Saturday, March 8, 2008

Oh! Charlies

Alright, Let's just get this out of the way. I like food. A lot. I like trying to be funny. A lot. So, Those are my goals. To be funny and enjoy food. I find comments enjoyable as well; your thoughts are strongly encouraged here.

I haven't met many burgers I didn't like. There are a few qualities that make a burger good. These are the qualities that I use to rank just how good a burger is. The toppings can make or break a burger. If the lettuce is not fresh, the onion not pungent, or the tomato not sliced thin enough, your burger will just plain suck. I personally am not a fan of tomatoes, but I do understand how they can ruin your burger.

The bun that the burger is served on is also an integral part of the burger experience. It could be toasted, sesame seed-ed, warm or just plain. The consistency of the bun is important too.

Now for the burger itself. Too greasy is a turn-off. Too thick or too thin can also work against a burger. A patty that is grilled has more flavor than one cooked in a skillet, but can sometimes be overwhelming.

Tonight I had O'Charley's infamous Three-Cheese Bacon Burger. Amazing as always.

THE TOPPINGS
This burger comes with shredded lettuce, two slices of tomato, and two onion rounds, along with Swiss, Monterey Jack, and cheddar cheeses and two slices of Hickory Smoked bacon.

The highlights are the cheeses and bacon, from which the sandwich gets its name. The bacon is crisp, but doesn't disintegrate in your mouth, and is not over seasoned/salted, so it doesn't take away from the burger itself.

All three cheeses kind of melt together before the burger is brought out, which is refreshing. It seems almost like there is just one cheese, no cheese is too powerful, and the blend is not bland. You may run into problems if you get a mouthful of cheese though, which is very possible with this burger.

The other topping I would like to point out is the lettuce. Not too many places have shredded lettuce. I admire some good shredded lettuce. It doesn't get soggy in the middle from the heat of the burger, because the middle is practically nonexistent. It is easier to portion the lettuce to your liking because you can just pull off some of it, instead of wrestling with ripping off a piece, which turns out to be too big of a piece so you put it back together so you get lettuce on your entire burger. Yeah, frustrating.

The last comment I will make about the toppings is that only what they advertise to be on the burger (the bacon and cheeses) are on top of the burger. The 'Extras' are all underneath the burger which is nice because then nothing gets stuck in the cheese.

THE BUN
This bun is perfect for the Three-Cheese Bacon Burger. It is plain. Simply a bun. No frills, nothing fancy, just a damn bun. It's lukewarm when the burger comes out. The only problem is that the top tends to stick to your fingers. Like, the bun crust. It comes off on your fingers. It is a little annoying, but its still a good bun.

THE MAIN EVENT
This half pound burger is not grilled. Grilling this thing would probably result in sensory overload. The patty is probably 3/4 in. (approximately 1.9 cm.) cooked. This is a good sized burger, people. It is not too greasy and cooked to perfection every time.

OVER ALL?
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a shit burger to 10 being ultimate sensory delight burger, O'Charley's Three-Cheese Bacon Burger gets an 8. This burger comes highly, highly recommended.

Happy Eating!

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