Have it Your Way

Photo courtesy washingtonian.com

This is a post about burgers. I want to put that right out there. Burgers. The most American of American foods. And they can be done really, really nicely, or really, really crappy. This post is about the former.

Last night, after a happy hour celebration in Dupont for a friend who was in town for, like, thirty seconds, Jake and I trekked back to The Spring to get dinner at 8407 kitchen bar. We ordered pretty quickly--we were hungry. I got a spinach salad with walnut oil vinaigrette, figs, blue cheese, and duck prosciutto; Jake got roasted bone marrow presented in an actual halved bone (I'm glad I tasted it, but am also glad I never have to try again); then we shared squash blossoms because the bone marrow was much smaller than we thought it would be.

I took another look at the menu after we ordered and noticed a nice-looking burger. So, I pointed it out to Jake, who pointed out in turn that we have no shortage of delicious "gourmet" burgers in our neighborhood--yet another reason it's a great place to live.

About a week ago, we ducked into Ray's The Classics for a super-late dinner. We had been in the Baltimore area later than we anticipated, and came in right under the kitchen-closing wire, putting our orders in just before 10. Even though the kitchen was probably ready to call it quits for the night, the burgers were amazing as always: juicy to the point of dripping, done extremely well (by which I mean medium-rare), with toppings to die. (That night, mine included huge slices of sauteed garlic.)

We love Ray's, but we've never eaten in the actual restaurant. Why would we, when the lounge is incredible? You can get a burger and a good drink for a very reasonable price, and the atmosphere is downright classy. Plus, the servers and hostesses remember us, which is always nice. So, fab burger number one.

We had fab burger number two earlier this week. Jake and I had some in-advance cooking to do, but we decided to get dinner out first. We went to Quarry House, the basement dive bar. Here are the things I love about Quarry House:

Photo courtesy the now-defunct Silver Spring Penguin

1. Binder menus for beer and whiskey.
2. It's a real dive, not one manufactured to attract the hipsters. (Although the hipsters do come a-flocking.)
3. The jukebox is awesome, and the customers know how to use it. Standard playlist: David Bowie, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Gogol Bordello.
4. Tater tots.
5. Tater tots.
6. Tater tots.
7. Delicious huge burgers.

It's always a good time, especially when you can get a seat. Oh! And burgers are half price on Mondays, so I guess that's Thing I Love number eight. Also: the bar has been around since Prohibition, and that's how I learned that Maryland never enforced Prohibition, hence its nickname "The Free State." (It's true. Look it up.) I like bars that make me have to learn things. :)

So, no shortage of good burgers in Silver Spring. "But our dear blogger," I hear you asking me, "Whatever do you do during your work day if you have a craving for a burger?"

Oh, you silly readers! I work in Bethesda, and so I get to go to BGR Joint or, most frequently, Wing Hub. Man, I hadn't realized until now that I eat a lot of burgers. (BGR Joint does have an amazing veggie burger, and the turkey burger at Wing Hub is really good, especially with swiss cheese.)

Jake chimes in to inform me that the best burger is at Ray's. And I'm probably gonna have to agree. But there's something to be said for eating a burger with a good beer in a dank basement while listening to The Stooges. Fortunately, I don't have to choose. Although I shouldn't go to both in the same day.

Time for you to chime in! What's your favorite burger?