Burger Club

[R Washburn]

We have not been to Burger Joint yet.  We HAVE been to the Parker Meridian Hotel, and they have no name.  If pressed, the people who work there call it the Last Place.  You may also call it the burger place or burger bar at the Parker Meridian.

Pfft.  Newbie.

According to Zagat 2004, it's "burger joint at Parker Meridian." Yes, that's correct, a small "b" and a small "j."

Look it up in the phone book Joseph. There is only ONE Burger Joint. How amny times exactly is it that you have to hear this information?

Of course if you walk by the restaurant the sign reads:"Big Nick's Burger Joint". The place in the Parker Meridian is only identified by a neon depiction of a burger.

[elyse]

Not in the phone book. This is not debatable in Burger Club.

Edited January 6, 2004 by elyse (log)

[bigbear]

Job well done. Congrats.

[scamhi]

Elyse,

You've rekindled the country's interest in ground beef.

mine too.

[sherribabee]

Beef: it's what's for dinner!

[sherribabee]

I still have a question about the evaluation form.

For example, when I was evaluating the Blue Smoke burger, I didn't find the meat very salty, so I rated it a 1 -- as in 1 is not salty, 5 is very salty. However, I don't particularly like overly salted meat, so if I were to evaluate this burger based on how I liked the degree of saltiness, I'd give it a 5.

To the innocent bystander who is looking over our evaluations, what conclusion would they draw about the saltiness of this burger (and sloppiness and doneness and other subjective categories)? That it's very salty? That it's not salty at all? I don't really think they'd be able to tell, because I think we all had different ideas as to how to evaluate it.

I think we should re-work the evaluation form a bit so we're consistent with our ratings. Perhaps something to this effect:

1.a. How salty is the meat? (1=not very salty, 5=very salty)

1 2 3 4 5 (this wouldn't count towards the point total - but would serve as a reference as to the relative saltiness of the meat as compared to other burgers we evaluate)

1.b. How do you like the saltiness of the meat? (1=didn't like, 5=liked a lot)

1 2 3 4 5 (this would count towards the point total)

Edited January 6, 2004 by sherribabee (log)

[elyse]

This is my problem with the form and why I prefer an evaluation.

I have been thinking about this since we sat down at Blue Smoke. You ready? Blue Smoke knew we were coming. They knew a group of food people were coming to critique their food. If I really wanted to be a stickler about it, I'd insist that all evauations from our last visit be null and void. Fair is fair. The last places we visited had no idea who we were, and we were given food that anyone would have gotten. Blue Smoke (and I'm not saying that they did this or WOULD do this) could have made some kind of special effort. How could that translate? Better meat. Don't interpret this as gospel, but it is a possibility.

What to do?

[shivon]

Hi..I was so excited about the Article in the NY Times...I have moved to NYC from Boston over the Summer and on a quest for the Best Burger! Has anyone been to Rare...so far it's top on my list but I do not have the Burger experience as the rest of the group...

Looking forward to the next Burger outing....

[elyse]

Welcome to Burger Club, shivon! That's a heck of a reason to move!

If Rare's not on the list, quote the list and add it to the bottom. The list should be on the last page.

Edited January 6, 2004 by elyse (log)

[MHesse]

Welcome shivon. I think there was some mention of Rare somewhere in this Burger Club topic. As a newcomer you have the daunting challenge, shoud you decide to accept it, of catching up on the previous 50 pages of almost 1500 messages. At the topic level of the board, near the bottom is a box that says 'search this forum'. Your could enter RARE in that box, but you will get every message in which the word appears. Still it should cut down the number of messages to read. Better yet, you'll get a new response or someone will point you to the right place. The search for the best burger is indeed a noble quest.

Here's a link CLICK HERE to one comment on Rare.

(edited to add link)

Edited January 6, 2004 by MHesse (log)

[sherribabee]

I wonder if it's possible for us to create sub-threads for specific planning and discussion of each place we visit. And perhaps keep this main thread for general burger discussion (venue suggestions and the like).

Just a thought...cuz this thread is going to become incredibly long. I feel badly for any new folks who may want to join up, but feel intimidated by the existing 50 pages of discussion. That's a LOT to sift through (especially if they're BRAND new and don't know ho to get to the most recent stuff quickly).

[sherribabee]

Hi..I was so excited about the Article in the NY Times...I have moved to NYC from Boston over the Summer and on a quest for the Best Burger! Has anyone been to Rare...so far it's top on my list but I do not have the Burger experience as the rest of the group...

Looking forward to the next Burger outing....

Welcome Shivon!

[alacarte]

This is my problem with the form and why I prefer an evaluation.

I have been thinking about this since we sat down at Blue Smoke. You ready? Blue Smoke knew we were coming. They knew a group of food people were coming to critique their food. If I really wanted to be a stickler about it, I'd insist that all evauations from our last visit be null and void. Fair is fair. The last places we visited had no idea who we were, and we were given food that anyone would have gotten. Blue Smoke (and I'm not saying that they did this or WOULD do this) could have made some kind of special effort. How could that translate? Better meat. Don't interpret this as gospel, but it is a possibility.

What to do?

I'd say let the evaluations rest as they are. This is for fun, and for our own personal edification. No point in being a stickler for methodology at this point! The rankings are a good way to organize our thinking, and a good jumping-off point for discussion and debate.

If Blue Smoke gave us better service because they knew we were coming -- well, I'm OK with that. I had a good experience on Saturday. I tend to think that Blue Smoke would have given us good service anyway.

[alacarte]

I wonder if it's possible for us to create sub-threads for specific planning and discussion of each place we visit. And perhaps keep this main thread for general burger discussion (venue suggestions and the like).

Just a thought...cuz this thread is going to become incredibly long. I feel badly for any new folks who may want to join up, but feel intimidated by the existing 50 pages of discussion. That's a LOT to sift through (especially if they're BRAND new and don't know ho to get to the most recent stuff quickly).

That's a good idea. Wouldn't want to scare off new BC potentials!

I think we'd discussed at one point adding threads at the top of the NY forum screen, similar to how each Digest thread has its own area at the top of the Food News & Media area.

NY moderators: what do you think? is this do-able?

[Suzi Edwards]

I wonder if it's possible for us to create sub-threads for specific planning and discussion of each place we visit. And perhaps keep this main thread for general burger discussion (venue suggestions and the like).

Just a thought...cuz this thread is going to become incredibly long. I feel badly for any new folks who may want to join up, but feel intimidated by the existing 50 pages of discussion. That's a LOT to sift through (especially if they're BRAND new and don't know ho to get to the most recent stuff quickly).

we tried to preempt the long thread thing on the uk forum by keeping the UK Burger Club thread for planning and then having a new thread for a report on each place we visit. it seems to be working.

i've also suggested "pinning" a sort of burger league on the forum (once we've got a few more under our belt) so people can qucikly see which burger is currently the best in london. this might be useful for you guys given the current media interest. it might help if there was a digest of what has happened.

btw, i just PRINTED the el bulli thread in the spain forum thinking that the font would be the same size as i see on my laptop screen. sadly i was wrong. i have used almost an entire ream of paper printing the thread. that said, i kind of don't regret it as this way i can at least read it....that was never going to happen online.

[elyse]

If Burger Club becomes it's own forum (which it won't) I would think it's a good idea to keep things separate. People certainly don't have to read all the pages, and they can jump around if they like. Having it disjointed would make it difficult to search, I feel. Everything is all here on one compact thread.

[sherribabee]

Everything is all here on one compact thread.

Compact??!?!?!?

[Rail Paul]

If Burger Club becomes it's own forum (which it won't) I would think it's a good idea to keep things separate. People certainly don't have to read all the pages, and they can jump around if they like. Having it disjointed would make it difficult to search, I feel. Everything is all here on one compact thread.

Even if Burger Club doesn't receive its own forum, it could be worthwhile to have unique threads to report on specific BC trips (BC: Blue Smoke, etc). This current core thread could remain faithful to the vision of the BC membership and philosophy.

Having multiple BC threads could also make it easier for eG readers to easily access info on specific restaurants. As BC ventures in different markets (UK, Vancouver, etc) come to maturity, a consistent format would aid the casual info seeker without distressing the eG architecture.

Elyse, your use of the word "compact" to describe a thread which exceeds 50 pages is disingenuous. It already rivals several of the more celebrated eG threads in length.

[bloviatrix]

Guys, if you change your posts per page to 80 it becomes a "managable" 19 pages.

[beans]

Guys, if you change your posts per page to 80 it becomes a "managable" 19 pages.

Heck, I took the plunge and changed mine to 100 per page.

[elyse]

By compact, I mean all in one solid place.

[Suzanne F]

This is my problem with the form and why I prefer an evaluation.

I have been thinking about this since we sat down at Blue Smoke. You ready? Blue Smoke knew we were coming. They knew a group of food people were coming to critique their food. If I really wanted to be a stickler about it, I'd insist that all evauations from our last visit be null and void. Fair is fair. The last places we visited had no idea who we were, and we were given food that anyone would have gotten. Blue Smoke (and I'm not saying that they did this or WOULD do this) could have made some kind of special effort. How could that translate? Better meat. Don't interpret this as gospel, but it is a possibility.

What to do?

Hello again. Forgive me if my spelling is off a bit; I still haven't been to bed from yesterday (but I got the 800-page gorilla done!)

Anyway: Hey, I'm the stickler! NYXs said so! But other than "that place in the Parker Meridien" as my neighbor Eric just called it, all the other places knew we were coming, too. Well yeah, not that we were THE Burger Club, but they all knew we were coming specifically to eat burgers. So I'm not sure that theory will hold up. Besides, as much as I liked the BS burger, I think it was better when I've had it other times.

But wait: How are we now going to be sure future restaurants don't try to bribe us with extra-special-good burgers, buns, cheese, and pickle slices? Won't they all treat us as if we were BurGrimes, or maybe Marian Burgros, since she's filling in? You know, try to get us to give them a good writeup?

Ya know, I kind of like that idea.

[forkAndPen]

Won't they all treat us as if we were BurGrimes, or maybe Marian Burgros, since she's filling in? You know, try to get us to give them a good writeup?

Ya know, I kind of like that idea.

BurGrimes!! that is just the funniest thing I heard read today

In the end - personally at least - I want them to put forth there best burger. I mean sure if i was reviewing the place as a whole i would make sure that it is consistant but right now we are on a search and in th end places will stand out. I don't think that will change if they know we are coming or not.

[bloviatrix]

But wait: How are we now going to be sure future restaurants don't try to bribe us with extra-special-good burgers, buns, cheese, and pickle slices? Won't they all treat us as if we were BurGrimes, or maybe Marian Burgros, since she's filling in? You know, try to get us to give them a good writeup?

So, you think a picture of Elyse will be going up in every venue that serves a burger in NY? Maybe she needs to start wearing a disguise?

[elyse]

Oh PLEASE! Hey, nobody ever brought that hat I was supposed to wear! Not sure I'd wear it anyway.

bloviatrix, I thought about that for a second,nad the thing is, is that IF they recognize me (which is doubtful) it'll already be too late for them to make any changes, I think.

Suzanne, once we get known by restaurants, I think we should break down into smaller tables or go on different days or something.

When I started the club, I had no idea that it would prove to be so popular. I thought four or five of us would be getting together and walk in and out without the staff batting an eyelash.

I do hate the idea of breaking up, but remember, YOU all said that to keep the integrity of our critiques, the restaurant must not know what we are doing. If we can't do that, BC is a bust for the purposes of Burger Club, and our findings will be false and unusable.

We are rating the burgers, not what the restaurant can do with our burgers.