. My friends among the local bike community have made this a regular stop as they pass through town, AND the establishment has recognized the contribution to their business by providing a bicycle repair stand, accessible to all at no charge, behind the restaurant near their outdoor seating area. Very cool. They are located in the absolute heart of the revitalized NewBo neighborhood. There's a TON of stuff happening in this part of town, so Parlor City should be well situated to be in business at this location for a long time!

The Burger

Around 14 of us made the trip, but only 8 surveys have been submitted. No big deal...some folks stopped for beers, some folks had other appointments to get too (haircuts wait for no man after all!), some folks just popped by, so we're going with the 8. Additionally, I relaxed the stringent rules of the Burger Tour so that we could take advantage of Parlor City's Thursday Night Stuffed Burger Special. I have asked everyone to TRY and separate the toppings from the burger. Of the 7 surveys submitted, all were for burgers, so no need to discuss sammich's or salads today! Drum roll please....Parlor City's burgers received a 7.75/10.

The rare and elusive blue cheese burger. Only allowed on the Burger Tour on Stuffed Burger Night!

Comments from the group included:

I had the stuffed burger with American and Bacon. It was very, very good. The burger was juicy and cooked perfectly. The bun was toasted nicely and the cheese was perfectly melted on top
I got the stuffed burger with blue cheese, mushrooms, and bacon. The bun was perfectly toasted on the edges while remaining soft in the middle. A little more blue cheese would have been nice. I did not top it with any condiments. Overall, a pretty good burger.
Stuffed with mushroom and swiss. Not other toppings. I found it very bland. And unevenly cooked.
Stuffed burger with pepper jack, bacon and onions. Burger was juicy and obviously hand made. Good, meaty flavor with a taste of the grill and it held together well, no falling apart. Toppings were delicious except I was told the onions were sauteed and they were... a little. Definitely could have been cooked longer.
Pizza burger! Taking away the wonderful filling of mozzarella, pepperoni, & sausage, the burger was piping hot and very juicy! Also on a toasted bun.

Fries & Sides

I had the Frips, which are thinly sliced, fried potato slices. They're somewhat exclusive to Parlor City, and are very good. I THINK you can order their huge nacho plate (an awesome menu choice there if you're not in a burger mood) made with Frips instead of tortilla chips. Parlor also offers Sweet Potato fries as a side. I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes myself, but if you must order them, get the marshmallow dipping sauce. SO good! Anyway....fries/sides were given a 7/10.

Handcrafted burger stuffed with jalapenos and topped with 3 cheese blend, with Frips on the side.

Comments:

I had the Sweet Potato Fries. They were outstanding. Crispy on the outside but not soft on the inside. The light coating of cinnamon and sugar over them is what put them over the top. I didn't expect that, and the sweet/salty mix was sublime.
I got a side salad with blue cheese dressing. It was nothing special, but really, it's a side salad people, I'm not expecting a mind-blowing experience. (Editors Note: This person gets it!)
Onion rings. Crispy, cooked perfectly, great batter.
Fries were crinkle cut, crispy outside and hot and tender inside!

Burger with sweet potato fries

Service

If there's one area that Parlor City can improve, it's service. I have heard, and experienced, a definite lack in attentiveness and focus from many different servers there. There seems to be a disconnect and a problem with multitasking amongst their staff....like they can't handle both a drink and a food order all at once. This is not a comment on the server we had this week, but is more of an overall observation for the establishment as a whole. For our group this week, service received a 7.13/10 (a pretty good score!).

Comments:

The waitress was very friendly and provided timely service without hovering. They adhered strictly to the 5pm rule for ordering stuffed burgers even though it was 4:55pm, but hey, rules are rules. The waitress came back promptly at 5pm to take our order and the food was fairly fast.
As expected, very slow service. Server was friendly, but very slowwwwww.
The wait staff was very nice. I probably would have given her a perfect "10", but the "Stuffed Burger Time" started at 5pm and we were there at 4:50. She made us wait the 10 minutes to place our order. Weird, but not a huge deal.
Was very slow for not as busy as I have seen before. But the cold beers helped.
Waitress was polite, friendly and came back frequently to refill drinks/clear plates. Both her drink and food suggestions were excellent.

Conclusion

Parlor City's decor is unique to the area. The walls are covered with all kinds of local city history and memorabilia. I always seem to find some new thing on the walls to look at and appreciate from the city's past.

As I said, Parlor City is a favorite of mine, and I'd be back there no matter what the scores were.
Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others? We gave Parlor City a 4.88/5.

Final Comments:

For just slightly more than it cost to feed my family at Panera, I can eat at Parlor City. No contest. Once Panera starts serving stuffed burgers I'll go there again.
Parlor City has a great atmosphere. Even when it's busy, the wait staff is still very attentive.
A bit more expensive than some of the other locations, but worth it for not-another-bar-patty.
Always great food and beverage selections!

City Beat - 2/5/13

2013-02-05T22:13:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to the CR Burger Tour. Our goal, as always, is to seek out the best locally crafted burger that we can find, and try to have a good time doing it. Today of course proved to be no exception, and we learned a lot along the way.

1. Bill's a pimp. So I was spotted walking back into the office with my four ladies, my stable if you will, and was told that we resembled the picture below.

Can't argue with the truth. Where my money at?

2. The World Wide Web, also known as the Information Super Highway, or "Cyberspace", can be used to purchase a number of goods that can often times be shipped to your home or business for a nominal fee. Some people have been reported to shop for goods while in their underwear. Can you believe such a thing???

Can you load some more interwebs onto this for me?

3. Gang signs. The Burger Tour now has an official gang sign, and slogan. Furries fo' Lyfe yo.

Is the L backwards? Do I care? It how we roll on the Bizurger Tour!

What does ANY of this have to do with burgers? Not a damn thing, but I got to open with something!

City Beat BAR & GRILL

City Beat is located on 3rd Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids. It's a newly renovated building, no doubt hit pretty hard in the 2008 flood. They appeared to have a pretty decent lunch time crowd going in and out, various ages and occupations represented, and everyone seemed pretty comfortable there. It's a standard issue neighborhood bar with a kitchen, and one that seemed pretty welcoming to anyone who might drop by. Oh, and they know how to manage a webpage in cyberspace too.

The Burger

I counted thirteen of us today (had to stop flashing gang signs to ensure an accurate count, AND take a shoe off!). Eleven surveys have been submitted, and of those, it looks like we have 100% burger participation. Two surveys were submitted for Sammich's, but we had a couple new people who might not have understood the Sammich criteria. So, for today's review, we will stick to just burgers!

The "pure burger" selection was somewhat limited, giving us just the option of the 1/3 lb. Cheeseburger, the Double Cheeseburger, or the patty melt. I think almost everyone got the Cheeseburger, and many people added bacon. The scores have been added, the values tallied, the ledgers balanced and the pipers paid. City Beat's burger scored a 6.83/10.

As presented. A "frilled sandwich pick" makes everything classier!

For my money, I thought this was the best burger that the tour has experienced in awhile.

Under the hood. Cheese, pickles, onion, mayo. Some lettuce, even the dreaded iceberg, would have been nice.

Comments from the group included:

Double cheeseburger with ketchup, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle. My burger was huge and juicy. I'm extremely full. Bun was toasted, but became soggy and was falling apart while I was eating.
Plain bacon cheeseburger. Bacon was crisp and sandwich was hot.
Toasted bun, almost looked like a bagel and tasted like a tough crossaint. Average bar burger patty. Good size for the price.
...wasn't too bad, but nothing to go back specifically for. Bacon was cheap microwavable stuff.
Great flavor!

Fries & Sides

Sides didn't rate so well today. Most of us had fries, with a small number of onion rings and cottage cheese mixed in as well. Sides received a 5.58/10.

Comments:

Small cut fries on the side. Fries were warm when I got them. Their small size made them cool off too fast. They were okay. I should have added some more salt.
Got fries, they were very plain and cold.
Loved the hot skinny fries
Fries were small and slightly over cooked.
Onion rings were nice and crispy!
Cottage cheese. Texture was weird.
Fries. Plenty of them, but nothing all that special.

Service

This is always a tough one. We drop in on some of these places unannounced, and they do their best to keep up with their regular crowd, and then our group as well. Usually, there's one server in the whole place, and they work their butts off for us. I did see that City Beat had two cooks working in the kitchen. Tip well folks, they likely earn it. Service received a 5.67/10.

Comments:

I thought the staff was on top of their game :) Quick service for drinks and orders. Refills were given. For a group of +10 with no notice, I thought they were fast on getting our food out. She also brought the check out promptly and I got change right away. Great job!
Other than originally getting the wrong burger and then mine, she did a decent job considering the size of our group and lack of support staff.
It was a big group so I expected service a bit slow, but she seemed disengaged. Not very friendly. Paying her was difficult and she mixed up a few orders.
She did a good job taking care of us. Messed up an order or two, but I think everyone got fed.

Conclusion

City Beat is much like any one of a thousand bars across the country. A place to go and have a drink or two, or to stop in for a quick lunch. I've no complaints with the place, and would like to stop back again sometime when we're not dropping a 10+ person bomb on them.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others?" We gave City Beat a 3.25/5.

Final Comments:

I thought the price was a little higher than other places for a burger and a side, but the burger was quite large and I was more than stuffed when I left.
Not big on my list of places to go. Also in the evenings after work it is frequented by officers off duty, but drinking around cops is never something I am real comfortable with. (Good to know!!)
I would never go here for the purpose of just eating. I've eaten here before because it was a stop on a group ride and I was hungry. But then again, it's just a bar, w/ bar food.
Food was good, service seemed very good considering we al showed up at the same time.

Bricks Bar & Grill - 1/17/13

2013-01-18T22:19:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! Here we are, nearly 3 full weeks into the New Year, and we're still wishing one another Happy New Year. That's weird. That particular greeting should be used for a week, ten days max after Jan 1. After that, a hearty "Hail Fellows Well Met" should suffice as adequate greeting and salutations for all post New Years greetings, whether 'tis directed towards one's masculine counterparts, or in friendly salutes directed towards the fairer sex. Thus ends my speech.

Bricks Bar & Grill

Bricks Bar & Grill is a relatively nondescript yet quite popular bar and grill in downtown Cedar Rapids. It's been there for a number of years, but was "reinvented in 2011 as a place where adults can enjoy the company of others...". Makes me think they've got some sort of swinger/porn/burger/booze thing going on there. Hang on....

Nope, we checked. Just burgers n' booze. You'll need to bring your own porn. What's that?? Oh, turns out they frown on that too. Prudes.

ANYWAY....

We had a group of about 23 people descend upon Brick's for the first Burger Tour stop of 2013. This was an amazing turnout, MIGHT be a new record for the Tour, so thank you all for attending and submitting your surveys!

I think now is a good time to review the criteria that we here at the Burger Tour have set for accurate, fair evaluations of the comestibles that we review. See, there are many, many ways to present a burger, but so many of them mask and disguise what makes the burger great. Therefore, we've established some guidelines here to keep our judging as fair and non-biased as possible.

To be considered as a "burger" the following criteria have to be met. Sandwich shall consist of only:

1. Hamburger in patty form. 1/3-1/2 lb. Don't ya'll come on up in here talking 'bout no "quarter pounders". Ronald ain't home.

2. A bun. Whatever the restaurant decides. Texas toast is a reasonable substitute. Sourdough...pushing your luck.

3. Cheese. Individuals choice. Keep it simple tho. American, Swiss, Provolone, Cheddar, Pepperjack.

4. Toppings: Traditional wins the day. Lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion.

5. Condiments: Traditional again, ketchup, mustard, mayo if you must.

6. Bacon is always allowed as a topping. Always.

Any other creation coming out of a kitchen is regarded as a "bar sammich". The "BBQ Burger", the "Mushroom & Swiss", the "Five Alarm", the "Southwestern", the "Arugula and Feta Explosion"...all of these and their ilk, while admittedly tasty, mask the true goodness of the burger itself. These cannot be included in the scoring, which is why we have the "bar sammich" category each and every time we do this, because some participants can't seem to understand that the "Burger Tour" is about god damned burgers, and not about fucking GYROS!!!

Tha fuck is this sh*t????

Sorry to take it R rated there, but...seriously???? Randy??? If you hadn't just retired from 22 years of loyal service to our nation (and Thank You for that!), I'd think of banning you. Consider yourself on probation.

The Burger

Fortunately, most of us "get it", and we ordered the Classic Burger. 17 surveys were returned (definitely a new record), 15 of them were for "the burger". For their burger.... drum-roll please....Brick's received a 6.47/10.

Comments from the group included:

Burger was average, she didn't ask how I wanted prepared, came out med well, i prefer medium. but the bun was great and made up for it :) maybe we should have a bun tour next ;) (Editor's Note: No)
Cheese burger with provalone. The only parts I liked were the cheese and bun. The lettuce was limp, the tomato was flavorless, the burger was dry
The burger itself was pretty decent in size (menu stated 1/2 pound) and it was also decent in taste, but I've had better. It was topped with bacon and swiss cheese with mayo.
Amaaaazing bun. Thick, hot, and toasted. Provolone cheese was thick and tastey. My burger was juicy and medium size. It was a patty, but at least it was bigger and juicer than most of the patties we have had. To be honest, 1/2 way in I ditched the meat and ate the bun and cheese. It was too good to leave.
Had the Classic Burger with Provolone cheese, ketchup and mustard. The bun was good, with the proper amount of toasting and good, thick, hearty bread. I liked the fact that I was able to choose provolone cheese as well. The burger itself was dry and overdone for my taste.
I had the Brisko Burger, which had swiss cheese and bacon. For as busy as they were it was hot, very melted cheese and great bacon!
I had the King Burger without egg (aka bacon cheese burger) with cheddar cheese. No additional condiments. The burger was prepared well. It was still juicy, without being greasy. The bun was excellent.

The Bar Sammich

Bar Sammich's received a score of 8/10 with 3 people responding. Oddly enough, Mister Gyro didn't appear to post any comments about his imported fancy pants Greek sammich. However...

I had the blackened chicken sandwich. It was a very good-sized chicken breast with cheese and optional pico de gallo. I chose to add the pico and it made for an excellent sandwich. Very spicy and tasty.
Club sandwich on texas toast with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Overall it was pretty good. A little heavy on the mayo, but that's the way I like it. The bread could have been toasted more. It was very lightly, barely, toasted.

Fries & Sides

Most people appeared to have fries of some sort, while a couple opted for cottage cheese, which your host and writer finds repugnant on a number of levels. Seriously, have you TASTED cottage cheese? Blechhh. Fries received a score of 5.35/10.

I had regular fries. She asked if I wanted curly fries, but I opted for the regular fries as the menue stated curly fries were an additonal $1. Others at my table ordered the curly fries and they looked better than my regular fries and I don't think they were charge extra for curly fries. My fries were cooked ok, not over done or under done, but they weren't very thick which I like, but slightly thicker than McDonald's. (Editor's Note: Oh SNAP! Someone dropped the M-Bomb!)
Curly fries were average and a tad salty. Cottage cheese was grainy and possibly fat-free. Give me the fat! I'm eating a burger not a salad! (Editor's Note: This one gets it! Bravo sir or madam!)
fries were cold...
Had the standard fries. They were good bar fries, with proper temperature and saltiness.
Curly Fries!!! Love curly fries! Although these were warm to cold, which dropped it a point.

Coleslaw - slightly above average, hence the 6 rating. Nothing to jump up and down about.
I've had better...I've had worse. That's what she said! (Editor's Note: HEYOHHHH!!)

Service

Let me say that, when we arrived, there appeared to be one server/bartender working the place. Our group of 20+ trickled in over the course of 45 minutes, and there were a couple of other groups there of 5-6 each that also took up some time. By the time we left, it looked like more staff was on hand, but it may have been too little too late. Perhaps I should have called ahead. I hope everyone tipped well, the slowness was NOT the servers fault. The server did also hand out $1 off coupons (for next visit) to many of us with our checks, so she knew they were slow, and did what she could to make up for it. Service received a 5.82/10.

she was a great server but seemed overwhelmed...
One waitress running the whole lunch hour by herself. We waited at a minimum 30 minutes before our food came out. I ran out of water and never got a refill. Couldn't catch the waitress if I wanted to, she was too busy. Waited again to get our checks.
Poor girl, she was the only server for the whole place, but she did a great job!
For being slammed and only waitress, she did a great job keeping up!
One wiatress, and we overwhelmed her. More staff showed up during our visit, but aside from clearing some tables, didn't seem to do much.

Conclusion

For a smaller group, Bricks is a great lunch location. For a drink or three after work, Bricks is an awesome location. They've got 20+ beers on tap, more in bottles, and a very nice liquor selection. I know I'll be back, and would recommend others do the same.

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others?" We gave Bricks a 3.94/5.

Burger Tourer's

Final Comments:

Food was fine. I wouldn't say it was my favorite and I need to go back. The establishment is nice and cozy with plenty of TVs to watch. The service was fine, but a long wait with only one waitress. I didn't see anything cheaper than $9 for sandwich and side.
I've eaten here before and the food has always been decent. I like what the new owners have done with the place.

I like the location being downtown and they always have generally good food and a decent beer selection (even though I wasn't able to partake today)

Road Trips - Best Burger 2012

2012-12-31T11:41:00.001-06:00

Road Trips - Best Burger 2012

Hi everyone. The Tour will resume after New Year's. In the meantime, here's a fun blog that takes a more regional approach to the tour, and could be fun reading/reference for everyone. Happy New Year!

Chappy's Safari Lounge - 12/19/12

2012-12-19T22:23:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays, and a quiet and respectful Ramadan to all of you and yours from all of us here at the CR Burger Tour!

Chappy's Safari Lounge

Well friends, unlike some of our other tour stops, I am pleased to report that Chappy's knows how to maintain a web page! Please feel free to hit their link, check out their photo's of the place, and peruse their surprisingly extensive menu. Speaking of menu, Chappy himself stopped over and chatted with us for a few minutes. In his words, the Safari is NOT known for their burgers, BUT is instead a local favorite for their tenderloins. So, regardless of where Chappy's shows up on the overall leader board, I will definitely be heading back their way to give the tenderloin a test drive.

Photograph recycled from Chappy's website without permission or approval. I'm a rebel like that.

The Safari Lounge has been a SW side fixture since...forever. I can remember driving past the place when I was a small kid, and knowing that it was some place "special" with it's safari decorations and one of a kind neon sign. In fact, when the first burger tour took place many years ago (2006 or so), Chappy's was one of the places that we visited and reviewed. So, in many respects, this is the Tour's 2nd visit to Chappy's. Sadly, the archives from that era do not contain a review of how Chappy's was back then, but I can tell you that they've always turned out quality food. Today was no exception.

The Burger

Per the Draconian rules of the CR Burger Tour, our group's "pure" burgers were limited to "The Burger", "The Bacon Cheeseburger", and the "Safari Burger". I don't believe that anyone ordered a "Safari Burger".

At this time, we've got 82% (9/11) of the survey results in, so I'm calling this one closed. Eight people reviewed burgers, and they've received a score of 6.5/10.

As Presented....

And under the hood! 1/3 lb. patty with bacon, pepperjack, and all the veggies!

Comments included:

Cheese burger with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard. It was prepared medium, was warm and not too greasy or too dry. The texture and density of the very lightly toasted bun was enjoyable.
The "Burger" With pepperjack cheese, and all the veggies. Burger was cooked just right, good bun.. Good Burger
Perfectly char grilled.
I had a bacon cheeseburger with pepper jack cheese. All I can say is "Ehhh".

The Bar Sammich

Bar Sammich's (at least one tenderloin), and....I think....this makes me a little ill....someone...ordered...a...a SALAD!!!!! The sammich category also received a 6.5/10.

Now, when someone DID have the audacity, the temerity, the NERVE to order the salad, it's fair to say that this is an accurate depiction of how I looked at them.

Hint: One of these guys is not me

Now, once I got that out of my system, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the salad that did come along was LOADED with all kinds of stuff, and it was the size of someone's head. The ONLY downsides that I can think of about the salad were:

1. It was a salad. On the Burger Tour. A salad on the BURGER TOUR!!! BANNED KIM!!! For the 3rd time!!! You are officially, PUBLICLY BANNED from the Tour. You, your children, and your children's children....FOR TWO WEEKS!!!!!

Your husband may still attend.

2. It consisted of a large quantity of iceberg lettuce. Apparently, this matters to some people.

As salads go, I must admit that it does look pretty tasty. Perhaps I'm a sucker for a whole egg....

Fries & Sides

Crinkle Cut fries are a favorite of mine. They hold just the right amount of ketchup, and there are plenty of nooks n' crannies (what exactly is a cranny anyway??) to catch and hold salt. Chappy's serves Crinkle Cut, so I'm a fan. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with me, because fries got a 5.38/10.

Comments:

Had fries. They were very plain, no salt and cold, so not impressed with the side.
Cottage cheese. It was fine. (Note: Hippie)
My fries were soggy. they were unseasoned. probably the worst fries yet
Fries. Average..

Service

I for one was impressed with the service. I had a drink order taken nearly the moment I sat down, followed by a fast, accurate food order. Didn't hurt that Mr. Chappy himself came over, talked to us, and even refilled some drinks and brought some orders out as well. Shows me that he gives a damn about his business, and doesn't choose to sit back and let others do all the work. Service received a 7/10.

Comments:

Service was good, nice that Chappy himself came to talk to us and welcome us.
Like to see the owner working tables. the atmosphere rocked
Nice that the owner came and talked to us. I had to go to the bar to get a refill on my soda, but otherwise serivce was pretty quick.
Although the salad was huge and I could barely make a dent in it...they used iceberg lettuce and the pictures in the menu showed something like Romaine. (Note: Jesus H Christ....)
A little slow with service but she was nice and seemed to be the only server. No one came to pick up my payment so I left it on the table. (Note: It's not "payment", it's a "donation", and leaving it on the table is just how it's done. Noob).

Conclusion

Chappy's Safari has been there far too long to be ignored. They are not flashy, but longevity counts for a lot. I will definitely be back to try the tenderloin, and the other menu items look pretty interesting as well. Don't even talk to me about the salad. One of the comments that someone made included "Clean, Friendly", so what more could you want?

Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others?" We gave Chappy's Safari a 4.0/5.

Final Comments:

Service was a bit slow but still good. Owner stopped by (to get a CR Burger Tour balm) and was both friendly and appreciative. Best burger to date in my opinion.
Seemed like just another bar burger. Nothing special.
Very clean for a bar/restaurant. Nice murals.
I think the atmosphere is the best out of all the places
Place was very clean, Safari themed.. Owner said we really need to come back and try the tenderloin sometime..

The Burger Tour will return after New Year's! Thanks everyone!

Union Station - 12/6/12

2012-12-06T23:12:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I wonder what's happening to our beloved tour. Dwindling attendee's, declining burger quality, and a disturbing trend that includes an influx of salads and bar sammichs. SALADS, on the Burger Tour for Pete's sake!!! Don't gimme any of that "Bill, it's the Holidays, and we're busy with work, family, and other social commitments" crap! Now, I can't criticize too loudly (and yet I just did. Hypocrisy, thy name is Captain Willy Redbeard). A last minute scheduling change required me to alter my plans, and I had to send other Burger Tour representatives in my stead, to serve as my proxy, to act as my substitutes, to judge and evaluate the beefy comestibles that one CR watering hole, The Union Station, had to offer.

Our review today begins when Secretary Joyce Willecombe grows suspicious of two men boarding her train and is referred to 'Tough Willy' Calhoun, head of the Union Station police. The all-seeing, no-nonsense Calhoun is initially skeptical, but the men (who escape) prove to be involved in a kidnap case. Calhoun calls in equally tough police Inspector Donnelly, but the ruthless kidnapper's precision planning stays one jump ahead of them. Most of the action centers around bustling Union Station. Wait, oh, sorry, that's not our review, that's the plot summary of the 1950 film "Union Station, starring William Holden and Nancy Olson.

Any bets on how many times Tough Willy got away with calling Joyce a "dame" or "broad"? I'll bet it was a lot. Man, the 50's must have been awesome.

"What was that crap?" you ask? Well, let me tell you. See, normally I TRY and post a link to the bar's website so that digital residents of the World Wide Web, also known as "the internets" can better connect with the establishments that we frequent. It's a free service that I provide. No need to thank me. Apparently Union Station can't scrape up the $12 a year to pay GoDaddy for a domain name that works, so instead, you get old Hollywood (presented in both black AND white!!). Step it up folks, it's the 21st Century. If you don't have a website, you're old news. I mean, for crying out loud, I got this here fancy schmancy blog, I got the Twitter, I got personalized Lip Balm for crying out loud, and I haven't spent a dime.

Union Station

Photo may not depict the actual establishment that served the burgers in question per se et al etc.

Eight Burger Tour participants attended today, 6 of them have completed surveys.

NOTE: Two people did submit surveys late, so I am going through here and updating all the numbers to reflect their input. - 12/7/12

Since I did not actually attend today, I will largely limit the review to their comments and survey responses. To include my own viewpoints would introduce variables into the process, and we cannot, WILL NOT have our scientificial methods compramazed..no..compramaized ...screwed with!

The Burger

Based on survey responses, 5 people had a burger, one person had a bar sammich, because someone ALWAYS has to be just a LITTLE bit special now don't they????

The Numbers: Burgers received a 6.14/10, while the lone Bar Sammich was given a 7/10.

Comments included:

Cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, mustard and ketchup. It was cooked well, but you can't make a frozen beef patty into more than it is. Tasty, but still just a pre-made burger.
Regular cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, onion, tomato, and lettuce. I liked the toasted bun, but my burger was really messy. Too many toppings and condiments? Not sure what the problem was. Burger tasted good overall with crispy edges and a toasty bun :)
Very average frozen hamburger patty. Tastes very similar to fast food burger like Dairy Queen. (Editor's Note: OUCH!)

Fries & Sides

Fries were given a 6.0/10, and apparently there was a fiendish dish known as a "side salad" available as well. It was served with an odd white goo that's referred to as "ranch".

Comments:

Fries were a nice blend of crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, but still just frozen fries.
Fries were OK, nothing to write home about. There were also quite a few onion straws mixed in with my fries, but since they weren't very good, I didn't consider it a bonus.
Onion straws were not that great :( Small, fat little pieces, too greasy. Just wasn't right. Salad was okay. (Editor's Note: ಠ__ಠ)
Fries were above average. Crispy and hot! Possibly fried with fish, a little Long John Silver tasting. (Editor's Note: OUCH! AGAIN!)
Onion straws - very good!
Fries: crisp, hot, salty

Service

6.50/10. Comments include:

One girl running the entire bar and restaurant. She did great for being solo.
There was only one waitress for the whole place and she was running around like crazy. She did a fine job considering she was alone and working in a dump!
There was only one lady serving the whole place of 25+ people trying to eat lunch. She was doing her best but forgot to take our order, so our group ate in 3 different shifts. She did bring refills, not sure when she had the time to do that! Didn't want to wait to pay, so we took our checks up to the bar and paid.
This waitress was very busy serving about 30 people by herself. Never ran out of beverage and even got a dessert for free!

Conclusion

Well folks, sounds like Union Station wasn't exactly one to put on the map. Average burgers, so-so fries, and an understaffed/overworked bartender/waitress don't make for a real inviting environment.

"Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others?" Union Station came up with a 3.13/5. Based on all this, I doubt Union Station will be on the short list for "Best Burger".

Few comments I'll leave you with:

I thought my burger was pretty good and priced well. Daily lunch special is burger, fries OR onion straws, AND soup OR salad AND pop for $6. Not bad at all :) Mostly quiet. Multiple TVs and one huge screen that had the news on. Really narrow tables, maybe 18 inches wide. Can't really sit a group bigger than 6 together. Not interested in going back if there's only 1 waitress for the lunch rush.
Ah, it's all right for construction workers and thug-types, but I think I just have a skewed opinion of it since my very thuggish step-brother-in-law frequents the place and loves it. Now on to better and cleaner places!! :-)
Women's bathroom was a little sketchy. The seat was up when I went in, I was concerned.

We'll keep looking!

Chrome Horse - 11/16/12

2012-11-19T22:28:00.001-06:00

Last Friday was our first Friday after work visit on the burger tour. Sure, we've had after work gatherings before, but never on a Friday. Nine intrepid burger reviewers joined forces to drink beer and review meat patties on buns. This week also featured the premier of Burger Tour swag, courtesy of our NewBo based friends, Eco Lips!

That's right friends, Eco Lips! There for when the bun and burger leave your lips dry and chapped, Eco Lips will be there to restore moisture and puckerability to even the most parched of oral labium's. Eco Lips, for all your lip care needs!

Editor's Note: Any praise heaped upon a corporate entity of any size is done solely at the discretion of the owners of this blog, and should not be construed as a reflection of said corporate entity, it's shareholders, or ancillary partners or subsidiaries. Don't take this too seriously, no one really reads this crap anyway.

Chrome Horse

A pint of your finest ale my good man!

I planned on this posting to be full of references to Sons of Anarchy, American Chopper, pictures of bikers, motorcycles, leather daddies, etc. I planned on this posting to be the announcement of a new leader for the title of Cedar Rapids best burger. Instead, I left the Chrome Horse on Friday feeling like this guy:

See the flames and the lava and the magma back there behind the heartbroken Obi-Wan. I think that's where mine and other's burgers were prepared, and then stored for a long period of time before being served to us.

I've been to the Chrome Horse for lunch many times, and always had awesome burgers. Burgers that were special, burgers that were something to look forward too. Burgers that I praised, talked up, and claimed to be "THE BEST IN TOWN!". In many ways, the Burger Tour was conceived to compare The Chrome Horse to other establishments in town. Prior to last week, I would have confidently put their burgers up against anyone's in competition for "the best". Sadly, I can not, will not, say that any longer.

He only became sadder as the night wore on

The Burger

I am fairly sure that 8/9 of us ordered the 1st Gear burger (there's always someone who has to be just a LITTLE bit special!), a 1/2 lb. burger topped with bacon and cheddar cheese. Simple enough. Hell, I could make that at home. Hell, I could do BETTER than this at home, armed only with a slotted spoon and a melon baller. Heh...baller.

As presented. That's a tasty lookin' bun!

And under the hood, note the toasted bun. Classy!

Mad praise to everyone who responded to the survey, we actually got 100% participation this time around! Chrome Horse burgers received a 5.0/10, our LOWEST score to date. I think I've made my opinion clear on what I thought of the burgers this time around. so let's get right to the group's comments:

First gear burger, as presented. The burger was dry, and lacked the flavor that I expected. I was thoroughly disappointed.
Frisco - burger, cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Burger was well done and a little dry.
The cheese and bacon were very good and the spices in the burger were also tasty. However the burger itself was over-cooked and not juicy, which was disappointing.
The burger was extrememly dry and tasted like it was dropped in charcoal. The burger was a good size with a large toasted bun, but the meat was extremely disappointing. Literally no taste to it at all.

Fries & Sides

Chrome's fries were narrow potato wedges, that were fortunately, better rated than the burgers. Fries received a 6.38/10.

The best cold fries I have had in a long time (NOTE: This guy showed up late well after his burger had been ordered!)
Great fries don't make up for a mediocre burger.
Onion rings - tasted greasey
Fries! Crispy, well seasoned, superbly done!
I don't know how you can mess up cottage cheese out of a tub. It was standard.

Service

For a busy Friday afternoon, I thought our server did a good job. Beer arrived quickly, and food orders were brought out rapidly and correctly. Can't argue with that. Service received a 6.89/10.

I thought the waitress was great for a Friday night. Checking on us often
Service was very quick and attentive.

Conclusion

Despite the mediocre burger, Chrome Horse continues to be one of my favorite places to grab a beer. Decor is awesome, and it's clear that they've put a lot of thought into the motorcycle/biker theme. In warmer months, there's plenty of outdoor seating, plenty of bar seating, lots of beer on tap, and the bathrooms are clean!

Vintage motorcycles

"Would you eat here again, or recommend it to others?" Chrome Horse received a score of 3.67/5.

Personally, I will try Chrome Horse once more, possibly over lunch, but will no longer consider them to be "THE BEST" in town. That title is still very much up for grabs. The tour continues.....

Chrome Horse tomorrow!

2012-11-15T23:12:00.001-06:00

Looking forward to the Chrome Horse tomorrow afternoon. Let's see if we end up with a new leader in the quest for the best! Hope to see everyone there (4:30P).

Sammy's Lounge - 11/1/12

2012-11-01T20:03:00.001-05:00

Welcome back to the CR Burger Tour blog. Our team of dedicated burger professionals is committed to seeking out, at no small expense or effort, the finest beef and bun based comestibles that the Cedar Rapids metro area has to offer. We do this for you, our adoring public. No thanks are asked for, or needed.

It has come to my attention that a local television station has decided that they are going to work on their own little version of the Burger Tour. It's on The Facebook, how cute. Welcome to the party folks (6 months, or perhaps 9 YEARS too late, depending on your perspective and your knowledge of our Tour's history!).

Upon my discovery of their bandwagon jumping, I attempted to post a small mention of our own tour upon their Facepage. However, much to my astonishment, I learned that my contribution to their shared consciousness was removed, nay, CENSORED, by the media elites that are no doubt scheming to crush and dominate our tour. We could have been allies in the quest for burger based greatness, instead, they have fired the first salvo in what will one day be known as the 21st Century's Burger War. Stand with us, or stand alone. EDIT: OK, I checked today, and my post is there. War's canceled.

"Man, Bill takes things REALLY personally, doesn't he??"

"Yeah, bit of a drama queen at times. It's really best to just let him get it out of his system. He'll get hungry and distracted soon, just be patient."

This is also the final Burger Tour posting before election day, which is Tuesday, November 6th, 2012. Please don't let anyone tell you that election day has been moved, or that your particular ethnic, civil, religious, or other group is supposed to vote on another day. Everyone votes on the same day! If you haven't already, please try and figure out NOW where your polling place is, and vote on Tuesday. Or vote early, but by all means, do get out and vote. Do it for her:

Sammy's Lounge

Sammy's has been in CR a long time, situated at the corner of Blairsferry and Center Point Road. I have to admit that I don't have a great deal of familiarity with the place, but I can tell you that they are not strangers to being reviewed by the general public. In 2008, Sammy's was "Best Burger Nominated", and has also been blogged/reviewed by this guy. Note to self: Go back and try the tenderloin some day.

Eleven men reported for Burger duty today. Eleven men; manly, beef eating men all of them. No one complained about lettuce as there was no lettuce to complain about! No one ordered cottage cheese. Manly men eating manly burgers in a manly manner.

Not as manly as this guy, but damned close!

72% of these manly specimens have completed their manliness surveys. Enough manly talk, time to talk burgers!

The Burger

I do believe everyone ordered the "Bob-O" burger, a standard 1/2 lb. of Angus beef on a bun, served with cheese and your choice of toppings (onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard) and American cheese. THIS is the standard burger that we should all be measuring against, free from the corrupting influences of bleu cheese, of sauteed mushrooms or onions! As such, we have ZERO Bar Sammich reviews this time, it's all BURGER!

As presented

There's not a lot to say about this one. The burger was good, but was by no means outstanding. That said, I will tell you that 1/2 of the completed surveys gave this burger an 8/10, so at least some of us were highly impressed with today's selection. However, 4 of us gave the burger a 5 or a 6, which results in an average score of 6.75/10. This puts Sammy's directly in the middle of our reviews to date.

Comments this week included:

It wasn't excessively greasy, was warm and fresh.
... this is a bacon fail. Had two rounds and could honestly not even tell there was bacon on it. not much on flavor.
It was average, was warm, but not very juicy. Just kind of blah.
Good full size burger, onions and pickle, ketchup, mustard, nicely done.
Half pound of cowflesh, grilled perfectly, but needed more seasoning. Good beefy taste to the patty.\The bun was toasted and had some cornmeal on the top. The size of the bun was good, but tended to crumble a bit as the juiciness of the burger and condiments soaked into it. The burger was wider than the bun. Overall, a very good burger. (Editor's Note: Going to hire this guy to write the blog after I get rich and famous and have forgotten where I come from.)

You can JUST see the pickles under the meat.

Fries

Crinkle Cut French Fries are my favorite! Nice size to them, and the ridges are made for holding ketchup. They are the perfect potatoe to enjoy with a burger. Unfortunately, the group today did not share my enthusiasm for crinkle cut fries, and they received only 4.88/10.

Comments:

Some were crispy and some were soggy. The fries were unseasoned, so had to add your own salt. To their credit, the fries were hot and seemed fresh
They were not soft or soggy, which is a plus, but again just kind of blah.
Fries were blah. nothing special. I didn't finish them.
Fries, just good ole krinkle style fries. All good.

Service

For my money, Sammy's service was great! As (almost) always, we dropped on them without notice. Judging by the crowd that I observed in there, I would guess that a group of eleven manly men, all together at lunch, is ~~a little gay~~ unexpected for Sammy's. The lone server who took our orders, brought our food, filled our drinks and brought our checks was, in my opinion, OUTSTANDING! The group mostly agreed, and rated service a 7.38/10. The pitchers of soda for refills was a real nice touch, and I hope everyone left at LEAST a 15% tip. She deserved it.

Conclusion

Sammy's MAY be the best value so far on the Burger Tour. This is not something we normally keep track of, as you simply cannot put a price on quality. Total bill for me today, for a 1/2 lb. burger, fries, and soda w. refills, was $8.03. Add a decent tip, and you've got a burger in yer belly for $10. Not too shabby.

Sammy's served a good burger, but not a GREAT burger, and the Burger Tour is all about seeking that greatness. Responses to "Would you eat at this establishment again OR recommend it to your friends/family?" were all over the scale, and received an overall score of 3.5/5.

Tornado's - 10/16/12

2012-10-16T20:50:00.001-05:00

Fun Fact: Bürgermeister: (Burgomeister, literally master of the town, borough or master of the fortress, Bürgermeister is german for Mayor) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration. All contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as Town Mayor.

Henceforth, Captain Willy Redbeard would like to be known as "Master of the Fortress". Thank you.

TORNADO's

Tornado's is a medium sized bar located in Cedar Rapids NewBo District. Established in 2000, they've been on my radar as a place that makes a quality burger. The flood of 2008 likely hit them hard, and I was pleasantly surprised to see them return, in a neighborhood that doesn't have a lot of other business' nearby.

The Tornado's Story

The Burger

Tornado's offers a menu of 5 or 6 solid burgers, named the FU (or is it F0, I'm not sure), F1, F2, F3, F4, and F5. These are named after the Fujita Scale, which is employed to measure the severity of a tornado based upon the damage that it causes. But of course, I'm sure you already knew that.

As Presented

My burger today was the F2, American Cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup and mustard. Standard build for an official Burger Tour burger. My burger was prepared in a reasonable length of time, perfectly cooked, and MAN does it look tasty! It had excellent flavor, very good, but not exceedingly great.

I gave the burger a 7, the group mostly agreed, as the summary score (13 people attended, 9 submitted burger surveys) is a 7.25/10.

Under the hood

Comments this week included:

The burger itself was really good, not over cooked or under cooked and not too dry nor did it make my bun soggy. The bun was big but not too hearty. It looked like it was freshly made and it was a nice surprise.
Very good. The outside of the burger had a good singe on it to hold in the juices so they didn't soak into the bun. Wouldn't have minded to be asked how I wanted it prepared, though, as it was well done.
Likes: cooked perfectly. condiments looked fresh. Dislikes: bun bigger than burger. Burger temperature was not very warm
Good taste and filling! The bun was good.. And is part of the burger per Burger Time.
The bun was warm and crispy. The burger was 1/2 pound and cooked to order perfectly. I like the slight pepper seasoning taste. You could tell it wasn't a frozen patty like some other establishments.
It was a good burger, not too hot, not too cold, not too juicy, not too dry - just right. The patty held together well without being dry.

We also had one Bar Sammich, I believe the F4 burger. Burger Tour is of course about the best burger and not the best toppings on the burger, but I know all too well the siren call of too many spicy, greasy toppings atop a grilled patty. This is why we also rate "bar sammich's", separate from the burgers themselves. The lone Bar Sammich was rated a 6.0/10. Comments included:

F4 Hot - not spicey hot at all. Burger, cheese, canadian bacon, bacon, BBQ and hot sauce.

Fries

Sides this week were once again mostly fries, with at least one order each onion rings. Sides were given a 6.67/10, with 9 responses.

Comments included:

I had fries and they were good, just not great. The fries had pepper on them which is different, but it wasn't that noticable taste wise.
The fries had good seasoning on them, so they weren't just the same old thing.
Onion rings - nice and crispy
Fries. Did not like the sprinkling of pepper on fries. Did not like that pickle was sitting on top of fries.
Peppered bar fries, crispy and hot. Best fries so far!
Fries. Good quantity, lightly seasoned and tasty.

Service

Service was rated between 4 and 9, with an average score of 6.44/10.

Comments:

Service was good. Food came out surprisingly fast. My pop tasted funny when it was refilled, so I'm not sure if they poured me the right pop or not.
Good service. I ran out of pop at the end and didn't get a refill, though.
Waitress was very courteous
Server was friendly and attentive. She made a few mistakes and was a bit frazzled when it was time to pay. Although she was very friendly and kept our glasses full, she did not make eye contact.
My soda tasted "off", and I was given reg. pepsi instead of diet on the refill. The refill wasn't real quick either, plus too much ice in the soda.
The waitress was very nice and provided quick service. We received our food quickly for our size group.

Owner Input

A new, feature here at the tour is Owner Input. One of our reviewers, a newly self professed "burgersnob" had a chance to speak with Tom, the owner of Tornado's. He suggested that, when we are not on the very important business of the tour, that people try:

The highly regarded ribs, served lunchtime on Thursday and Friday they are served until gone

Rib Reuben (the only place around you can get one of these)

Bagel sandwich, which he eluded to being quite addictive

Thanks Tom!

Conclusion

Rubber meats the road time! Would you eat here, or recommend it to others? Tornado's was given a score of 4.11/5.

Final Comments:

I've been in this bar before, although it was sometime ago and I must say, it was a nice improvement. I liked the wood beam made up of abunch of 2X4's all attached together as well as the wood decor around the windows. Nice improvements!
The last time I was in there it was pre-flood. The improvements since then were needed and actually make it feel like a place I would go back to now. Before it was very dingy and not a place you'd think about going for good food.
Hadn't been there past flood. Was surprised how clean it was.. Flood actually did this place some good!
From the outside it looked a little sketchy but it looked brand new on the inside with plenty of seating.
The place has really been improved since the flood!

Mulligan's - October 4, 2012

2012-10-05T23:31:00.001-05:00

Welcome back everyone. I have news, BIG news about the Burger Tour! Are you ready? I know I am...so, without further ado, allow me to announce that we are now on Twitter! Feel free to follow us at @CRBurgerTour, or just click the button below.

Follow @CRBurgertour

In all fairness, I really have no idea how "the Twitter" works, but we're going to try it anyway, and figure it out as we go.

Mulligan's

Mulligan's is located on Old Marion Road in a newer strip mall development. The building was once the Fajita Factory, but that line of business has been gone from this location for several years. They are now a decent sports bar, with a decent selection of beer on tap, an pretty good 2-fer-1 deal at Happy Hour, and a full bar. They also offer a full kitchen and daily lunch specials. The food at Mulligan's is usually pretty good, and well reviewed. The burgers however, the point of this exercise, are sadly not in the same league.

We had 14 or 15 people show up, but not everyone ordered food. I have 11 surveys completed (9 for burgers, 2 for bar sammich's), but one of those will be thrown out as it was submitted by someone who did not order food. His comments will be included, but his score will not be part of the overall evaluation.

The Burger

My burger was what is fast becoming my "standard" as we do this, a 1/2 lb. burger, pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion. Save the ketchup for the fries.

"The Standard", as presented. It LOOKS good enough....

I arrived after work, ordered a drink, chatted for a bit, and ordered my burger (and maybe a 2nd drink). At long last, my burger arrived (OK, it wasn't that long!). I piled on the toppings as I am wont to do, balanced the top half of the bun precariously atop the beef, cheese, and vegetable pile that I had created, mashed it all down into a size and shape that might begin to fit into my misshapen maw, and bit into my first bite of a Mulligan's burger. The taste was....meh. While it was definitely not BAD, it was at the same time not GOOD. The cheese and toppings were fine, but the burger itself just had no pizzazz, no beefy goodness, no flavor. It merely existed to keep the two halves of the bun from touching one another.

I believe others agreed with me as well. After removing the single score mentioned above, the average rating on burgers came in at 6.0/10.

Burger w. swiss

Comments this week included:

Plain burger with pepperjack cheese. Nothing special, but not horrible either. I'd call it "just another burger". The burger was juicy and the bottom bun was soggy with the juices by the time I was done.
I had the classic burger with swiss cheese and ranch (left off the rabbit food). It was a solid patty, came out very hot and juicy, which I was not expecting.
Bacon, cheddar, ketchup and mustard. The bacon was shear and the cheddar must have been left on the grill. Though the beef itself was hot, there wasn't much in the way of flavor. (I think this Burger Tour may be turning me into a burger snob :)
Greasy and juicy burger. Good size. Buttery toasted bread. Everyone seemed to have everything from well done to rare but it was never asked how you wanted it cooked. Seemed very inconsistent.
When I showed up, others at the table had already ordered. Based on the presence of their burger. I decided I could go home a grill a better looking burger.

An honorable mention goes out this week to Kristian, who ordered the Big Bertha, a one pound patty of beef with cheese. He attacked this monster like he knew what he was doing, and demolished it in short order.

Big Bertha!

Ain't no thang. What else you got?

I had me a Big Bertha. The burger was very juicy, almost too juicy as it soon soaked the bun. They never asked how I wanted it done, but it came about medium well, which is what I would have ordered anyway. The flavor was good, very beefy but not gamey, with a touch of the "char" taste from the edges.

Bar Sammich's (both of them) rated a 6.5/10. Comments included:

I had a turkey reuben on rye with thousand island dressing and lots of ummy saurkraut!

Editor's note: The above should read "Yummy Sauerkraut", but I left the original comment in place because sauerkraut is gross, nasty stuff.

Patty melt - standard toppings were onions, cheese, and mushrooms. I didn't really dislike it, it just wasn't a very inspiring sandwich.

Fries

Sides this week were mostly fries, with at least one order each of cole slaw and cottage cheese (blech!). Sides were given a 6.67/10, with 9 responses.

Comments included:

I had some of the best cole slaw,, can't beat KFC's though...
I had the fries, which were hot, crispy, and had a seasoned batter! They were very tasty!
Average bar fries. Almost reminded me of Long John Silver fries
Awesome fries, cooked/seasoned just right
Had cottage cheese. Again, good and average.

Service

We had two servers today who were very competent and efficient, but not especially friendly. I can forgive this, as there were many people there (our group and others), and they had a LOT to deal with. They were both real good about taking orders as they came, and, as far as I know, got them right. Service was given a 7/10.

Comments:

Very attentive and came back to the table often. Food came out quick and beer was cold.
Clean, good service. Good location
Always around even though they were pretty busy, never felt like I had to wait long for anything
Average. The burger was not on my bill when the server brought it. Had to ask to be charged for what i ordered.
I always enjoy the enviroment. A burger isnt the signature dish apparently. The service was really good staff was attentive. No one asked for a refill we just got them. Might have been the best or comprabable to the best on the tour.

Decor

Nothing to write home about here, standard sports bar. Not a complaint, if you want to watch 30+ games, this would be a good place to go.

Anonymous patrons enjoying an afternoon libation.

Another view of the decor, with a few Tour participants as well.

Conclusion

And finally, we come to the recommendation portion of this week's entry! Would you eat here, or recommend it to others? Mulligan's was given a score of 3.64/5.

Final Comments:

All in all, nothing special, but not bad. There's probably a bar sammich that will be better than the burger.
There is not much special about the place although the patio in the summer is nice! Price with beerz was very reasonable!
I felt it was over priced. It was expensive for 3 people.
Mulligan's was fine. Middle of the road, neither incredibly good nor awful.
The atmosphere was fine the actual company i'd have to reconsider :)

Editor's Note: ಠ_ಠ

Sip N Stir - Sept 19, 2012

2012-09-19T22:59:00.001-05:00

Had I known, when I scheduled today's Tour stop 2 weeks ago, that YESTERDAY (Sept. 18) was actually National Cheeseburger Day (henceforth and forever known by the initials NCB), the Tour stop would have been scheduled one day earlier. I suppose we can argue that we are celebrating the fact that we are only 364 days away from NEXT YEAR'S NCB. So there's that.

Additionally, today IS the 10th Anniversary of Talk Like a Pirate Day. Which of course explains....

AVAST YE MATEYS! Twelve and eight of ya land lubbin' bilge rats signed aboard as we dropped anchor on our way to plunderin' of ye Sip N Stir. This be the crews largest keelhaulin' to date, and a big YO HO ME HEARTIES to everyone who shipped out, includin' our guests from thar land of Wisconsin (insert lame cheese related pirate joke here, or something).

Me Roger be mighty Jolly, fer yer Captain is here to announce to ye scurvy dogs that there be a new leader for the title of CR's Best Burger!

Whew! Glad that's over!

Sip N Stir

Yes, I stole this image from their website. Sue me.

Sip N Stir,and their iconic round tables with the fiberglass umbrellas, has been on 1st. Avenue in Cedar Rapids for about as long as I can remember. I think I even tried to go in there once, MANY years ago as a minor, out looking for entertainment whilst "cruising" First Ave. Little did I know that I'd one day work mere blocks from the place, and be appreciative, nay, enamored by the wonderful offerings of their kitchen.

"Iconic" - Use it when you can't think of any other adjectives

The Burger

My burger today was skillfully designed using the Sip's "Build Your Own Burger" template for beef-er-iffic success. Bacon Bun (like I'd say no to that!), 1/2 lb. burger (medium), pepperjack cheese, lettuce tomato, pickle, onion.

SUCCESS begins here!

I won't go into a lot of detail about my burger, except to assure you, good reader, that it was delicious. Cooked to perfection with just a little pink in the middle, PLENTY of cheese to ensure cheese and burger mingling with every bite, and a bacon bun providing JUST enough tangy, smoky saltiness to enhance every morsel, PLUS just enough veggies on top to give it just enough crunch and coolness to really bring out the flavor. Additionally, the scourge of Iceberg lettuce appeared to have missed the Sip, as each burger was served with a full leaf of what I believe was the vastly superior variety of Romaine lettuce (but only when lettuce was requested of course!).

Captain Willy Redbeard's Bacon Bunned Burger

Now, as I stated, 20 people attended, and at this writing, 15 people have responded to the survey. Of those, 100% had the burger, and there were no bar sammich's this week. Those responses gave the Sip N Stir's burger a score of 8.47/10, a new HIGH SCORE for the CR Burger Tour. WELL DONE SIP!!!

It should be pointed out as well that many people had bacon on their burger (either pepper bacon or whiskey bacon). Both were positively commented on (in person and on the surveys) many times, and added quite a bit to the overall burger experience!

Comments this week included:

Burger with pepperjack and a bacon bun. LOTS of cheese, cooked "medium" as most people ordered.
Burger was better than most, maybe a little large for lunch but should not complain, priced nicely.
Huge patty half pounder. cooked to order. Very juicy birger. the bacon...whiskey bacon was the best ever. this is the best to date for me. fixins were fresh.
This burger was delicious. The bun and bacon made this burger for sure. The whiskey bacon was phenomenal and was surprisingly sweet with a very powerful taste.
Loved the bacon bun. It was like a biscuit and I love biscuits. The whiskey bacon was really delicious as well. The meat on the burger was juicy but not too juicy.
I think the thing that I enjoyed most about the burger was the bun, it was very delicious and bacony. Also the burger itself was rather large and juicy which was nice.

Fries

Usually, when we do this, most folks order fries. I ask people to rate "the sides", but it usually ends up being fries. Today seemed to be an exception, as there was a mix of fries, onion rings, cottage cheese, and potato salad. Got to hand it to the Sip for offering variety! Sides received a score of 6.83/10.

Comments included:

Fries. Standard shoestring potatoes. Good, but not great, I tend to prefer a crinkle cut.
Onion Rings, large real onions, fried in light oil. Better than most.
Had homemade potato salad, it was good but could have used a bit more flavor.
The homemade chips were stupendous.
Really good cottage cheese garnished with ripe tomato pieces...very large serving.
Cottage cheese - It was too lumpy and plain. Not sure where they got this...a dumpster? Thankfully the burger compensated for the side big time.
They were decent fries nothing special, not to good not to bad. I did have two onion rings though which I would have given a 7 as they were very delicious.

Service

We had two servers today who were very competent. Tables were arranged for us quickly, drink orders were taken and refilled quickly, food orders were taken in a rapid, efficient manner, and everyone's bill was delivered and processed in a reasonable length of time (note to group, bring cash to these things, small bills, tip appropriately!).

I should tell you that I have a small "in" at the Sip, and had let them know we were coming: "12+ people, ordering burgers, be prepared". They knew we were coming, and I got some feedback from their staff afterwards. I want to share it as I feel it REALLY speaks to the excellent customer service that the Sip offers. Normally, the Sip handles 25-30 lunch orders, today they took on 62. The cook, " felt bad about having to sacrifice presentation for service, but when she found out y'a'll were ON your lunch hour, not just popping in, she said just get em served so they can get back to work! She also said she was excited and flattered that you all came, because it will give us an honest, fair assessment of the restaurant."

I'm going to include the Service rating, but I don't want anyone to get TOO worked up about it. We were a BOMB, dropped on their staff, and they did a good job getting us all fed, watered, and out the door. I have no complaints with them! Service was given a 6.73/10.

Comments:

Service was slow, burgers came out at an inconsistent rate. Giving them a pass on this since there were a BUNCH of us, we all ordered the same thing. Orders were mostly accurate and checks were handled quickly.
20 people but they were still quick and happy
Staff was slow but the server was hot and not openly irritated at the ambush of 20-ish people
Great service, they were quick and responsive. We had quite a few people and they handled it well i thought.
For having a large party our server handled things fantastically. She was on the ball with orders, refills, and our checks...which was impressive for 20 people dividing up bills.
They were very accomodating to our big party.

Decor

One of the neatest aspects of the Sip is the classic vinyl album covers that decorate the walls. Nothing contemporary here, this is what's left of the music that your parents or grandparents listened to.

At least it's not yet another bar, with yet another Iowa Hawkeye banner hanging inside.

Wayne Newton, Elvis, Don Ho, Frank and Nancy Sinatra. Classics.

Conclusion

And finally, we come to the recommendation portion of this week's entry! Would you eat here, or recommend it to others? This week, we awarded Sip N Stir a 4.27/5.

Final Comments:

Atmosphere was good, burger was the best I've had so far. Price was less than previous spots but quality was way higher.
Amazing juicy burger with a crispy bacon bun and crunchy, sweet, cripsy whiskey bacon. What's not to LOVE!!!
Waitress was great, kitchen was slow. Overall a great lunch, especially since there was no iceberg lettuce!!! :-P

Tic Toc - 9/5/12

2012-09-06T21:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks for attending everyone. 11 people this time around, with no gutter snipes, street urchins or other unattended minors.
We have 10 completed survey's, so I'm calling this one closed. Preview for you all...Tic Toc was good, but not in contention for "the leader".

Tic Toc

The Tic Toc, 45 years and counting

Ah the TicToc. It's a bit of a rare thing in the area...a stand alone bar...no apartments overhead, not next door to anything else, not included as part of a strip mall. Located in the heart of what could be the most blue collar area of Cedar Rapids, the Tic Toc is old school, and it works!

The Burger

It is with a heavy heart that I must recuse myself from the pure Burger judging this week, and demote myself to the honorable, yet far less influential "Bar Sammich" category. I thought I could enjoy a fried egg and bacon on my burger (the 'Bulova', if you have the means, I recommend you try one) and still judge impartially, but I was wrong.

The Bulova - There's a fried egg and bacon under there. The photographer called in sick, I did my best.

I was the lone Bar Sammich judge, and after working past the amazing flavors of fried egg, bacon, and beef, I realized that the burger itself was just OK, and I gave it a 6/10.

Most of our group chose to go with either the Tic OR the Toc Burger, which are far more traditional offerings that meet all the rules of the Burger Tour. The Toc was offered with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, and mayo. Nine people evaluated their burger, and they gave an overall score of 6.33/10.

The Toc (or Tic, unsure really!) Burger, wasn't mine so I didn't want to presume to lift the bun. You're welcome.

Comments this week included:

Toc Burger, bacon cheese burger, only ketchup. The bacon made the burger. Freshly made, not burnt or processed.
The burger was a little dry and almost tasted as if it was a frozen patty, but lucky for me I like my burger dry and well done.
Tic Burger, basic burger with horseradish mustard, no cheese. The mustard was good.

Fries

Not all is well in Tic Toc-ville. The fries this week were....underwhelming. Bland, flavorless, and in some cases underdone. Fries were given a score of 4.70/10, our lowest to date.

Comments included:

The fries were undercooked and not seasoned. It is rare that I would only have two fries, but today that was the case, unfortunately.
Pretty boring, tomatoes were severely underripe, lettuce was iceberg. Editor's Note: I didn't ask about the tomatoes or the lettuce, but thank you for sharing that, Kari D.
Had fries, good portion size and crinkle cut. Both positives. I would have like them a little crisper but all around still good.
My order was late. fries were extremely under done.
Sweet potato fries, would like to have been offered a dipping condiment other than ketchup. Otherwise they we crispy and good!
Fries. Plain, no real flavor to them.

Service & Decor

Our server was entertaining, but failed to impress. Drink orders were taken, then he disappeared for awhile, only to show up later for some more drink orders, and took a couple of food orders. Was very inconsistent. Additionally, the soda that was served was very flat, and he was slow with the refills. The decor at the Tic Toc is unique...tons of various bits and pieces of historical crap hanging on the walls and otherwise displayed. There's a collection of clocks scattered around the place, but you have to look to see them. Otherwise, the decor is a collection of various antiques and other "collectibles". Service at the TicToc received a 5.80/10.

And how's everything tasting Sarah? Oh this? This is just my murderin' loaf. Try not to squirm now!

Ugh. Do the French do anything that doesn't suck?

Comments:

A snarky fellow with an acute cense of hearing.
I liked the sassy waiter.
Liked that it wasn't too complicated to all sit at one table. Also the waiter had a sense of humor.
For being by himself, he did well, but it did take awhile.
The watier was full of crap so he fit our group very well

Conclusion

And finally, we come to the recommendation portion of this week's entry! Would you eat here, or recommend it to others? This week, we awarded Tic Toc a 3.80/5, our 2nd lowest score thus far.

Red's Public House - August 23, 2012

2012-08-26T18:19:00.001-05:00

Another great turnout this time folks. I counted 12 people who showed up, not including accompanied minors or a couple of folks who didn't seem to believe that burger consumption was a priority of theirs.

As of Sunday afternoon, there are 9 completed surveys. Long story short, we have a new leader for the title of "Cedar Rapids' Best Burger"!

Red's Public House

Unlike some of the other locales on the tour, I have to confess that I don't know a lot about Red's....when it started, how long it's been there, nothing. I have heard rumors that I went to high school with one of the owners, but I have not confirmed that. Red's is your basic hole in the wall (well, it's a little bigger than that) downtown bar. They seem to distinguish themselves by having a small but decent selection of beer on tap, and a very large assortment of canned & bottled beer as well. They also appeared to have a very full liquor selection, for those who prefer spirits. I've been in Red's on the weekend after 10PM, and the clientele skews much younger/prettier than you'd expect for a downtown bar. I felt that I was too old to be there! I digress...

Today's tour was after work, instead of over lunch, so most people took the opportunity to enjoy an adult beverage or three while chatting and scarfing down beef. Everyone had a burger (as far as I can tell), and seemed mostly pleased with the performance and appearance of the staff (my goodness, that dress....).

The Burger

My burger today was very good, in fact, I believe it to be the best so far. I ordered the Basic Burger with pepper jack. It's been a few days, so I'm not going to go into a long winded discussion of what the burger was like, but I gave it a 7. Very good, but room to improve. I'm looking forward to my first 9 or 10.

I wanted to put a Bo Derek picture in here ("10", get it? Maybe you're not old enough....), but this is a family blog. Oh man that takes me back....anyway...

Basic Burger w. cheese and the Basics. This is what it's all about folks!

Believe it or not, there is meat under that cheese! Burger was perfectly prepared, even though I was not asked how I wanted it prepared. Lots of people commented on this as well. Today's burgers received 7.33/10, with 9 people contributing to the ratings. The Bar Sammich, which I believe was a bleu cheese burger, received a 7/10.

Another burger, appears to be American or cheddar, with a refreshing beverage

Comments this week included:

I liked the consistency and the grilled flavor. Also, good size. A real burger, not some fast-food paper patty.
First bite into it was amazing, second bite, even better... The perfectly cooked burger literally melted into my mouth.
The seasoning almost tasted like meatballs or meatloaf which was a little bit of a shock on the first bite, so that lowed my score a little. Loved the toasted bun, probably the best I've had in years which gave it a point or two. The burger was huge, I could only eat half and I still felt like I needed a nap after I was done.
There was nothing to dislike on this. The burger, cooked, juicy, flame kissed. What got me here, was the bacon. It was cooked to perfection. Not soft and chewy, but crispy with salty smokey flavor that set it off. The vegetables were crisp and fresh. My bun was soft and wonderful, it was fresh, toasted to perfection with grill marks seared in the butter. I would make the argument that this was done by a cook that took pride in his job no less than sponge bob perfecting a crabby patty. Editor's note; I think someone needed a cigarette after their burger, if you know what I mean!

Fries

Most of us had fries on the side, but a few had cottage cheese. I get the health benefits, but man that stuff's gross. Overall, the sides were given a 6.22/10.

Comments included:

Fries. They were cold, not crispy. Usually I like crinkle cut, but these were the worst.
Crinkle cut fries that could have been cooked just a little bit longer to become golden brown but otherwise pretty average.
Had Cottage Cheese, good serving size.
The cottage cheese was a nice big portion that came in a cup which is nice because I don't like my food touching :) The fries were nice and salty crinkles but maybe a little undercooked.

Service

As is our nature, the tour descended upon Red's with no warning. There appeared to be two people in the kitchen, and one waitress/bartender. I thought she did a good job, keeping everyone's drink full in a reasonable length of time, and also keeping food orders moving. Service received a 6.44/10.

Comments:

Server gave my date my basket and me hers (fries vs. cottage cheese). Had to be reminded to even take our order.
The waitress did a good job of checking in on us.
I brought my kids there, the bartender treated them with respect. She was busy tending bar. I got my food on time, never had to ask for a thing, she was polite and courteous, and was a hard worker. One of the best experiences I have had.
She seemed overwehlmed by us, did not get me the right order, but she was good at keeping drinks full, oh and evedently the guys liked her dress
I will give her a 5 for the hot dress but she was not attentive or very personable, without the dress I would have been more like a 3.

Conclusion

The bread and butter of ANY bar or restaurant is whether or not you'd recommend it to others OR return on your own at some point. Red's fared well in this regard, we gave them a 4.22/5.

Bushwood - August 3, 2012

2012-08-04T13:55:00.001-05:00

Good turnout this week folks. We had a group of 11 people enjoy the burgers this week, plus at least one who went last week. I'll include his score, as I believe his evaluation is similar to ours this week. 24 hours after, we have 10 completed surveys, 9/10 had burgers, and one bar sammich (which I believe was a mushroom and swiss burger. Now, ENOUGH CHATTER!!!

Bushwood Sports Bar & Grill

Classic

Bushwood has been around for a few years, and is always a reliable place to go for a casual meal and a drink. They are a sports bar, have a ton of TV's and a decent beer/liquor selection.They are well known for having a daily lunch special of some sort, and it's almost always a good cheap lunch. Today the special WAS the burger, fries, and a drink, $6.94.


Not too shabby

Everyone had a burger of some description today. The kitchen had 11 burger orders dropped on them by our group alone, and they responded quickly. Everyone had their food in what I thought was a completely acceptable length of time.

Steph, our first featured contributor! The suspicious looking man on the right is Chris.

The Burger

My burger was…fine. I had the ½ lb. Bushy Burger with pepperjack, lettuce, onion, ketchup and mustard. Overall, it wasn’t anything special, nor was it in any way unappealing. It was merely fine. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that the special today WAS the burger, and that MAYBE had some impact on overall quality. I gave the burger a 6, as there was nothing wrong with it per se, it tasted fine, the bun was excellent, but it wasn’t anything special either. Overall, it would appear that the group agreed. Burgers themselves received a 6.11/10 with 9 people voting. The Bar Sammich/mushroom and swiss got a 7/10, with one person voting.

As delivered!

Comments from the group included:

I had the 1/2 lb cheeseburger, pepperjack cheese. The cheese/meat/bun were great, and would actually have earned the burger a 9. However the lettuce was funky and the pickle tasted like ginger. Wtf?
I had a plain cheeseburger with pepperjack cheese. Was not asked how I wanted my burger prepared, so it came well done which is not my preference. The burger was still ok, but nothing special otherwise.
1/2 pound burger special with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and boom-boom sauce. The bottom bun was a little soggy otherwise was pretty tastey! Added the boom-boom spicey sauce for a little kick.
Cheeseburger with American cheese and ketchup only. I liked that the bun was toasted and crisp. The bread did taste sort of dry. I liked that it was juicy with the first bite, but then it just didn't seem to settle well. Not a lot of flavor, a little bland.
Had the "bushy" burger..Apparently their name for a cheeseburger. opted for Pepperjack cheese, onions, lettuce, and pickles. Was not asked how I like my burger done.. And felt that the burger itself had little or no seasoning.. It was almost like the patty was pre made and then frozen and then cooked over the grill quick. Bun was slightly toasted which I liked. But overall felt it could of had some more flavor.

Fries

I had fries on the side, Bushwood gives you the choice of fries or potato wedges. I’ve ALWAYS liked Bushwood’s fries. I’m not sure what is “special” about them, but they always seem to be hot and just crunchy enough to be appealing. They were rated 7.13/10, with 8 people responding.

Comments from the group included:

Potato Wedges. Lightly seasoned, nice and "meaty", just how I like 'em.
Fries.. OK seemed average fries... Felt similar to frozen fries I could of bought as the grocery store.
pretty good wedgies! came out a perfect temperature so wasn't sure if they were all too fresh and i prefer them to be a little crispier.

Service

I felt the service was just fine. Busy Friday lunch hour, and orders were taken, delivered, and checks handled quickly and competently. Service received a score of 7.10/10.

Participants liked the number of TV's available in the bar, and the ability to seat yourself. Also, based on responses, Dressage seems to be among the favorite Olympic sports. It's this years Curling, and soon everyone will be doing it.

Conclusion
Based on past experiences there, I would definitely recommend Bushwood to anyone. It’s my “go to” place for when I want to have a simple lunch and a drink with someone. The food there is always good, even if I did not consider it to be "the best". Among the group, "Would you eat at this establishment again OR recommend it to your friends/family?" received a 4.3/5.

Al's Red Frog - July 12, 2012

2012-07-12T22:05:00.002-05:00

Thanks for attending today everyone! We had a group of 14 people descend upon the Czech Village today, which is more than the original burger tour EVER had, so great job!

After looking at the responses to the survey, I've realized I need to make some changes to the questions so that burgers and sammichs are truly separated. Should be possible without skewing our results from today TOO badly. At this time, 11/14 have responded to the survey, 8/11 (72.7%) had burgers. Now, on to the review!

Al's Red Frog

The Entrance to Al's Red Frog

Al’s Red Frog is one of those small Cedar Rapids bars that has been around forever, and has somehow managed to keep the same name. It’s located in the heart of the Czech Village, and was renovated following the 2008 flood. There’s a plaque on the wall by the front door, marking the water level in the flood. My best guesstimate is that the bar had 8 feet of water inside. It’s pretty amazing that they recovered and are still in business.

The entrance is rather unassuming, and it would be easy to miss the place if you weren’t looking for it. The Red Frog has a full bar, and would also appear to have an active dining crowd as well, given the range of the menu, and the # of people (aside from our group of 14) that were there for lunch.

As a Cedar Rapids native w. Czech ancestors, I should know what this says. Something about welcome is my best guess. Sorry Great Grandpa Vaclav.

The Burger

For purposes of review, I ordered a cheeseburger (medium well) with pepper jack, lettuce, and tomato, with fries and a delicious dill pickle spear on the side. It should be noted that the pickle spear was served touching both my fries and my burger, and did not add nor detract from the burger and fry experience, as some would have you believe. But I digress…

The reason we're here!

My burger came to the table in a reasonable length of time, but I was fortunate in that I had ordered my food earlier than others, and before the crowd arrived. The burger looked great, smelled good. The first bite was…fine, but underwhelming. I immediately noticed my medium-well order was closer to medium. OK, that’s fine, I’m flexible, and “doneness” is often times subjective upon each cook’s judgment and ability. The rest of the burger was good as well.

Overall, I can’t find anything BAD to say about my burger, but I am also at a loss to identify anything particularly outstanding about it. I gave mine a 6, and the overall group score was a 6/10 as well.

Comments from the group on the burgers themselves included:

Cheeseburger, no toppings, pepperjack cheese. The patty was meaty and juicy, so points for that. The pepperjack was a great cheese choice. However, the cheese slice was rather thin, and the burger overall was a bit too greasy for my tastes.
Cheese, bacon, ketchup. Right level of crispness on the bacon, just enough grease to give more flavor, but not to make bun soggy.
Signature burger the frog. Burger was ok. used cookies bbq. bacon was normal...not much smoke ring to it. cheese was over done.
I had a plain cheeseburger, bun, cheese, burger cooked to medium and ketchup. The sandwich did not taste bad but there wasn't a lot of flavor. It was there. For the price I did not find it worth getting again.

Fries

Just about everyone had fries, and while I and others thought they were very good, they received a group score of 6/10 as well.

Service

I do believe our waitress/bartender was also the owner. We were a bomb, dropped on her at lunchtime without warning. She handled it remarkably well, took everyone’s order quickly, kept drinks full, got the orders MOSTLY correct (any errors I saw were small and easily/quickly addressed), and got our check to us all in a timely manner. She also appeared to process a number of debit cards quickly, which in some places can be real time consuming. Group score for service was an 8.09/10 , and I believe it’s well earned. Comments included:

For just the one waitress, i thought she was on top over her game.. An inexperienced waitress would of been in trouble with a group of that size.
I enjoyed the close atmosphere and the staff was very friendly and did a good job when we took over the place.
Friendly, prompt service. Mixups on several of the orders though.

Price

My lunch was $12 and change (8.50 for the burger/fries, $0.75 for the lettuce and tomato, $2 for the soda, plus tax). With tip, I dropped $14. That seems a little high for a burger, but, beef is expensive. This price seems to be consistent with other establishments serving similarly sized burgers. Future surveys will include a question about “overall value”, so we can track this info too.

Atmosphere

Not rated by a number, but generally positive.

Liked the atmosphere...
I would definitly go there fora beer and maybe to try some other things but I don't believe I would get the burger again.
Nice small cozy place, I liked the decor...
Bathroom was very clean.

Yep, the story checks out Chief!

Conclusion

Most everyone said that they would probably return to Al’s Red Frog at some future date. "Would you eat at this establishment again OR recommend it to your friends/family?" was rated a 3.73/5, even though the burgers themselves were generally "Just OK".

This was my first visit there since 2004, and I hope to make it back again soon to try some more of their menu soon.

First Stop on the tour!!

2012-07-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Our first stop is ~~tentatively~~ scheduled for Thursday, July 12 at Al's Red Frog. Email notifications ~~will go out later this week~~ have been sent, check your calendars. See you there!