Avocado Burger — YEN 1,500

The most popular item on the menu is the avocado burger. Ripe avocados, fresh tomatoes, and the flavorful buns all meld to make this delicious burger a consistent hit. Although it’s usually crowded during meal times, its well worth the wait. Kua ‘aina is originally from Hawaii but has migrated over to Japan.

Maison du you Bldg. 1F, 1-10-4 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03 34 09 32 00

Marinated Portobello, Blue Brie, Griddled Scallions, Dijonnaise – $8.00 (additional fried egg, $2.00)

This American delicatessen is one juicy contender using grass-fed beef cooked till slightly pink core, sandwiched between two freshly toasted crunchy buns. Grass-fed beef is suppose to taste different due to the cow’s different diet compared with the typical American feedlot cows feeding on corn mill. But all that goodness from the included ingredients makes it hard to really pick out the beefier taste; however, we can take comfort in the cow’s healthy well-being before the slaughter. As for the innards of this burger, we have diced and sauteed marinated portobello mushrooms, melted blue brie cheese, griddled scallions for the herby taste and texture, and dijonnaise for the slight tang. If that mouthful of flavors isn’t enough for you, a fried egg can be added. Perfectly orchestrated fried egg with still runny yolk will end this burger on a high note.

2954 North Sheffield Avenue, Chicago 60657
Phone: (773) 360-8686

Ralph’s Burger – Euro 27.00

Ralph’s Restaurant in Paris is Ralph Lauren’s second venture into the restaurant business, with the first one located in Chicago. Ralph’s Burger is served with ranch style fries, American farmstead garden slaw, onions, pickles, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, cheddar cheese and crispy bacon. All the meat is flown in from Ralph Lauren’s ranch in Colorado. The burger itself was extremely soft with the sprinkles of bacon adding a bit of crunch to each bite. The burger itself, as well as the rest of the portion, are noticeably smaller from their American counterparts, which seem to have been adjusted for the French palate.

173 Boulevard Saint Germain, 75006, Paris
Phone: 01 44 77 76 00

Fried Hamburger and Grilled Sanma – $8.50 (lunch)

This amazingly inexpensive bento box daily special at Torishin is a gem. Although the fried hamburger comes in a fairly small size, it is unique and delicious. Unlike most hamburgers, the patty is made from grounded pork mixed with diced onions and is fried with panko bread crumbs. Also, it is eaten without a bun, but with rice and ponzu sauce, a somewhat sweet and citrus flavored sauce. In the bento box are also a typical salad with ginger dressing and a grilled sanma, mackerel pike. This fish has a lot of small bones, but most of it is soft enough for you to chew and swallow. The fish’s meat is sweet and tender and can be easily removed from the spine and ribs. A+ I forgot to mention the complimentary mayonnaise noodles and steamed string beans, but those aren’t anything spectacular.

1584 South Busse Road, Mount Prospect, IL
Phone: (847) 437-4590

RL Burger – $12.00 (lunch)
Addition of Mushrooms/Bacon/Cheese – $2.00

Another one of those juicy seasoned sirloin burgers brought you to by RL Restaurant. The patty comes with a sesame covered toasted challah bun, usual lettuce, and caramelized onions and mushrooms. Like most quality burgers, this one is teaming with bursting flavorful juices that inevitably cause a mess at this quality diner. And seasoned fries.

115 E Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL
Phone: (312) 475 1100

The Professor Skip Gates – $9.95

From one of the older burger establishments in the prime locale across from Harvard University, Mr. Bartley offers a variety of burgers with a variety of names featuring names of significant political individuals to references to the current popular culture. The Professor Skip Gates burger barely squeezes a marinated teriyaki patty and grilled pineapple into a sesame bun. Definitely a messy business with the accompanying fried onion rings.

1246 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Phone: (617) 354-6559

Three Prime Cheeseburgers – $6.00

Morton’s known for its expensive and quality beef offer a special menu during specific hours (usually between 4:00-6:00pm) at specific Morton’s. Their ‘bar bites’ menu offer several small dishes for $6.00 dollars with one of them being the Three Prime Cheeseburgers. Crisp bun, juicy USDA prime-aged beef , red onion, tomato slices, and lettuce, all attributes of a delicious burger.

2 Seaport Lane, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 526-0410

Grass-Fed Half Pound Burger Daddy – $12.50 (Bacon strips +$0.75)

A burger from cow that is only grass-fed from Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. Unable to tell the difference from other patties, but definitely reassures me that the originating cow was treated humanely in an open farm. The burger was juicy with Tremont’s somewhat sweet secret house mayonnaise. I decided to add bacon strips to personalize my burger making it little salty and cruchy. Everything with string fries on the side, of course.

647 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 266-4600

TBS (The Butcher Shop) Burger – $18.00

The Butcher Shop burger is one oversize juicy burger, so be warned this is one messy meal. The bun comes pre-heated so that it is very crisp. The patty is approximately 1 inch thick cooked to your desire, but whatever outcome the juice will keep flowing. A side of the house mayonnaise is provides as well as a some thin fried onion rings as a compliment.

Note: The menu does change every so often.

552 Tremont Street, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 423-4800

Cheeseburger with Hand-Cut Fries — $14.00

This cheeseburger at Bandera (part of the Hillstone group which includes restaurants such as Houston’s and Palm Beach Grill) is simple and straight forward. The meat is fresh-ground in house adding quality and a special unique look to the beef. The burger includes classics such as lettuce, tomatos and onions with the option of chedder cheese melted on top (included in the photo). The hand cut fries are lightly salted and crisp due to their thinness. One last point to note is that the burger is quite large so to caution those with small mouths!

535 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL
Phone: 312 832 5324

Bouchee Burger: foie gras, braised onions and pommes frites, two sauces 25.00

The burger was cooked medium rare. The burger was flowing with juice with the added butteriness of the foie gras.