1 year anniversary party at Bridge St. Wienery to include hot dog eating contest, music, and more

THE Doc Sabes Dog

The store front of Bridge Street Wienery in Stamford, Connecticut

The one, the only, the extraordinary…Tater Dog

Chicaaago….

Chili cheese fries at Bridge Street Wienery in Stamford, Connecticut

Has it been a year already?  A year of people stuffing Bridge St. Wienery hot dogs into their gullets, downing shakes, chomping away on fries, and noming on burgers.  Om nom nom nom.  If you’re not familiar with Bridge Street Wienery, definitely check out our review (“Get Thee to Bridge Street Wienery“) that made us break out into iambic pentameter.  And, after reading that and you’re not inspired, we’re sorry…there’s no hope for you. :P   So, if you’ve never been or if you’re a die-hard wiener-ite, you’ll want to visit them on Saturday, June 15.

Station Eats Gives Back w/ Their Dog of the Month

Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have to end, especially not at Station Eats.  Starting today until the middle of June, they’ll be featuring their Taco Dog as the Dog of the Month.  Pick your dog (grass fed beef, chicken, or veggie), then they’ll add on tomato salsa, lettuce, shredded cheddar, sour cream, and wrap it up in a warm flour tortilla.  If that’s not spicy enough for ya, just remember that the good guys at Station Eats will be donating 10% of their profits for Taco Dogs to two great causes:  Camp Promise East (giving summer camp experiences to people with muscular dystrophy and ALSTDI (fighting to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s Disease).  You can get the Taco Dog at either the New Canaan or Stamford locations, btw.

If you’d like a burger and shake to complement that doggie, then check out these specials starting today:  The Steak House Burger and their Coconut Shake.  The Steak House Burger (we’d had it before, it’s excellent) has cheese, Station Steak Sauce, shaved onions, and tomato.  So, make sure to come by a few times and get your Taco Dog!  Also, why not invite your friends, have family reunions at Station Eats, have your next birthday party, too!  A Taco Dog for everybody!

Live Music, Beer Dinner, and More @ Station Eats – Stamford, CT

Come to poppa!

We’re not shy about sharing our love of certain restaurants.  Station Eats is one of them.  Heck, we were followers before Station Eats was even Station Eats, aka Filling Station.  Heading to the Stamford or New Canaan spot always guarantees us a great, reliable, quality burger, dog, and shake experience.  We’ve been hitting up Station Eats in Stamford more, though, because we love the outdoor beer garden and the chance to partake in some beer/Hi-Octane shake action!

So, OmNomivores, some great stuff is happening now and is soon to come:

Happy Hour:  Check out Station Eats from 4-7 pm and get 50% off beer and their Hi-Octane shakes!  #Winning.

Beer Dinner on 6/29/12: Just buy a burger and get a free beer from Cisco Brewing Company.  Our kinda beer dinner, no doubt! :)  There will also be a swimwear show from Juelle, live music, and even raffle prizes.  If you feel like getting an extra Cisco Brew, you can get one (or two, or three, or four) for just 3 measly bucks each.  They’ll have Whale’s Tale Pale Ale, Sankaty Light Lager, Indie Pale Ale, Summer of Lager, East Indian Pale Ale, and Brooklyn Summer Ale. 

Live Music:  Enjoy the summer and spend some time outside with a burger and some beer that have your name all over them while digging some tunes.  Every Thursday and Friday you’ll be able to check out the likes of PJ Pacifico, Carruthers Brothers, and Pink Missile.  Check out their FB page for specific times and bands each week.

Mall and Theater Access:  Yup, starting July 19, you’ll be able to get to Station Eats after (or before) that awesome sequel of Vampires vs. Zombies vs. Werewolves vs. George Washington at Bowtie Movie Theater.  Or, after a long day of shopping at Stamford Town Center, you can head over to Station Eats via Level 4 by the Apple Store.

Parking:  Parking ain’t no drag anymore.  Just drive up Atlantic and park in the garage to the right of Station Eats.  Bring your ticket and they’ll validate it for you weekdays after 5 and all day on weekends.

Noms: 4.5

Cost: $$

Station Eats

Address:  3 Landmark Square (across from Palace Theater and above Izet’s on Atlantic Street)

                  Stamford, Connecticut 06901

Phone:  (203) 588-0960

Site:  
http://fillingstationco.com

Facebook:  
http://www.facebook.com/fillingstationco

Super Duper Weenie Truck Hits up Bull N’ Brew at Ambler Farm – Wilton, CT

California Lovin’, Dre Style

Starting in college, I became a vegetarian.  It wasn’t always the easiest to do, especially when you were out with your friends, but I had my reasons mostly around conserving energy and saving the environment.  But, by the time I met Kristien, I was eating just fish, then slowly, I started to eat chicken but I still didn’t touch pork or beef.

That is until the summer I worked at a camp in New Canaan.  See, every other week they’d have Super Duper Weenie come to make hot dogs and burgers.  After seeing all my kids eating up and enjoying their food, I knew what I had to do.  Slowly, I had a burger here, a hot dog there.  By the end of the summer, I had built my stomach back up to beef-eating state. The lure of Super Duper Weenie was way too much.  Yeah, I know, I’m a sell out. ; ) 

Now, imagine our delight when Dina Nocerino wrote us and told us about a great fundraiser for her organization, Karuana Bully Rescue called Bull N’ Brew that featured Super Duper Weenie!  I mean, it all aligned with the OmNomCT creed:

1:  We love doggies.

2:  We love to help doggies.

3:  We love to eat hot doggies.

4:  We love to wash down hot doggies with brews.

Let’s start off by saying how awesome the 2nd Annual Bull N’ Brew was.  There was an amazing selection of beer from New England Brewing Company, Beaver Beer, Victory, Thomas Hooker and more. So, it wasn’t a major surprise that we saw a member of the elite Barley Literati, James Gribbon.  The music by Tim Palmieri and Friends was awesome and so was Like Violet who played the final set of the night.  People were having a great time, talking, relaxing, drinking, jamming, and chomping on some Super Duper Weenie.  Best of all?  Tons of money was raised with about 80 people attending.  Money that will be used to help rescue dogs, take care of them, then find them loving homes.  

Okay, onto Super Duper Weenie.

Gary Zemola and co. were there and you could pick from a variety of your favorite dogs or make your own burger and add a side of fries if you wanted, too.  We took things slowly, ordering a hot dog each, sipped on some brews, then went back for seconds.  I’ve only had the Georgia Red Hot and the Mighty-Ity, so I decided to explore things a bit and try their other dogs.  Kristien branched out and tried new stuff too.  Here’s our hot dog and burger break down for the best hot dogs we’ve ever had in Connecticut:

Come to Poppa!

New Yorker: Sauerkraut, Onion Sauce, Mustard, & Hot Relish. This is the hot dog purist hot dog, which is exactly why Kristien always gets this one. Absolutely perfect! That snap you dream about when you bite into a hot dog topped with sauerkraut, spicy brown mustard (the ONLY kind for hot dogs) and their homemade onion sauce and hot relish that is to die for… all in just the right proportions.

Cincinnatian: Cincinnati Style Chili, Cheddar Cheese & Chopped Onions. What can I say? The chili here is great. It has a really exotic taste, too…there are hints of Indian spices in there, just awesome. They didn’t go light on the cheese either, adding a nice balance of flavors to the rich savoriness of the chili and the bold punch of the onions.

The Hot Dog Went down to Georgia…

Georgia Red Hot:  Sausage, sauerkraut, mustard, and sweet relish. Kristien loved the crunch of the red hot, and the bite from sauerkraut and relish offered an awesome finishing taste.

Californian: Homemade Meat Chili, Freshly Chopped Onion, American Cheese & Hot Relish. This is what I went with when I found out there was only one Georgia Red Hot left. I was told that it was a good alternative if you wanted something spicy. Well, the chili was great and there was just the right amount of cheese on there to give it a great contrast in flavors. I didn’t get the heat, though, like I remember getting at their restaurant in Fairfield. Still, an awesome hot dog that left me satisfied.

Burger Deluxe: 1/4 lb. Pure Beef, Lettuce, Tomato, Grilled Onion. I had fond memories of the burgers from camp, but I soon realized that Super Duper Weenie was better than I remember. This burger was juicy, full of flavor, and was piled high with toppings. Surprisingly, one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time.

Load ‘er up!

Fresh Cut Fries: Even though they made them on their truck, they were still awesome.  Cut just right, fried just right, crispy, seasoned nicely with salt and black pepper. Nice and shoestringy!

Bull N’ Brew, 2013

The 2nd Annual Bull N’ Brew was a blast and we look forward to next year’s.  If you missed out this year, you’ll have to wait a year, but it’s totally worth it.  In the meantime, check out Karuana Bully Rescue for other fun events on the way and help them out with a donation if you can.   You can also check out Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield, CT to experience their legen-wait for it-dary dogs.  Thanks again to Karuana Bully Rescue for making this all happen!

Super Duper Weenie

Noms:  4.5

Cost:  $$

306 Black Rock Turnpike

Fairfield, CT

Our favorite burger joint comes to Stamford! New Beach Burger/Mr. Frosty’s Spot in Harbor Point.

A bacon wrapped hot dog with guacamole, pico de gallo, and jalapeno (Tijuana Dog) can soon be yours in Stamford!

Update:  Today and tomorrow are soft openings in preparation for Friday’s Grand Opening of Mr. Frosty’s!  Who’s in?  

Directions:  read the following question then choose the best answer.

1)  Add one part Mr. Frosty’s in Norwalk, mix in a second part The Beach Burger, then dash in some Harbor Point Stamford and guess what you get?

A) A ridiculously, magically delicious restaurant that rivals the awesomeness of unicorns.

B) Another reason to visit Stamford.

C) Another reason to be alive.

D) All of the above.

If you are any good at these kinds of questions, you picked D.  Let’s show you why D is correct. Restaurant owner, Anthony Luciani gave us the exclusive scoop:

Anthony Luciani has the magic touch.  Mr. Frosty’s, on 6 1st Street in Norwalk, has a devoted following and we’ve never seen it empty.  Maybe it’s the 3o or so hard ice cream, sherbert, and sorbert flavors, or maybe it’s their soft serve and froyo options, their bountiful sundaes, or their thick whipped razzles?  Nah, couldn’t be.

But even more magical is his other joint, The Beach Burger, right next door.  They are the 2011 OmNomy Winner for Best Burger.  It’s hard to go wrong here:  from the Bynum Burger, to the classic Beach Burger, to an oyster-laden Surf & Turf Burger.  But, they also have some killer hot dogs, such as the Tijuana dog that has a bacon wrapped wiener, guacamole, jalapenos, and pico de gallo.  Our other favorite thing to order are their killer milkshakes.  Apple Pie, PB&J, and Nut Crusher are our great loves that we dream of as we go to sleep.  Plus, they’ve got some really great seafood dishes Kristien raves about like lobster, oyster and clam rolls.

So, why have I told you so much about both spots?

Well, if the title and the first question didn’t already give it away, both will come together in Anthony’s new spot on 100 Washington Boulevard in the Harbor Point part of Stamford.  It’s a very similar set up to Mr. Frosty’s in Norwalk:  you’ll walk up to the window, place your order, then take your food and take a seat at one of the picnic benches outside.  Don’t limit yourself, though.  Just walk about a block and you’ll be right on the docks and can stroll along and chomp on a burger, sip on a shake, or tackle a monster sundae.

You’ll be able to enjoy the beautiful spring, summer, and fall with them because they’ll be open from March through November, too. Anthony is still tweaking the menu a bit, but you’ll have nearly all the same options from The Beach Burger in your gluttonous arsenal as well as pretty much all the ice creams from Mr. Frosty’s.

Mr. Frosty’s/The Beach Burger

100 Washington Boulevard

Stamford, CT

Monday – Thursday 8:30 am – 10:00pm

Friday – Saturday 8:30 am to 11:00pm

Sunday 11:00 am-10:00pm

Drink good beer, eat good food, rescue good doggies at Bull N’ Brew on May 19 in Wilton, CT!

Presenting the 2nd Annual Bull N’ Brew, poster by Eric Fritch

If you’re a doggie lover like us, the stories of Karuna Bully Rescue will have you all teary eyed. But, the good news is, you can do something to help by getting tickets to the awesome Bull N’ Brew event on May 19 in Wilton, CT.

Bugsy Malone, up for adoption. Click through to find out about him and to see more pics.

Why it’s important to help out: 

Annie spent most of her life in a family’s backyard, heavy chain around her neck, weighing her down.  Through rain, through snow, through sleet she stayed there.  Even through Hurricane Irene, she stayed there, chained up with no hope of ever seeing anything except the tiny backyard.  She was left there, to die, when the family moved…well, until Karuna Bully Rescue of New Haven, CT stepped in.  They took her in, got her all fixed up, and was able to adopt cute Annie out to a loving family.  See her rescue story here and check out her growth as a free loving doggy. Stories like these come to Karuna Bully Rescue  every day, and as you can see, being able to take in, foster, care for, and support rescues is no easy feat.

Jake, the Pit-uation, is up for adoption too! Click through to find out about him.

How you can help out:

Lucky for you, helping out is much easier than the job these wonderful people do every day. It’s as simple as stopping by on Saturday, May 19th at 6 pm at Ambler Farm in Wilton.  Tickets are $50 via PayPal to fosterfund@karunabully.org or $60 at the door.  And, all proceeds go towards Karuna Bully Rescue, too, so there’s no middle-man.  Just needy doggies getting what they need to be healthy, happy and 100% adoptable.And, it’s a win-win situation! You can look forward to live music from Tim Palmieri & Friends and Like Violet, wine, food from SUPER DUPER WEENIE, a silent auction, and a raffle.  And, beer.  What kind of event would Bull N’ Brew be without beer?  They will have local craft beer from Thomas Hooker (CT) and Blue Point Brewery (Long Island), as well as a keg of home brewed goodness.  They’ll be tapping “Pit Bull Slobber,” so you best be there to help empty that keg.

Please direct questions to info@karunabully.org and help these wonderful people and doggies out!

Jake’s Wayback Burgers Goes to the Way Back of Our List – Stamford, CT

They split their wieners here!

Let’s just get down to business, no messing around. I mean burgers are serious business, no? Jake’s Wayback Burgers opened up on Monday at their newest location, 324 Hope Street in Stamford. So, after taking a nice walk on Thursday, we figured we had earned a nice meal, so we hit up Jake’s. What? An hour walk doesn’t burn 1,000 calories? Psh, whatever.

Kristien wants crayons, but her excellent shading works, too. That art degree sure did pay off! ;)

Parking is a little tight here, but there is also some street parking if you can’t deal. But then again, it was pretty packed  from people wanting to try out the new spot in town and will likely not be as jammed in a few weeks.

When we walked in we thought the decor had a fun 50s vibe, back when burger joints were hip places to hang. Hungry and about to faint, we drooled over the menu:  hand-made burgers, hand-dipped milkshakes, hot dogs, chicken, sides, sandwiches, and salads.  We ordered a Junior Burger, Junior Cheeseburger, Chili Dog, Onion Rings, French Fries, Chocolate Banana Shake, and a Chocolate Strawberry Shake.  Here’s what we thought:

Burgers

My Junior Burger, surrounded with a host of onion rings

You can just say “Everything,” and you’ll be given ketchup, mustard, pickles, raw onions, lettuce, and tomato on your burger.  Some other free extras are mayonnaise, grilled onions, jalapeños, relish, and sweet peppers.  Bacon, mushroom, and chili are 70 cents more each…not bad.  My burger was ordered with everything except the mustard with relish and jalapeño, too.  Kristien had hers the typical way:  everything, no mustard, add mayo, extra pickles. The bun wasn’t too thick at all which was good, but the patty was super thin, mushy and dry…reminiscent of McDonald’s. The burgers seemed to almost be fried because of the way the patty looked and how greasy it was, though we were told by the owner that they were grilled.  The toppings helped to make the flavor decent enough to eat, but the patty by itself was just blah.

Onion Rings and Fries

The onion rings had way more breading than we like, but were crispy and large.  The fries had some skin on them and were a little crispy but not ideal, plus they were luke-warm when they got to us which was disappointing.  The fries were better than Fives Guys‘, though.

Chili Dog

The chili had lots of flavor and spice.  They served the wiener split, and piled the divide with jalapeños.  It was a decent hot dog, but we prefer the hot dogs at Station Eats and even Dairy Inn. And don’t get us started on how much we love Super Duper Weenie!

Milkshakes

Decent thickness for the Chocolate-Banana milkshake...yeah.

Kristien had the Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake, which had a very strong strawberry flavor.  It was served at a medium thickness, a bit thinner than mine.  My shake was Chocolate Banana and it had a very subtle banana flavor.  The thickness was right on and wasn’t too hard to drink.  I liked this shake, but Kristien prefers it thicker though she did like the flavor.

Overall Thoughts

Although Jake’s can be found all over the Northeast and is expanding month after month, we feel they could be skipped over in favor of other burger spots.  If you want a slightly better burger than McDonald’s or another fast food option, this is a good spot.  You can eat here, take your order home, you can call your order ahead, or even order online.  But, if you want a great burger, check out Station Eats in New Canaan and Stamford, Beach Burger in Norwalk, and Plan B Burger Bar later this year instead.

Jake’s Wayback Burgers

Noms: 2.75

Cost: $$

Address: 324 Hope Street

Stamford, CT

Phone: (203) 961-8700

Fax:  (203) 961-9722

Site: 
http://www.waybackburgers.com

The Juicy Deets on the New Station Eats – Stamford, CT

Ladies and gents: Station Eats in Stamford!

We had just driven into Stamford after our trip from Orlando and we knew what we had to do.  Yeah, the flight was super early so we had breakfast at 7, so by 1 we were starving.  A hungry Danny is a grumpy Danny, so we parked on Atlantic Street by the Palace Theater and walked up the Stairway to Heaven past Izet’s, aka the stairway that takes you to Station Eats.  They’ve only been open here for a few days, but you might have had their food at the original New Canaan spot.  We came in and one of the owners, Nick Type, rushed over to thank us for coming in and telling us that he was just about to write us so that we could try out the new food.  Seriously, we’re all synched up when it comes to burgers, fries, dogs, and shakes. Seth Leifer, the other owner, was there too and was beaming with excitement behind the counter.

Gentle reminders on where to go…

Immediately we were struck with how awesome Station Eats in Stamford is.  There is a giant communal table with lots of other tables nearby for you to sit at. If you’ve been to the New Canaan spot, you’ll see the difference.  Also, starting soon, there will be tables and umbrellas set up on their front deck.  Yes, a beer garden in the heart of Stamford.  Beautiful!  Bright orange arrows push you along like booster power ups and take you to the menu.  Let’s recap so you don’t mess up the system:

The Station Eats menu in all its glory

1)  Look at menu and decide what you want.

2) Order your grilled item and fries.

3) Have them pile on your toppings:  free and premium.

4) Order your shakes and drinks.

5) Pay up, now with credit card as an option too!

I ordered a burger with lettuce, tomato, onions, extra pickles, some mayo and ketchup.  To go with that I had a vanilla milkshake with Fruity Pebbles and cheese fries.  Danny had a hot dog with station chili, relish, grilled onions, and jalapeños.  He washed that down with a coffee milkshake with bits of oreo mixed up and station chili fries.  Along with all this goodness, Nick also gave us a try of his chocolate bourbon shake aka the U-Turn.  Here we go:

The Burger

The burger, plain and simple…

The burgers at Station Eats are always cooked to perfection for me:  nice and pink on the inside, a great medium rare.  Ah, the way it should be.  The patties are juicy, full of flavor, and aren’t too big.  The hamburger buns are just right, too, and complement the burgers nicely.  All natural, organically raised local beef makes for a great burger.

The Fries

Station chili and cheese fries, YUM

Fries here are crinkle cut and can be ordered plain, with cheese, with station chili, or with cheese and station chili.  They come out crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.  Really great fries, especially with the chili or cheese.

The Dogs

Spicy and chili wiener

The bun came out grilled nicely with a buttery taste, so good.  The dog was grilled up nicely and the toppings just made it right for Danny.  Overall, a great beef hot dog, though you can also get a veggie or chicken dog.  The station chili added a nice deep flavor, while the jalapeños gave the dog a nice kick.

The Shakes

Danny took down 2 out of 3 of these!

I’m never one to finish a shake, even if I do love it, but my vanilla and Fruity Pebble shake was so damn good I drank it down to the last bits.  The shakes work simple here:  medium or large; order vanilla, chocolate, coffee, or strawberry ice cream;  add in Fruity Pebbles, Oreos, chocolate pearls, or graham crackers.  Danny couldn’t get enough of the coffee and Oreo milkshake and recommends that combo.

Don’t be disappointed because the shake (and burger) of the month is still alive and active here.  Follow Station Eats on FB or sign up for their e-mails to get info on what shake and burger will be featured each month.  Well, onto their new milkshakes, the adult kind:  Hi-Octane Shakes.  The final pen strokes are being signed on the liquor license, so you can expect to have these shakes by the end of February/start of March.  We’ll update you on that, of course.

As I said before, Nick let us try the chocolate bourbon with Oreo shake, the U-Turn.  This was great, had a nice kick from the bourbon, but still managed to be refreshing. It’ll be perfect to have a dog or burger, sit outside in the beer garden, and sip on the adult shakes.  Ahhh.  You’ll also be able to try Red Light with vodka, strawberry, graham crackers, and vanilla ice cream or Freeway with Kahlua, vodka, and vanilla ice cream.  A medium is $7.25 and a large is $8.15, still cheaper than most bars that you’d hit up…score.

The Drinks

Ever feel taken advantage of when you hit up a restaurant and they bleed you dry when you order beer and wine?  Well, drinks won’t be too much here.  You can buy glasses of beer (PBR, Magic Hat #9, Narragansett, and Brooklyn Lager) and even pitchers at drinkworthy prices.  Yup, PBR pitchers at $9 and Magic Hat #9 pitchers at $16.  You can also order red, white, or sparkling wine at very reasonable prices.  A Pinot Noir at $20, a Pinot Grigio at $15, and a half bottle of Proscecco at $14 are just some of the deals here.

The Future

Danny and Nick talking. Look at all that space, too!

Station Eats seems to have a bright future in Downtown Stamford.  There will be a beer garden for those beautiful days when you have to be outside.  They plan to have live music pumping out, making the garden even more fun, too.  And, when things go well in Stamford, they will consider staying open later on Friday and Saturday so that you can get your eats and drink on.  The food is great quality here and it won’t take long to make up the burger or dog of your dreams.  There are lots of vegetarian options and you can even get a Station Salad for those lighter days when a burger might push you over the edge.  The one obstacle that Station Eats faces is their location, but once people begin to see that they are up the stairs, there won’t be a problem anymore.  They’ll be installing some signs and lots of people are getting the word out.  So, remember that you can always head back (at least) once a month to try out their burger and shake of the month.  Or, if you’re one of those lucky people that work in Downtown Stamford, you’ve got the perfect lunch spot to hit up every single day.  Work’s not that bad anymore, is it?

Om nom nom nom…

Tres Leches Shake/Cinco de Mayo Burger, Caramel Sea Salt Shake/Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger,Cap’n Crunch Shake/Guinness Chocolate Shake/Buffalo Wing Burger, Original Review

 

Noms: 4.5

Cost: $$

Station Eats

Address:  3 Landmark Square (across from Palace Theater and above Izet’s on Atlantic Street)

                  Stamford, Connecticut 06901

Phone:  (203) 588-0960

Parking Info:  Pull into the parking lot below Station Eats (70 Atlantic Street is the entrance) and they’ll validate your parking ticket on weekdays after 5pm and all day on weekends.

Site:  
http://fillingstationco.com

Facebook:  
http://www.facebook.com/fillingstationco

A Dog Gone Good Time at Burger Bar & Bistro – South Norwalk, CT

Om nom nom nom hot dog nom nom nom

Burger Bar & Bistro in SoNo has gone to the dogs…literally. And we like it that way! See, when our friend Melissa Gautier told us that they had a new doggy menu a few weeks ago, we knew we had to try it out STAT.  I mean you know how big of dog people we are, right? So we gathered up our pup, Maynard, and took him down to SoNo for some outside dining.  And of course, while we were there we figured that we might as well enjoy some great burgers and sides too, duh!

Maynard’s Meal

Om nom nom nom ice cream nom nom

Let’s start off with the dog menu!  When we sat down we were greeted by the new owner, Pat, a big dog lover who has been changing up Burger Bar and making it awesome for the past 9 months.  For Maynard’s first course, Pat brought him a nice cup filled with Gifford’s Vanilla Ice cream and an iced bowl of water. From the look of Maynard’s crazy eyes in the picture above, I think you can tell he loved it! For his second course we debated between the  4 oz. Angus patty w/ American cheese or the 6 oz. chicken breast with American cheese, but ultimately decided to give him the 4 oz. all beef hot dog with American cheese with a side of sweet potato fries, skins on.  When Maynard got the hot dog it was split in half and grilled nicely.  Of course like any dog would do when presented with yumminess, he tried to down it all in one bite.  Hell, we turned away for one second to have a bite of our burgers and it was gone! Yeah! He also liked the fries, but at that point he was so full he actually stopped himself after a few. Hm, he apparently has more self control than his parents! : 0

Sides

Now onto the people food! As soon as we sat down at our table, we had a nice bowl of crispy and lightly salted, homemade potato chips. Yum. When we checked in we saw Foursquare reccos for the Disco Fries and heard the people next to us raving about them. Yep, that’s fries smothered in warm brie cheese sprinkled with white truffle oil.  OMG! But, being the cheese wuss that Danny is, he just couldn’t do it! Bummer! So, instead of making a real choice at that point, we decided to go for the sidekick sampler – that’s four sides for just 8 measly bucks. Perfect for the foodie commitmentphobes we are. Here are the sides we nommed on:

1) Mac & Cheese:  You know what a Mac & Cheese freak I am so I can say this one was very unique and very good.  It’s made with Pecorino, Cheddar & Parmesan Cheese, Pasta, Cream & Seasoned Bread Crumbs.  The Pecorino Romano adds a wicked kick and makes this memorable. You’d think with all these harder cheeses it wouldn’t be creamy, but it totally was.

2) Frickles:  Hands down the best fried pickles that we’ve ever had.  Not breaded too much, not soggy, not too much salt, and still maintained its pickleness. DELISH!

3) Onion rings:  The smaller rings were good and crispy, but the bigger ones had too much breading and that made the breading too doughy and not done.  The flavor was good, but wouldn’t say these were great.

4) Green fries:  We didn’t know what these were, but our friend Darryl actually left a Foursquare tip saying these were awesome.  Man, we love Foursquare.  So yeah, these were lightly breaded, seasoned green beans. A crispy batter over equally crispy green beans. All in all, pretty solid.

Burgers

B.E.C. Burger. Yes, those are french fries.

So onto the burgers. Pink or not pink, those are your options for ordering burgers here.  Of course we both got ‘um pink, but settled on different ones.  Danny got the B.E.C. burger:  piled up with applewood smoked bacon, a runny egg, double the American cheese, a handful of fries, and spicy ketchup.  Danny actually thought the french fries came on the side so he was surprised to see them as part of the burger.  The burger, upgraded to Kobe for $4, was medium (only slightly pink unfortunately), juicy, and full of beefy flavor.  The toppings jived so well together and Danny swears it’s killer.  So killer, in fact, he thinks it should be renamed Heart Attack Burger.

The Boomer Burger in its goat cheesy creaminess

I got the Boomer, a burger with mushrooms and goat cheese, sprinkled with truffle oil. Surprise goat cheese. Man, I’m so predictable.  It was cooked more than Danny’s and wasn’t pink, so that was a disappointment. Because of that, it wasn’t as moist as I had hoped.  What the burger lacked in “doneness,” it gained in flavor from the toppings.  The mushrooms were sautéed nicely and the burger was coated with a nice smathering of goaty cheesiness.  The truffle oil?  Just the right amount to add that nice earthy kick that you can only get from truffle oil.

Overall Impressions

Burger Bar & Bistro has really improved their service, offerings, and food since changing owners.  The burgers are not the best we’ve had, but they’re solid.  They may just need to spend less time on the grill if they are ordered pink.  The sides are very good overall and worth ordering a bunch of.  They have a nice beer selection to boot, with Danny downing some Oskar Blues Gubna–that’s 10% abv, wusses.  Just as great and so much cuter is the dog menu.  Seriously, can anybody compete with that?  Top it off with Wednesday Dog Nights, free wi-fi, Trivia Tuesday, Karaoke Thursday, and a Football Tailgate menu Saturday-Monday nights and you’ve got an awesome spot.

Noms: 3.5

Cost: $$$

 

 Burger Bar & Bistro

Address: 60 North Main Street

South Norwalk (SoNo), CT

Phone:  (203) 853-2037

Site: http://www.burgerbarandbistro.com

FB: 
https://www.facebook.com/BurgerBarSono?sk=wall

 

 

Fairfield County Burger Joints, Watch Out, the Real Deal Is Coming to Westport! Shake Shack- Westport, CT

Update:  Shake Shack is open for business!  Let the noming begin. ;)

We love burgers. Duh! Yep, we love them and their evil step sisters, french fries and milkshakes. So naturally when we heard Shake Shack was coming to Westport sometime in late 2011, we did a little happy dance. The funny part though, was that the happy dance was based solely off my boss, Darryl Ohrt’s, raving of the joint. We actually had never tried it. Yeah, blasphemy, we know.

But fret not. Like the good little bloggers we are we immediately hit the road for a day in the city that started at MoMA (wow, highly recommend) and ended at one of the infamous Shake Shack locations (in the Theater District to be exact). Now, I say infamous only because it’s so damn good you can’t help eating ’til it hurts.

We’ve tried a lot of  ”better fast food” burgers in our life and from all over the U.S. – Five Guys Burgers and Fries, In-N-Out Burger, Whattaburger, Fatburger, Cheeburger Cheeburger, and many more.  And while it’s been quite some time since we’ve had some of those, we think it’s safe to say that Shake Shack is one of the best.

Since it’s called SHAKE Shack, let’s start with dessert first. The shakes were rich and creamy, thick, but not so thick you couldn’t get it through the straw. I got the chocolate shake and it was so choc-o-licious. Danny got the peanut butter shake and he swears it was the best he ever had. Peanut butterific if you will. Um yeah. And while we didn’t get to try the custards (‘cuz we’re pigs, but even we have our limits), we have to mention that they have a different custard for every month that you can view on their custard calendar (which I’d love to link you to, but can’t because their website is all flash, tsk tsk).

Continuing to go backwards in the progression of our meal let’s talk fries! The fries were crinkle cut, which actually is my least favorite french fry. They always end up being too soggy and starchy in the center. This wasn’t the case for these fries though. They were nice and crispy all the way though with just the right amount of salt. Oh, and of course I got mine smothered with cheese. Hot, creamy cheese. Mmmm.

What? I couldn't wait to take the picture before I started eating it.

Now, onto the slice of heaven in a toasty bun… the burger. I had my standard, go-to burger so I could gauge the taste against other burgers and, well, because I love my burgers this way. That’s lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, ketchup and the best part, extra pickles. YUM! There are only so many things you can say about a standard burger, and all those things were perfect. Perfectly cooked medium, nice flavor, nice thickness, juicy, the bun seemed fresh, crispy/toasty on the outside and gooey in the middle. Yep, everything you could love in a burger.  Danny had the Shack Burger. That’s American cheese, lettuce, tomato and the secret shack sauce, a delicious mayo and ketchup based sauce. His verdict was the same as mine. A fantastic burger.

And as if this all wasn’t enough, Danny also had the Shack Cago Dog. That’s an all-beef Vienna dog on a hearty potato roll “dragged through the garden,” which means topped with a whole lot of veggies, relish, onions, cucumber, pickle, tomato, pepper, and celery salt, hold the mustard for Danny the mustard hatta. Danny said the dog was awesome, with that nice casing snap you look for in a dog and fresh toppings. And, well, who doesn’t love a nice, thick potato roll to hold it all together?

Needless to say, Danny and I are so psyched for Shake Shack to come to Westport later this year. They’re definitely going to give some of our local faves a run for their money, but for us, well, it’s just one more awesome place to enjoy a bit of burger heaven!

Noms: 4.25

Cost: $$

Shake Shack

Adress: Coming soon to 1849 Post Road East Westport, CT

Site:
http://www.shakeshack.com/
 

Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/ShakeShackFans