Burger with a Capital B

The place: Capital Grille - Minneapolis

Okay -this is another good burger review. Take that 2 ways. It's a review of a good burger and a good review of a burger (I hope the latter). A free confession: my other half thinks I don't/won't/can't write bad burger reviews. A few thoughts - I like to review places that generally are attempting to make outstanding or unique burgers or places that hold themselves out as "great burger places." What's the point of trashing a burger from some non-descript joint off 394. And for the record - I am critical where and when appropriate. Some places have great burgers but no atmosphere - or so-so burgers but great atmosphere. Just the facts.

Now on to the review. My friend Peter Quale (a great SEO guy) and I were among the few people at the Capital Grille (MPLS) at lunchtime on a Wednesday in late May (it's the economy). But this is a classy joint, and we received excellent service. Peter is a fellow burger-head, and we came here to try what I had heard to be a great burger. And it was excellent in nearly every way. First - they only have one real burger on the menu: The Grille Signature Cheeseburger (depicted above): chopped sirloin w/smoked bacon and sweet onions (all in the patty). Truffle fries on the side. The meat was delicious and juicy and cooked to my requested medium (Peter went med-rare). Then, havarti cheese melted on top - looks like too much but was not. Fresh lettuce, sweet acidic tomato and what tasted like housemade sweet pickles. All encased in a toasted onion roll. I enjoyed every bite and could find nothing to fault. This burger is worth the visit.

A quick aside on the fries: expertly fried, then lightly dressed with a truffle/garlic seasoning. They come with the burger in a wire frame basket, well salted, and were delicious. Given the full flavor of the burger, I might prefer standard fries. The truffle fries could almost stand alone as an appetizer.

I appreciate places that can nail one good burger (all places should be able to). Capital Grille has nailed theirs. Go and enjoy. Burger on.

The 5-8 Club and the Quest for the True Home of the Jucy Lucy

I can't go on again about Jucy Lucys - but I must. They are the official burger variant native to Minnesota - I haven't seen them anywhere but here. And why the endless war of attrition on who birthed the marvelous cheese-filled meaty creation? Does it matter? Isn't it enough that it does exist (or we could be eating loose meat sandwiches like our neighbor to the south...)?

But let's talk about the 5-8 Club. This is one the many original homes of the Jucy Lucy. And it's a pretty cool place - a roadhouse (former speakeasy) perched by itself on 58th Street and Cedar in south Minneapolis (here's a map link: http://bit.ly/UoPIN). Outside has a cool sign - "Since 1928 - Home of the Jucy Lucy." The 5-8 also has locations in Champlin and Maplewood.

I had heard about the 5-8 Club for awhile, had been there for a beer later in the evening, but never had a burger. So finally it happened that I had lunch with a burger-loving client - and we agreed to meet at the 5-8 Club to test their Jucy Lucy fame. Lunch was in a sunny spot in a booth by the window. Friendly service and always a good crowd.

On to the burgers. These are big 1/2 pound fellows (1/4 on top and bottom with cheese in the middle). Frankly - I think a 1/2 pound burger is almost too much (from any place). Really a 1/4 lb of meat with cheese inside would do. Regarding the burger, I had a Lucy with blue cheese on the inside. This I actually don't recommend. Blue cheese is hard enough to melt on top of the meat. So while the burger was tasty and well-cooked, the large size combined with the abundant unmelted blue cheese was not my favorite. Also - note in the picture above the amount of sauteed onions. Why the volume? Chopped quickly sauteed onions are great. But these were more like thick, wet strands of carmelized onions. More than I needed on a burger. Finally, the onion rings on the side, while abundant, tasted like the frozen kind (I could be wrong). I like thin crispy piles of onion rings or thick fresh-cut and fried rings (like at Sonny Bryan's BBQ in Dallas). Next time I will try their onion straws. The fresh-baked bun does get a thumbs-up.

I like the style and neighborhood history of the 5-8 Club and their commitment to being a purveyor of great burgers. For that reason, I will go back and try another hamburger (of the smaller persuasion). Check out the 5-8 at: http://www.5-8club.com/. For the curious, here's the menu (Minneapolis) - http://www.5-8club.com/uploaded_media/Mpls_menu.pdf. Burger on.