The Birth Place of the Hamburger (or Life As We Know It)

So today on the Travel Chanel they had the "Top 100 Tastiest Places to Chow Down" in the USA. I can tell that I wouldn't usually agree with the show's producers, there are defiantly a few restaurants that shouldn't be on there.(We like to stay away from buffets and places that have signage boasting "Home of the original" anything.) I was,however, surprised to see I had been to many of the top 20, and completely agree with their #1 pick.
They mentioned Grimaldis Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge "NO SLICES, CASH ONLY," and the iconic Katz's Deli, yes the one in "When Harry Meet Sally."They interviewed the owner of Pat's Philly Cheese Steaks and he tells us about the birth of the famous sandwich"My Father never allowed Cheese on the grill because of our Kosher friends, then I discovered the Cheese wiz and we had a home run,"He said.
The #3 choice was Primantis in Pittsburgh, a favorite haunt of mine the summer I studied at Carnegie Mellon U.
Mostly, they glorified all things fried and greasy with gigantic portions...but the number 1 pick on the countdown is possibly my favorite too, partly because its a history lesson, partly because its a little scary but mostly because there is truly nothing else like it in the world.Here's my experience.....

We probably should have gone to Denny's. I mean I was half way through an 8 hour drive from Jersey to Maine TRAVELING WITH A BABY, A 4 YEAR OLD AND A 6 YEAR Old.We needed clean bathrooms, some French Fries and a place mat that needs coloring.But we had to see it for ourselves...
It is Dark inside.I realize quickly that it is an eatery that mainly caters to drunk people.The wooden tables have teeny tiny chairs.But the smell.....
They cook the meat vertically in the same cast iron broilers they have used since 1898 and toast the white bread on another ancient contraption.Your sandwich is then served on a tiny paper plate with an onion or tomato.DO NOT ASK FOR KETCHUP!THEY WILL THROW YOU OUT.It is an amazing sandwich.So Unmani.So good.


It is where the hamburger was created , according to the Library of Congress.Make no mistake it's a dive , and an ancient dive at that with its teeny tiny stools and 100 year old Graffiti.It is near Yale University and has been feeding blue collars and smarty pants since 1895.

As the story goes, a man was running late and asked founder Louis to make him something quick.Louis grabbed a fistful of leftover meat, threw it in the broiler and then served it between to pieces of bread.The burger was born.
Run now by Louis' Great Grandson, you can go and have a burger cooked in the very same broiler that the first one was made in.

The Hitching Post in Buellton, but only on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednessday

Everybody has enjoyed, or at least wants to, eating at the Hitching Post restaurant in Buellton,CA. this is the place made famous in that neighborhood ruining movie, Sideways.There is no better place around for perfect , oak grilled steaks and a huge grilled artichoke, completed with there own "magic dust" spices and in house wine.They put crudites on the table like the "fancy " restaurants did when you were a kid and serve your food on what looks like your grandmothers china.
But their masterpiece is something not on the regular menu.You have to sit in the bar area only, and only on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evening.For a mere 12$, you can experience the most glorious symphony of flavors in your mouth if you order the Oak Grilled Burger.
You see ,the Hitching post is the flagship establishment for Central Coast Beef.They age and serve Fillet Mignon , Porterhouses , Ribyeyes etc.They are well stocked with steak for the weekend crowds and then on Monday, the chef will throw whatever is leftover in a meat grinder for these burgers.So what you get is not your basic 80/20 chub, but ground up morsels of Fillets, T-bones and other 30$ an ounce cuts.

The meat is by far the highest quality you will ever have in the form of a "burger," but, truly, its all about the bun.A grown up version of a Goldfish cracker, (think cheesy , buttery goodness,) the buns are homemade for the burgers only.They are soft and yeasty and loaded with Cheddar cheese.The combo of oak grilled steak burger and cheesy bun is a carnivore's delight. If you dare, you can get it with bacon and avocado , but that may be going to far for me.There are some things just too perfect.