A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

burger

Getting the in on In-N-Out

For those of you who have knowledge of Philly cheesesteaks, you know there’s a specific way to order.

“One wiz wit.”

Pretty simple, right?

Basically, that comes down to a steak, with Cheez Wiz (duh!) and “wit” onions. It’s the best way to have a steak, I always said. But it’s also the way to order.

in-n-2

The first… without knowing about the secret society.

You don’t go up to the window at Geno’s or Pat’s or one of many other steak places in Philly and say something along the lines of “Hello, my good man. I’d like a cheesesteak, preferably with Cheez Wiz, as well as adding some of those delicious grilled onions you have back there!”

It just doesn’t work.

Turns out, it’s that way other places, too.

On the trip to California this past weekend, a stop at In-N-Out was a must. After all, I’ve heard all about it from West Coast friends and from others who have been there. It was time to try it.

The second ... animal style -- after knowing all about the secret society!

The second … animal style — after knowing all about the secret society!

The flight time worked out extremely well as we landed right near lunch time and we couldn’t check into the hotel yet. And, well, there was an In-N-Out a couple of miles from the hotel, so …

Duh.

A burger. Some fries. It all worked out well. The problem was, apparently, it wasn’t done correctly. There’s a secret (well, apparently not-so-secret) menu that those on the “inside” know all about. Well, damn.

I posted a photo on Instagram and other social media. I didn’t do it all right, so I was told. Another stop was going to have to happen.

The second time happened toward San Diego and we were with somebody “in the know.” He ordered up and it almost sounded like it was in a secret tongue. I was waiting for him to be welcomed as a brother of the secret society. A secret handshake had to happen, right? Or at least some crazy sound that only those on the “inside” know?

Right?

Apparently not.

But we learned enough to order. It was all about animal style on the burger and the fries. I felt like I had stepped up my In-N-Out game. The burgers were delish. The fries – with cheese and the sauce and everything else that makes them so much more than … just fries – were excellent. And the satisfaction of knowing we made it into some secret place makes it even better.

Now to learn the handshake…

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I’ll gladly take a hamburger… how I asked for it

I realize there are many ways for people to eat hamburgers.

Rare.

Medium rare.

Medium.

Medium well.

Well.

There’s probably more in there that I’m missing.

I wanted this burger to have a tad bit of pink on the inside. Didn't work out that way.

I wanted this burger to have a tad bit of pink on the inside. Didn’t work out that way.

Recently, I went to a place where the choices were basically “pink” and “not pink.”

I don’t like my burger rare. I like it with just a tad bit of color in it, basically so it’s not something I could get at a Five Guys or something along those lines. Each time I have the chance to say how I’d like it cooked, it never comes that way.

It always comes well.

Is it how people cook now? Are there reasons why it’s basically “bleeding” or “not bleeding?”

I can’t stomach meat that’s way too red. Just can’t do it. But I don’t mind that little bit of color. Unfortunately, it seems like I can’t get that anywhere. When you go to a place like Five Guys, or something like that, it doesn’t seem to matter. The burgers are good how they cook them. But some places, when you get something that is cooked all the way through, it just isn’t good.

So how about you? How do you like your burgers? And have you noticed this trend of basically having two choices with how your burger is cooked?

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30 Minus 2 Days of Writing: Gouda (1/28)

(Today starts another 30 minus 2 writing challenge. This post will be up for the afternoon, after which the Snapshot Saturday will be up.)

When I travel, I usually like to seek out a few things.

Local hot dog joints.

There is Gouda on that burger!

There is Gouda on that burger!

Craft beer

Pizza

Burger joints

Sure, I love a steak house or something along those lines, too, but despite becoming employed in the past few months, it’s not like I’m rich or anything. Far from it,in fact.

Still, these types of joints are what really do it for me. A week ago, I was in Pittsburgh to attend the WWE Royal Rumble. With a friend who drives truck for WWE, I had the chance to score some sweet tickets.

I wasn’t driving all that way for one night, though. We extended it to two days and saw another show the night before (Ring of Honor) and also had the chance to find some good places to eat.

Build my own!

Build my own!

We arrived on Friday night at about 9:45 p.m. and wanted to find something close to the hotel. The day before, I had searched for some decent spots and I stumbled across Burgatory. The website looked awesome, so it was the perfect choice.

Stepping inside made me realize this might be the perfect burger joint.

The menu was excellent. The shakes, too, were incredible. I got the caramel pretzel shake (don’t knock if it you don’t try it) and it was positively delicious.

As for the meal…

The menu was hard to choose from as there were so many good things. Alas, I ended up not ordering from the menu, per say. There are pads and pencils at each table. On the pad is a checklist … to create your own burger.

Awesome.

This was cool because there were so many options. Of course many cost a little extra, but this was a time to live it up a tad. The funny part is my burger easily could have reached $25. Instead, I kept it under $20, which is good as I had a hard time finishing (I actually left a little behind).

What a shake!

What a shake!

This was a wonderful display in what you can do with a hamburger, though.

All the choices. I got applewood smoked bacon. Pineapple, grilled. And for the cheese? Smoked Gouda. Seriously. Smoked freakin’ Gouda! And it wasn’t just a little piece melted. It was a larger piece, all on the burger (wagyu beef) and you could see it’s awesomeness.

My only issue is the cook temp wasn’t fully consistent. It was much redder than I asked for in the middle and the ends were darker. That being said, it was a wonderful burger. The roll was divine.

The shake. The burger. And a great waitress. Those three things made this a wonderful stop and one I’d do again.

Especially with smoked Gouda on the burger!

This is part of We Work for Cheese’s annual writing challenge. Despite what might be blamed, I had nothing to do with it. Go check them out for other crazy writers doing this challenge. 

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Man v. Food — Ithaca style

The challenge...

If you’ve seen the television show Man v. Food, you probably know where this post is heading.

In Ithaca.

Four of us headed to Ithaca on Saturday to catch a 2CW pro wrestling show. We had planned to stop somewhere for dinner and found this place Rulloff’s, which had clam chowder (score!) and reportedly good burgers. That turned out to be the plan and we got there with plenty of time before the show to have a good meal.

But one thing stuck out at us in the middle of the menu.

The 20-ounce burger seemed like a decent challenge. Add the fries and everything else — in 30 minutes?

Kevin surveys the situation.

The four of us in attendance were me, Rod, Bill and Kevin. I need to put the names out there, so you at least know who these people are — in a way — as I mention them.

We saw the Monster Burger note right away. It was mentioned by others that Kevin should give it a go. He got a shit-eating grin on his face, so you knew he was totally interested in trying. Free t-shirt? Sweet.

Then Rod offered to pay the $20 for the meal if Kevin went for it.

Yeah, sold.

The waitress came over and explained things a little — but we wanted to make sure there was Kevin’s size in the shirt. She went and checked and it turns out they were OUT of the shirts. Really? How do you have a challenge and run out of shirts? Sheesh!

But, the shirts were on order. Kevin had two choices — take one of the regular establishment shirts (should he beat the challenge), or they would mail one. He chose the mail option, but as we told him — get her name and the number of the joint and follow up if the shirt doesn’t arrive!

The challenge -- taken with Hipstamatic.

That’s, of course, if he beats the challenge. But at this point, we didn’t think there would be any issues with it whatsoever.

Oh how things change.

The meal takes time to prepare — up to 45 minutes for the burger (it actually took a little longer).

So, the order was placed. After the wait, out came the food. The burger was impressive. But it looked delicious. The bread, especially looked fantastic.

The fries? Not so much. I am not sure of everything that went into these loaded fries — but I saw some meat sauce, beans, some peppers and not sure what else. Chili, for sure. But probably some other crap, too.

And the pickle? Monster-sized as well. But excellent looking.

Though each of us wanted to offer words of wisdom to Kevin, the reality was he was doing this challenge and he had to decide how to attack this meal.

As time starts to tick off, Kevin digs in.

His plan?

Eat the burger, then half the pickle, then the fries, then the rest of the pickle.

Down the hatch we go!

Honestly, the other three of us didn’t think Kevin would have any issues with this challenge. It didn’t look as big as we thought it was going to look. In fact, we were putting the over/under at 23.5 minutes in Kevin finishing.

So, away things went.

The burger — again, which looked excellent — posed no challenge to Kevin. I’m pretty sure any of the four of us could have handled the burger. (The rest — maybe not so much)! But that burger would have been a meal all by itself.

Kevin did note that it was one of the best burgers he’s ever had, so that was a good thing.

By this point, two people had sat at the table behind us and they were intrigued by this and were watching as well. Believe me, it’s an impressive thing to even attempt this, let alone get it done. All for a t-shirt.

And the burger ended up being gone in 12 minutes.

Kevin’s pace was rocking at this point. But there was still a challenge left. He had 18 minutes to down the fries and the pickle.

Kevin crunched away at half the pickle. He noted that the fries didn’t look too good (I think the three of us agreed). With myself, Bill and Rod cheering on, Kevin dug in.

And after his first bite, he didn’t look so good.

Digging into the fries.

He said it didn’t feel good going down. So he took a drink of water. Took a few breaths and took another bite — a big one. A deep breath and he started going for another bite.

Then Kevin got an odd look on his face. Was he throwing in the towel already?

He found a hair.

Seriously.

A hair.

After calling the waitress over, he pulled the hair out to show her.

Needless to say, the challenge was over. She said she could get a fresh order of fries. Kevin, to his credit, offered to cut off a part of the fries and valiantly continue. The three of us vetoed that and I had said — who knows what else is in there?

In the end, the challenge was over. Who would want to wait for a new set of fries after that? Not me. My appetite would have been gone. So, the place did the right thing and made that meal fully free, which worked out well. Kevin did finish the pickle.

Kevin did admit as we walked out of the place that he would have given it his best, but he didn’t think he’d have gotten through the fries to win the challenge, so all is well in the end. He had a great burger — for free — and didn’t get sick.

On a side note, I think if Man v. Food host Adam Richman took this challenge, it wouldn’t be much for him to pull it off. That dude has eaten a lot of crazy things, so this would be like an appetizer.

And, despite the hair, I’d go back. Good place to eat. My chowder was excellent and I had a fruit and brie cheese platter, which was awesome. Three of us (sans Kevin) shared some nachos and their salsa was excellent with a slight kick. Rod and Bill each had burgers and seemed to enjoy as well. The prices were decent, too.

I just know that no matter how hungry I was — I wouldn’t try that challenge!

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