Thursday, January 7, 2010

Don't, Don't, Don't believe the Hype!!!

As many of you know, I'm a huge burger fan.  I've had the opportunity to visit a couple of new spots over the past couple of weeks as well as two fan favorites.  I can happily report that Le Tub is still a curmudgeon and still serving great big burgers.  They were packed at lunch time on the Monday after Christmas and I was solo and sitting at the bar which allowed me to hear many complaints and a lot of funny questions.  The best one was the Mom who walked in with little Jonny in a baby bjorn.  Mom "any seats available?"  staff " yes, but hour n half for burger" Mom, "how long for a take out burger" dohhhhhhhhh

I started frequenting Le Tub well before they became famous for their burgers. At one time  it was a great low key watering hole that happened to serve a solid late night burger... I enjoy going off season although the heat can be problematic.  If you are a burger fan, go, be patient, grab a cold beer/drink, some gumbo and wait for your tasty burger.
Le Tub on Urbanspoon

Stop 2 was at Quickies on 441 in Hollywood.  This place was made famous by Burger Beasts attempt to "master the Quickie challenge" and eat their 4lb burger. No 4 pounder for me... but I went two times and thought it was a notch better than your typical fast food burger joint. Checkers-esque.  For some reason they feel the need to load their standard burger up with their "special sauce" and onion rings.  It's overpowering.  Too much going on here and it just doesn't rise above fast food. That said, if it's a fast food burger you crave,  then you will probably enjoy Quickies. 


Stop 3 was to the hype machine aka Ingrid Hoffman's  Latin Burger and Taco Truck.  I've read many positive blog reviews and tweets about this spot and it appears that people are getting sucked into the hype machine. I know raving about food trucks is the the in thing to do but let's keep it real.  They still need to deliver the goods.  Latin B is a copy cat version of 5 guys that falls short.  Why search out a food cart when you can get the real deal down the block ?  My burgers were flavorless. (Partly because the staff neglected to include the sauce(s) I requested on two occasions, which is problematic when you open your order as you drive away in your car) On a positive note, the bun was good. I'm going to go back because I really want to try the sauce...

My most recent stop was a return to Charm City Burgers in Deerfield Beach.  Work had me in the area once again and I've been meaning to give this spot another shot since I was underwhelmed by my first visit.  This go round I didn't cut any corners and went for the $10.95 Emperor.  The E is a kobe beef patty melt served on  brioche with aged gruyere and truffled mushrooms.  The Emperor was better than the Good Ole burger I had on my initial visit but it still lacked much flavor.  Big and Juicy? Yeah, Flavorful/tasty? ehhh.  Not worth traveling for.
Charm City Burger Company on Urbanspoon

 Don't believe the hype!!

http://images.buddytv.com/articles/Image/flavor-flav-roast.jpg

6 comments:

SteveBM said...

Nice report. I've been meaning to try Latin Burger but have been skeptical of the hype. Have you been to Burger & Beer yet?

gcbron said...

Le Tub burgers are no better than a burger you would find at any backyard BBQ. Waiting over an hour for a mediocre burger is unreasonable. Of all the places you mentioned, Le Tub is the most hyped and serves the least palatable burger.

FeatherInHisHat said...

Agree with you on LatinBurger. Thought it was decent (not flavorless), but did not deliver as much as I expected. I give them credit for putting the program together and the benefit of the doubt since I went their first week, but they're no Gastropod.

The Chowfather said...

SteveBM, Unfortunately, I have not made it over to Burger & Beer yet but will soon and certainly looking forward to it.

GCBron, the backyard grill is what I love about LeTub. It's clearly a love it or hate it place.

Cork, my burgers were bland. Again, I didn't have the sauce but that shouldn't matter. The true test is the burger straight up. I can't wait to hit gastropod

The Chowfather said...

For the record, the burgers were all good but not great which is what I continue to search for

Eleanor Hoh said...

We thought we were going to the place we had a great burger, with Tiki roof and big deck, further north of Le tub but got the wrong place. However, we were PLEASANTLY surprised. Joe's Bar & Grill had nice service, fab views and delivered one of the best burgers I've had in Miami(apart from Sakaya's Bulgogi)! Crispy outside but tasty and succulent inside. I'm not a fan of Le tub, that's TOTALLY overhyped with terrible 'rough' staff that can't wait for you to leave.

Do go & try and let me know your thoughts since you're such a burger guy. I know I am Asian but have good taste buds!

Here's my post: http://wokstar.posterous.com/joes-bar-grills-burger