Open Wide! May is National Burger Month

Sorry, but there is nothing more American than a burger. Okay, not sorry.

It's a classic combination – a mound of ground beef nestled amongst crisp vegetables, slathered with creamy condiments, and sandwiched between a soft, fresh bun. The sight of a burger conjures up feelings of nostalgia and images of spacious skies, amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties above the fruited plains.

That's why each May, our nation sets aside a month to celebrate the hamburger. That's right, kids. It's NATIONAL HAMBURGER MONTH.

In honor of such a gastronomic celebration, here are a few of Baton Rouge's craziest burgers for you to get your little paws on this month:

The Hardcore Burger

Hot Tails in New Roads knows hot to do burgers

This Hot Tails burger is so hardcore it comes with a knife stabbed into the top of it. This thing is not to be messed with. While the New Roads restaurant might be better known for their take on Cajun cuisine and most notably for their boiled crawfish, the folks there can throw down on some burgers. They've got different spins on the classic such as their Oyster Rockafeller Burger or this bad boy photographed above with a heaping glob of melted cheese, crawfish tails, and a whole lot more. Add in some of their signature Spillway Sauce and a cold beer, and this burger is tough to beat.

Bite and Booze Burger

The Bite and Booze Burger from Barcadia Baton Rouge

Barcadia Baton Rouge ran this beauty as their burger of the week recently, so we're just hoping they keep it around  little longer or bring it back from time to time. The Bite and Booze Burger consists of Barcadia/Curbside's house ground patty topped with smoked cheddar, 12 hour smoked pork, and of course Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce incorporated into a slaw. They also throw some kettle chips onto the burger for good measure. Make it happen on your taste buds.

The Ridiculously Tall Burger Challenge

Jay Ducote gets a good look at the Triple Quarters Burger

This Triple Quarters Burger is totally impossible to eat without disassembling, and it's big enough to feed a small army. Seriously, this burger is nuts. Just because you can stack three burgers on top of each other doesn't necessarily mean you should. But, we're kind of glad Quarters did... And for the month of May, you can take on the Triple Quarters Burger Challenge. Eat the burger and the accompanying cheese fries and you get it for free, plus a $25 gift card, a roll of toilet paper, and your picture on the wall. Don't finish it all, and you're out $39.99.

The Breakfast Burger

Mason's Grill always has a knack for outdoing themselves. Their Breakfast Burger is no exception. This monstrosity looks like it was thought up by Dr. Frankenstein himself: a homemade sausage patty on top of a fried egg on top of bacon on top of a hamburger patty on top of another fried egg, dressed with lettuce, tomato and onions. It's a must-try because... for real... the flavors work. This is a tasty burger. See the breakfast burger, barbecue burger, and Cajun shrimp burger in this video from Bite and Booze, tommysTV, and 225 Magazine:

The Expensive Burger

A crosscut of Restaurant IPO's Wall Street Burger

This burger is not all that enormous, but its price tag is. If you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can't afford it. Restaurant IPO's Wall Street Burger is the classiest burger money can buy. The patty consists of house prime beef, and it's topped with sautéed duck confit, smoked Vidalia onion jam, merlot truffle mayonnaise, gruyere cheese, seared foie gras, sautéed wild mushrooms and a sunny side up egg. It also comes with a spit of Pinot Noir to help wash down all the richness. It's the kind of burger that sends the message, "I have more money than God." Okay, really it's only $55, and because of the truffle and foie and duck, you can understand why. The thing is, on rare occasion, it can be worth it. Just consider splitting it between a few people and getting some other tapas too while you're there.

The Royal Burger

Two Big Ben Burgers that did not get finished. Photo Courtesy of The Londoner on Facebook

Kate just gave birth to a royal baby girl, but there's no way that kid weighed as much as he Big Ben Burger at The Londoner. This monstrosity of a burger is yet another challenge that the competitive eater can tackle in Baton Rouge. Just ask you server for the Big Ben Burger challenge, make a happy plate in 45 minutes, and its yours for free. If you can't handle the whole thing or if you just want to order the burger to share it'll cost you $35.

Ranking Baton Rouge's Nine Best Places to Drink Craft Beer

Louisiana Craft Brewers' Tap Handles

In honor of the first Louisiana Craft Brewers' Week, I assembled a team of craft beer drinkers and experts to create a list of Baton Rouge's best places to drink craft beer. I asked each participant to rank their top six spots (bars or restaurants) and then compiled the list and tallied the scores. In total, nine venues received votes and they all appear on the list in order of total points.

The team includes:

Jay Ducote, Bite and Booze
Brenton Day, The Ale Runner
Wayne Odom, Bayou Beer
Blake Winchell, Brasseurs a la Maison
Eric Ducote, BR Beer Scene

9. Burgersmith

Louisiana beers and burgers. That's the main thing about Burgersmith. They only have local beers. That's cool.

8. The Londoner

This English pub and grub joint on, appropriately, Sherwood Forest Blvd., is good for more than just a little footie in the wee hours of the morning. Their beer selection is a nice assortment of British Isles imports and American craft, and they also do beer dinners every now and then.

7. Radio Bar

The Radio Bar on Government Street is exactly the kind of neighborhood bar that Mid City needed and they do a pretty decent job with their beer list as well. Between the tap lineup and an eclectic bottle list, Radio Bar will have a beer for everyone.

6. Slinky's

For years Pamela Sandoz has had one of the best kept beer secrets in town. Hopefully she doesn't mind me getting that word out a little bit. Behind the bar of the Chimes Street dive are a couple coolers with an impressive collection of various bottled beer. There isn't a wall of taps or keg room to be found, but Slinky's makes the list because of the bottle assortment that makes beer drinkers happy. She also does monthly beer tastings that are a whole lot of fun.

5. Red Zeppelin

With over 30 taps and great daily specials, this unassuming pizza joint on Perkins has clearly caught on with the the local beer drinking scene. With $3 for any pint on Tuesday and Wednesday, it can be hard to stay away! Holding release parties for beers like Saint Arnold and NOLA beers certainly helps too.

4. The Chimes

The only selection with multiple locations in Baton Rouge, the Chimes came in strong with a spot in the top four places to drink craft beer in Baton Rouge. Those 19.7oz imperial pints are certainly appreciated! The original Chimes at the North Gates of LSU is where many people including myself first learned to appreciate craft beer. In fact, I have my name on the wall twice for going Around the World at the Chimes, though that model was more based on big imports rather than true craft beer. Word around the campfire is that they will be transitioning soon from Around the World to a sort of Around America craft beer promotion. I can't wait!

3. Pelican House

A new addition to the Baton Rouge beer landscape, the Pelican House has shot up the list with their impressive lineup of 136 beer taps with no main label Bud, Miller, or Coors to be found. For the vast majority of people, a stop at the Pelican House will bring about beers never tried before, and possibly even never heard of before. The completely remodeled building boasts a bright interior with natural light, local art, drop down TVs, and plenty of space for large gathering. And there's a conference table in the back where you can look important. Trust me, it works.

2. The Cove

The Cove has long boasted one of the largest alcohol collections on the Gulf Coast and is absolutely worth paying a visit just to see Tom's collection. For a while, all the booze at the Cove came in bottles, even the beer. The bottle list is still just as strong, but Tom's addition of the tap room has cemented the Cove among the top beer bars in the city. With a different set of taps than any other bar in the city, the Cove will always have something different that you can't find anywhere else.

1. The Bulldog

Narrowly taking the top spot from our panel (the top three were really all very close) is the Bulldog. I do believe that the Bulldog offers the best overall beer-drinking atmosphere with character, grub, and selection. With around 80 taps featuring a lot of locally brewed beer, Baton Rouge's Bulldog location is the equal if not superior to the New Orleans locations. Throw in the outdoor area, dog friendliness, comfortable seating, and of course, again, the beer, and it is easy to see why the Bulldog sits atop the standings.


What are you thoughts? Can you think of somewhere that didn't make the list? Do you agree or disagree with this order? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. And please share the post to get more people in on the conversation!

Bite and Booze Awards: Restaurant Week Baton Rouge

Local Products List and Pork Rinds at Beausoleil

Restaurant Week Baton Rouge has come and gone, but the memories remain for those of us who dined out last week.  I took the liberty of compiling a rundown of the RW highlights. Take a look, and let me know what you think by commenting below or posting on Twitter or Facebook! These picks are my opinion alone and I'd love to hear what you think.

Best deals:

$15 - Chelsea's Cafe - Cheese fries, the stellar chicken mojo poboy with fries, and French silk cake for $15... yeah, that's a good deal despite it all being on the normal menu.

$20 - The Londoner - Just a slight step up from Chelsea's, at the Londoner you could get a grilled chicken, strawberry, and walnut salad, a steak and ale pie, and finish it with their amazing sticky toffee bread pudding for nothing but a Jackson.

$25 - Beausoleil - Starting off a meal with a dish called "General Tso's Cheeks" always gets the imagination running. Following that up with a Creole cane syrup grilled pork chop and ending with a fresh fruit cobbler with toasted pecan crust for only a hundred quarters... that's just plain silly good.

Le Creole's Lobster Wontons

$30 - Juban's - The stuffed crab cake with avocado aioli showed what new Executive Chef Joey Daigle is capable of, and that only got me through the appetizer. As one of Baton Rouge's most historic fine dining restaurant, a three course menu like this is something that should be unheard of... though they actually offer a $29.99 prefix all the time! Moving on to a medium-rare steak frites and a cinnamon raisin bread pudding, it's hard to argue about the Restaurant Week deal at Juban's.

$35 - Le Creole - I began my meal with the lobster wontons. Lobster knuckle and claw meat and truffle cream filled crispy fried wontons accompanied with pepper jelly. They were delightful. Next came the gulf red grouper topped with crab meat sitting on a bed of Napa cabbage in a ginger-citrus sauce. I finished the meal with flaming bananas foster. I won.

Best off menu dishes:

Appetizer - Allow me to rant here: While a Restaurant Week is amazing and I'm extremely happy that Baton Rouge has one, it does also seem that perhaps part of the spirit is not understood. I could find ZERO restaurants that went off of their ordinary menu for the first course of their restaurant week menu. They recycled their appetizers, soups, and salads. They showed a lack of creativity, imagination, and desire to use the week to showcase their chef or something new rather than let people just order something that would be on the menu anyway. Next Restaurant Week, I encourage all restaurants and their chefs to allow their passion to shine and create some restaurant week specials as small plates and first courses. Fortunately, there were a few second and third courses that went off-menu.

Entree - Bin 77: Stuffed Mississippi Quail - As if the bird wouldn't be enough for the entree in a $25 three course menu, the folks at Bin 77 rounded the dish out with foie gras, oyster ragu, three potato pave, and red-eye gravy. What a dish! And it can't be found on their regular dinner menu!

Dessert - Blend: Warm Chocolate Torte - Complete with salted caramel gelato and roasted peanuts, this dessert cried out to be eaten! While there is a chocolate torte on Blend's dessert menu, it doesn't come with salted caramel gelato and roasted peanuts, so if you didn't get to try this version, you may have missed out!

Special Mentions:

Most Creative Menu - Nino's Italian: Forget dessert... you can order that on your own. Nino's bucked the "three courses = appetizer, entree, dessert" mentality and decided instead to offer a slew of incredible appetizers like mussels or gnocchi followed by a soup or salad and then an amazing entree including their homemade grilled vegetable and goat cheese cannelloni!

The filet at Doe's, an option I could have had for Restaurant Week

Sad I Missed It - Doe's Eat Place: They had a pound-and-a-half T-bone on their Restaurant Week menu
and I missed it. That steak costs over $35 by itself, but they served it with three tamales, fries, biscuits, and then eclair cake. While I can go back to Doe's and eat tamales, prime steak, and eclair cake any time, I'm still sad I missed this deal.

Welcome to the Show - Le Bon Temps: Although they just recently opened, Le Bon Temps Bar & Grill wasted no time joining in on Restaurant Week Baton Rouge. That's what I like to see from a new restaurant! And for $20, their menu that featured combinations like duck and andouille egg rolls, a cochon de lait platter, and lemon icebox pie could not have steered anybody wrong!

Corporate Love - Fleming's: While I'm not a promoter of chain or corporate restaurants, there were several that participated in Restaurant Week and I'm sure there were many happy diners. The menu at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, for example, should not have been overlooked. Listed as four courses on their menu, you could start with a lobster bisque, follow that up with a petite filet, include some Fleming's potatoes, and wrap it all up with a huge slice of carrot cake. Whether they are corporate or not, their Chef is a Louisiana boy, and it is hard to beat a meal like that for $35!

Recap: Post Olympics Beer Dinner at The Londoner

Tripel Karmeliet and La Trappe Quad

The Londoner, on the appropriately named Sherwood Forest Boulevard (actually, while Sherwood Forest is famous due to Robin Hood lure in England, it isn't that close to London, but still...) in Baton Rouge, recently had me over to help host a beer dinner.  We did four courses with eight beers from around the world shortly after the Summer Olympics ended in aforementioned London.  Each of the four courses were paired with two beers of similar style from different countries.  The first course featured the famous Belgian treat of mussels and frites with Belgian style ales from Belgium and the Netherlands.  The mussels had a wonderfully flavorful broth with tomatoes, basil, and bacon.  We paired them with the Tripel Karmeliet from Belgium and the La Trappe Quad, which is actually a Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.  While the Tripel and Quadrupel are technically two different styles, they still showed of what that Belgian yeast and malt profile can taste like with its signature fruitiness and balance.

Tuna Duo with White Ales

Our second course stayed in the sea but in a far different way than the mussels and frites.  Utilizing white ales from both the USA and Japan, we created two tuna dishes on one plate meant to emulate the cuisine from those counties.  The tuna tartare with cucumber was served on a crispy wonton with sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.  The obvious Asian flare partnered with the Hitachino Nest White Ale, widely considered to be one of the best beers of its style in the country.  On the American side we plated a seared ahi tuna to go with the Clown Shoes Clementine.  Both dishes were executed very well by Chef Cole at the Londoner and the beer choices were spot on.
 

Lamb Chops and English Style India Pale Ales

The main course featured a delicacy in both England and New Zealand: Lamb.  The beautifully cooked medium rare lamb chops were served with a bit of mashed potatoes.  Accompanying the lamb were a couple of English style India pale ales.  Not quite the hop bomb that American IPAs are, the Tuatara from New Zealand and the Meantime from England both helped cut through the gaminess of the tender lamb.  This, hands down, ended up being my favorite course of the meal both because of the superb sear and seasoning on the lamb and the pairing with the English style IPAs.  It was like both of these beers were meant to be served with lamb... and since they come from countries with a lot of love for eating sheep, perhaps they are!

Dessert with a Russian Imperial Stout and Scottish Porter

Dinner ended with a nice pairing as well.  Norway's Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout poured dark and rich with strong booze and hints of espresso, chocolate, and dark fruit.  While not the same beer style, the Harviestoun Old Engine Oil Black Ale, technically a Porter, out of Scotland also poured incredibly dark (hence the name) with flavors of coffee and dark chocolate.  It only made sense to compliment the flavors of the beer with a chocolate dessert and the sweetness from some fruit.  The Londoner's pastry chef whipped up some stunning chocolate and raspberry tarts that were exactly what these two beers needed.  While not the same style and vastly different up close, the tart played off of flavor notes in each beer to deliver a great ending to the meal.



I enjoyed being able to help the Londoner out with some different beer and food pairings.  All of these beers came from my friend Natalie with International Wine and Spirits.  Look for them at Calandro's Supermarket or wherever fine beers are sold!  And also keep an eye out for some future beer dinners at The Londoner.  You never know who might be making an appearance!