The Arizona Burger Tourists are a group of professional burger tasters in search of the best burgers in the state of Arizona.
How It All Began
You could say it all began when the individual members of the team tasted a delectably, deliciously juicy burger for the very first time. The initial moment when their nostrils caught a whiff of that awesome aroma, when their taste buds came in contact with that almost heavenly savor of a ground beef patty paired with a slice of cheese and enveloped by a soft bun. When, for the very first time, they were ushered into that state of Palate Paradise, Flavor Felicity, Esculent Euphoria, Culinary Bliss … (Sigh)
But anyway … It really began when Jonathan was performing a Google search for (of all things) a burger joint in Washington State near where his family frequently vacationed when he was a child. He found the info he was looking for, but he also learned of a group of guys who had toured the state for several days straight in search of the best burger in Washington.
At that moment, Jonathan decided that one day he would do something similar in his state of residence, Arizona. After some further research online, he discovered that he was not alone; there were burger tours occurring in Florida, Minnesota, California … So why not Arizona? He gathered together a few friends who shared his love of good burgers and the rest is history.
Why?
As burger lovers for many years, we knew that there had to be others like ourselves who wanted to know where the perfect burger could be found. So we accepted the challenge of doing the grunt work for everyone and sharing our findings with the world.
The Rules
We adhere to the following guidelines when doing Burger Research:
Eating Establishment Criteria
No Chain Restaurants (The exception is small family-owned local chains)
No Bars or Pubs (Must be a diner, café, drive-in style restaurant)
The Establishment need not be solely a "Burger Joint", but can be any place that has a great burger on the menu.
Judging Criteria
Each member will rate each burger on a simple scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the Perfect Burger. Each of the following will be considered when deciding on a burger's score:
The Bun
The Meat
The Condiments/Produce
The Overall Taste
NOTE: Fractional scoring will be allowed.
The Final Score of the establishment will be a cumulative score of each individual member's score.
In order to maintain consistency in scoring, each member will sample the same menu item; namely a “Standard” burger, which will be limited to, but based on each member’s preference may not include all of, the following:
Bun
Meat
Cheese
Pickles
Lettuce
Onion
Tomato
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayo
House Sauce
Miscellany
We don’t judge on the price of the burger, although if the burger is a great value that definitely adds to the overall feeling of well-being that occurs post-meal.
From time to time, we will also post "Unofficial" reviews of burgers. These will be reviews that are not "Official" Tour Stops; meaning that the whole team was not present (possibly only one team member), the establishment was outside of Arizona, or in some way does not meet all the requirements for an official tour stop.
In addition to judging an establishment's "standard" burger, we may also sample their "house" or "specialty" burger on occasion. These will not be considered in the Final Score for that establishment, but will be noted only for additional information for our readers' consideration.
