Restaurant: Burgerhaus – Indianapolis
Address: 335 West 9th Street, Indianapolis, IN
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

The Jamestown Burger

Today a couple coworkers and I were renewing our CPR, First Aid, and AED certifications near downtown Indianapolis and over our lunch break ventured over to the northern end of the Canal to enjoy this neat little German style burger pub joint. Nestled about 50′ from the canal waters, Burgerhaus has both bar seating, indoor seating, and outdoor patio seating available.

Today I partook in the burger of the month known as the “Jamestown”. This dish was absolutely exploding with flavors in every bite and easily jumps into one of my favorite burgers of all time. From the get go this plate has a lot going on! The burger comes across a little bit looking almost “open face” as the top bun is propped back a little bit and the toppings are visible to the eye and for the most part appealing. The metal wire basket for the sweet potato fries is a really nice contemporary touch to this wild dish. The sweet potato fries are an exceptionally good visual appeal to this burger as standard fries would make the plate have pretty much the same color tones except for the pickle slices in the back and the cranberry relish topping you can see.

Taste wise…there’s definitely no shortage of flavors in this dish. I’ll start with the side of sweet potato fries. The fries were cooked pretty good and if y’all have read any of my other reviews regarding french fries I like my fries crispy and crunchy on the outside but soft and light and almost airy on the inside. These sweet potato fries check that bill hands down. The cinnamon and sugar on top of the fries was a nice twist. I’ve seen this combo before in baked sweet potatoes but never on sweet potato fries so it was a nice addition and I will admit I licked clean my fingers a handful of times!

The Jamestown burger itself was phenomenal from the standpoint of flavors coming through in each bite. I’ve had turkey burgers before and they’re typically nothing super fancy or different compared to a standard hamburger besides they’re a little leaner, less greasy, and obviously don’t taste like beef. The toppings on the Jamestown though take this turkey burger over the top. My first thought after eating it all was that it’s almost like Thanksgiving in your mouth. Thanksgiving is in a couple days and so everyone has turkey on the brain and this burger was a good introduction to the classic Thanksgiving dinner. It’s not a full Thanksgiving spread with mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, stuffing, or green beans, but the topping additions and the placement of the toppings is genius. I like the red wine mayo and spinach on the bottom bun as the other toppings are a little messy and runny so it’d really soften up the spinach and prolly wash off the red wine mayo. The turkey burger patty was cooked great. I didn’t get a chance to see if there were any grill marks on it or if the patty was cooked on a flattop. Either way, the burger was still moist which is a challenge for turkey burgers. The toppings here on out put this burger up there with the Duane Pervis All American Burger at Triple XXX Family Diner in West Lafayette, IN. The cranberry relish and the caramel apples compliment each other as they are both sweet but the cranberry adds some sour to the burger and the caramel apples adds the savory to the burger. Mix in the potato sticks and your salty flavor taste buds are appeased. The pretzel bun is an absolute must for a burger with this much going on. The toppings can get a little messy in your hands but the pretzel bun stands true and firm and slowly absorbs the moisture of the toppings without making the bun soft and sticky.

As great as this dish was…a couple things I think could use improving. The wooden toothpick to hold the burger “together” was “OK…I get it, but c’mon!” and I think the knife should’ve been used instead. Some of the caramel apples weren’t on the burger and made it look a little more messy. More pickles would’ve been nice as two don’t really cover any surface area on a burger of this size. The turkey burger patty could use some char to it to provide a more stable texture to the burger. The patty would fall apart in some bites.

SUMMARY

All in all, this burger was honestly awesome! I had read a little bit about this place prior to today but not much else. The Jamestown is a burger for the adventurous and ones who like to go outside the box. Similar to the Duane Pervis but it’s own flare as it’s more sweeter in accent flavors when the Duane Pervis is more salty in accent flavors. I’ll definitely be coming back to taste the rest of the burgers they have there!

Restaurant Name: Squealers BBQ
Address: 5515 West 86th Street, Indianapolis, IN
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Squealer Favorite

My construction day job has me located on the northwest side of Indy and this BBQ joint is a staple place for me and coworkers to visit pretty much weekly. On my most recent visit I took one of our new office interns and another coworker there for lunch and enjoyed this dish: The Squealer Favorite.

 This BBQ sandwich is hands down one of my absolute favorite sandwiches to get and probably in the top 5 of all pulled pork sandwiches I’ve ever had. So let’s begin this critique analyzing the APPEARANCE of this dish. A pulled pork sandwich doesn’t typically jump out to the eyes but this particular dish has a few eye catching features that are quite nice to the eye. The thin line of the smokey sweet BBQ sauce on the pulled pork and the side dish of collard greens do provide some color to the eyes at first glance. The plate is well covered with food but they do hide the onions and pickles that accompany the sandwich. 

Taste wise…let me start with the sides. The kettle chips aren’t anything too fancy, but it is great to know that they are made in the restaurant and not bought at the grocery store. The collard greens were cooked to the perfection that I like which is a little bit of crunch or rigidness to the leafs and not mushy. The greens have some smoked meat and onions in it for accent flavors which is a nice touch. I typically eat my collard greens with Tabasco sauce but watching my sodium intake on this particular day I laid off on the hot sauce and the greens were “salty” enough. Of course I’d like to have more greens than chips, but side dishes are what they are.

The sandwich itself is a sesame seed bun, pulled pork meat, and creamy coleslaw. The bun is sufficient for the sandwich and both the pulled pork and coleslaw aren’t really runny so the buns typically stay dry. The pulled pork is a good combination of smokey, tender, and flavorful. The coleslaw is a great sweet touch left hook kind of topper that really accents the sandwich as a whole. I usually get the hot BBQ sauce and let the creaminess of the coleslaw cool down the tastebuds but I went with the smokey sweet sauce this time around and it was still delicious. I did add the fresh onions and pickles that were buried under the kettle chips and had truly amazing bites pretty much each and every time.

Negatives about this dish…I would’ve toasted the buns a little bit to get a little bit of a crunchy texture to the sandwich. The little sliver of sauce on the sandwich could definitely be more as well (need to ask for a side of sauce typically). The chips to greens ratio was a little heavy on the chips side, but as I mentioned earlier side dishes are what they are…side dishes and not the main thing.

SUMMARY

Overall, the Squealer Favorite is one of my favorite BBQ sandwiches I’ve ever had! Coleslaw and pulled pork are complimentary foods. If you’re a little more daring, ask for a vinegar based sauce instead of the smokey sweet, mixed, or hot sauce. The tangy zing of a vinegar based sauce accented with the sweet creaminess of the coleslaw will make for another must have BBQ sandwich.

Restaurant Name: Triple XXX Family Restaurant/Diner
Address: 2 North Salisbury Street, West Lafayette, IN
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Duane Pervis All American Burger

The 2017 & 2018 college basketball season has started and I ventured up to my alma mater, Purdue University, and visited a staple restaurant and favorite of mine The Triple XXX Family Restaurant/Diner. 

Nestled on the far east side of campus near an area known as the “Levy”, this eclectic joint has “old school” written all over it. Bar top stool seating, cash only, and nothing but Purdue Boilermaker nostalgia all over the walls. The absolute must try each and every time dish here is known as the “Duane Pervis All American Burger” named after All American running back/full back and track & field athlete Duane Pervis.

This burger falls under the category of you either “LOVE IT” or absolutely “HATE IT”. I happen to be on the absolutely LOVE IT category! Let’s begin with talking about what comes on this platter. Simply put…no frills or anything super exciting, but sticking to the true diner style of a basket with the burger and fries. The fresh lettuce, tomato, pickle & onion layered on top of the beef patty and cheese do provide some additional colors but not too much.

The appearance of this dish isn’t anything for the eyes…as it’s 100% for the taste buds. The fries that come from Triple XXX are how french fries should be…crispy & crunchy outside and soft almost fluffy on the inside. The burger itself is a true work of art and genius in my opinion. The sesame seed bun is slightly toasted so there’s a firmness to the buns and a slight crisp or crunch texture. The chop steak, cheese, and standard toppings are nothing out of the ordinary for a cheeseburger, but it’s the creamy peanut butter on the bottom bun that takes this burger to the top and is hands down my favorite hamburger. That’s not just the boilermaker in me coming out either…I truly do enjoy the flavor profile of every bite of this burger. 

The peanut butter is what trips everyone up and is the main culprit to why you will either LOVE this burger or HATE it. I think the peanut butter adds an earthy twist to the sandwich and the placement of the spread is PERFECT! You would think putting it on the top bun would be best and treating the peanut butter like mayo, but at Triple XXX they put it on the bottom bun so the creamy peanut butter can gel with the salt chop steak patty making it DELICIOUS! 

Being true to my word about my reviews…I gotta find something “negative”. This sandwich’s flavor profile is SPOT ON and the absolute best, but the toppings could use some work. The lettuce, tomato, and onions don’t appear to be super duper fresh and the colors just don’t jump out as I’d like to see. I would also like to see the option for a crunchy peanut butter in lieu of the creamy peanut butter. I think that crunchy peanut butter adds another depth of texture while still keeping the awesome flavor profile.

SUMMARY

All in all, the Duane Pervis All American Burger is a heavenly flavor profile in every bite for a twist on a traditional diner favorite known as the cheeseburger. This burger may take you outside of your comfort zone, but aren’t some of the greatest things in our life experienced when we dare to try something new and get out of the ordinary and “just like everybody else” mentality? Unless you’re allergic to nuts this is a must try burger. If you do go, let me know as I’m always down for throwing one of these bad burgers down!