Burger DC
On a quest to find The Greatest DC Burger. Only one rule: no franchises allowed.
We have a pretty long list of places to hit up - if you would like to join for any upcoming burger outings, please email me. All are welcome!
EatBar
2761 Washington Blvd, Arlington, Virginia - website
Mini review, which includes a selection from comments:
This burger arrived looking delicious, and our only complaint about its appearance is that the burger patty looked oddly small when compared to the brioche bun it was sitting on. The burger meat had other stuff mixed into it (fennel and.. other stuff), which made the overall taste effect a bit “meatloaf” rather than “juicy delicious burger”. The very colorful toppings, which looked overwhelming at first, were extremely fresh and light, most likely attributed to the bar’s use of vegetables from local farmers. The pickles added a surprisingly sweet crunch to the burger - great mouth feel. Oh also, their condiments are all made in-house.. freshly made ketchup and mustard, all natural and quite tasty (although all reviewers note that they still prefer the taste of store-bought ketchup). Overall, we felt that this burger was a strong, fresh, all-american contender for DC’s best burger.
An additional note - the bar also serves a mini-burger which we felt was tastier than the regular burger. The mini-burger avoided usage of fresh vegetables, and used instead a very tasty sweet chutney of some kind on the bread.. very yummy. We recommend this venue to all, burger-eaters or otherwise, for its pub-like ambiance, its very inventive menu of bar foods (for example, chorizo corn dog, risotto fritters, flavored bacon..), and its very good selection of microbrews. Bon appetit!
Palena Cafe
3529 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC - website
Mini review, which includes a selection from comments:
This burger was served assembled, with several pieces of pickled carrots and cauliflower lending festive color to the plating. Right off the bat, the bread looked delicious - it had that shiny brown sheen of freshly baked bread, dotted with sesame seeds that had a dark toasty color to them. The first bite of this burger was deeelicious and hit the spot for our very hungry reviewers.. it was juicy and very flavorful, and the bread was every bit as delicious as it looked. As we worked our way through the burger however.. the “same”-ness of each bite started to wear on us, and it started to taste heavier and heavier.. two reviewers did not even finish the burger. Complaints about this burger were that it was heavy-tasting - the meat was extremely savory, and then topped with cheese and a salty garlic mayo (delicious with the first bite, but overpowering later on). There were no other toppings on the burger - any vegetables or sweet/crunchy element would have balanced this burger out. There was high praise for the bread however, which tasted toasted one the outside, but soft and fresh on the inside - the toasted sesame seeds lended a subtle and fresh something to each bite. But even the bun was unbalanced, appearing gigantic next to the modestly-sized patty it held. Overall, we felt that this burger was tasty but somewhat unbalanced, but at only $10 it was very good value. If I visited Palena again, I would order a light veggie side to go with the burger.
A final note - we ordered our burgers at Palena Cafe, which is the front portion of the Palena Restaurant. The menus for these two venues may be different.
Central Michel Richard
1001 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC - website
Mini review, which includes a selection from comments:
This burger appeared gigantically delicious as soon as it was brought out, served alongside french fries (which isn’t common, apparently). Stacked tall, toppings included a thick slice of grilled heirloom tomato, smoky bacon, cheddar cheese, and this awesome potato topping that resembled a thick crunchy potato chip. This chip totally rocked my world - it had subtle flavors in it (similar to the large white chip with black speckles that are found in Terra root chip blends), but it’s flavor and crunch were still was able to stand out to hold its own in a mouthful of meat and bread. The meat was a nice thick patty, cooked perfectly to order - while it could have used a little more seasoning for my taste, it was very high quality meat and satisfying to the palate. Overall, the elements of this burger came together deliciously; highly recommended, this burger is a *very* strong contender for DC’s best burger!