The stenciling on the windows of The Original Hamburger Works told us that we were about to experience an “award winning” hamburger and we were definitely up for the challenge. We stepped into a very roomy, tastefully rustic interior with dim lighting. Everything about this place shouts simple and unsophisticated. We hope that the burgers are the exception.

This establishment has a unique system for serving guests. You place your order at a small window that looks directly into the kitchen. You can see the cooks standing over the grill and working away to fill the orders. The guy behind the counter hands you a little slip and you take it around the corner to the register to pay for your order. When your burgers are done, you take it to the topping and condiment table and add whatever you want. All of us liked this do-it-yourself approach.

A standard burger is called The Big One at The Original Hamburger Works. The Big One is a 1/3 pound mesquite broiled hamburger. We each ordered one and added our favorite cheese. You can choose from the following: Swiss, Cheddar, Jalapeno Jack, American or Provolone. You can also choose your bun here; your choice of white, wheat or onion. For our Signature Spotlight choice, we went with the Fiesta Burger. (See below.)

The service was not very fast, but the place was pretty busy, so we didn’t hold that against them. Upon the arrival of the burgers, each of us made our selections from the available toppings and condiments and prepared to chow down. The burgers looked delicious and after a moment to simply behold the beauty, we dove in. The following is our opinion of The Big One.

In keeping with the no-frills theme, the burgers we served on standard Styrofoam plates. The bun was a regular sesame seed bun, but was grilled nicely and it received high marks from the guys. Although one member commented that his was grilled “slightly too long.” It was the perfect size for the patty.

As previously stated, The Big One is that indeed; it’s clocks in at a third of a pound. While it had pretty good flavor, all of us wished that it had been juicier which caused us to even accuse it of being … dare I say it … dry. The meat is not cooked to order; at least none of us were asked how we would like it cooked.

We were all loving the fact that we could load up our burger the way we wanted and there were many possibilities.  But since we were interested in a standard burger we opted for the usual; lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup, mustard and mayo. All of these were very fresh and quite good. The cheese was pretty good, but not excellent; we’d have liked a little thicker slice. Although we did like having the ability to choose.

Overall, we were not overly impressed with this burger. The general consensus was, “Good, but not great.” None of us left hungry, the Big One is filling, but we all felt that the experience left a little to be desired. The Big One has turned out to be our lowest scoring burger thus far. But while we didn’t think this was an “award-winning” burger, you may have a different opinion. And that’s ok; you have the right to be wrong. Just kidding! If you’re up to it, check out The Original Hamburger Works.

Final Score: 6.75

"Side" Notes

Each of us completed our meal with a side of french fries. We were very pleased with the liberal portion of fries that we were served. They were deep fried to a perfect crispness. The Original Hamburger Works has diverse list of sides other than fries; including onion rings, baked potatoes, zucchini and soup, to name a few.

Signature Spotlight

Every single member of the team was impressed with the Fiesta Burger, our choice for the Signature Spotlight. Each of us preferred this burger over The Big One.

The Fiesta Burger is tasty combination of guacamole, bacon and jalapeno cheese atop a 1/2 pound patty on an onion bun. We opted for the half pound over the standard 1/3 pound and maintain that it was a fantastic choice. This burger was fantastic! We heartily recommend this burger!

Note: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger. (See our 411 page for details.)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

As we stepped through the door, beneath a sign that proclaimed “Home of the Cosmic Burger”, each of us had a problem that we hoped would be eradicated by our visit to Fast Eddie’s diner. That problem was a very empty stomach. Fast Eddie’s has quite an impressive selection of great home-style meals and each member had on previous occasions eaten here, but now it was time to put their burgers to the test.

The interior is rather colorful, to say the least, and some might call the “every wall a different color” approach to interior decorating, a little annoying. The walls are covered with retro wall art; everything from Betty Boop to the Three Stooges to Cola advertisements to likenesses of pop culture icons of yesteryear. But since the Arizona Burger Tour is not concerned with the looks of an establishment, but rather how good their burgers are, let’s move on to the important stuff.

We each ordered Fast Eddie’s classic cheeseburger which the menu called simply that, “Cheeseburger”; no fancy names here. The burger comes standard with tomato, iceberg lettuce, red onions, dill pickles and your choice of cheese. You can also choose between French fries, potato salad and cole slaw for your side; we all went with the fries. (You can’t eat a burger without fries can you?) There were a couple choices for the signature burger, but the majority ruled in favor of the 5-Star Burger.

The burgers arrived on brightly colored oval plates; each one a different color. (Either Eddie is colorblind or he just likes variety.) The bun was a very soft Kaiser roll that was grilled slightly. There were no complaints at all with this bun; possibly the best bun of the tour thus far.

The meat was a hand-formed 1/3 lb. patty that was cooked well done, but not overly so. It really was nicely prepared for a patty that was not cooked to order; juicy, but not extremely so. The beef was very flavorful, although the absence of seasoning was noted.

All the team members opted for American cheese except for one, who chose cheddar, and the cheese was very good; a thick slice that was melted perfectly over the patty. The produce, which, as mentioned already, included tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle, was very fresh. One member raved about the generous ring of red onions. Another, who is not particularly fond of pickles, said that he actually enjoyed the very crisp dill pickle slices on this burger. You apply your own ketchup and mustard from squeeze bottles at Fast Eddie’s as the burgers are served condiment-free, and if you want mayo they will bring out little containers of it for you as well.

Everyone agreed that this was a very great burger. The flavors of each component blended well to create the ultimate taste of a quality burger. One member commented that the burger had great taste from the very first bite and he didn’t even add any condiments. Overall, the classic cheeseburger at Fast Eddie’s was very well liked by all team members and we would heartily recommend it to you. Stop by Fast Eddie’s soon and give this burger a try.

Final Score: 8.25

Signature Spotlight

The 5-Star Burger is comprised of the same patty, bun, and produce as the classic cheeseburger. The difference lies in the monterey jack cheese and the so-called “Cosmic Mix” that accompanies it. The “Cosmic Mix”, which is diced jalapeños, tomato and onion, is set atop the patty and then tucked in by a blanket of monterey jack cheese that melts over it, effectively sealing it in to prevent it from falling all over you as you devour the burger. The 5-Star Burger has a little kick to it because of the Cosmic Mix, as you might expect, but it had really great flavor. If you like a little spice, then give the 5-Star Burger a go.

Note: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger. (See our 411 page for details.)

Saturday, February 27, 2010

In spite of the heavy crowd, our server (who introduced himself as Dave) appeared very shortly with ice water and we placed our order of a round of “classic standard burgers”, a delux burger (see Signature Spotlight below) and two baskets of “delux combination” fries.

It seems that the manager found out that we were there and she came out to introduce herself to us and very pleasantly and politely attempted to milk every detail about the Arizona Burger Tour from us. We, of course, were not very forthcoming with our top secret approach to burger-touring and kept the details pretty close to the chest. We explained our quest for the best burgers in the state and … but I digress …

The classic standard burger at Delux was a beauty to behold when Dave set the plates on the table. Served with all the fixin's on the side so you can put it together exactly how you like it, this burger caused us to salivate the moment we laid eyes on it.

The rather large-looking bun is (and I quote from the menu) a “toasted hand-crafted brioche bun” that is buttered and grilled to perfection. There was a bit of disagreement amongst us about the bun. Some felt it was a little to large, while others would have liked to have it a little thicker to accommodate the very juicy patty. This comes down to personal preference, of course. Nevertheless, it was very soft and extremely tasty.

The meat is a 9 oz. patty that is hand-formed and cooked to order; no frozen patties here! The menu states that it consists of “fresh ground, all natural, grain-fed, certified premium beef”, which is quite a mouthful; literally and figuratively. The beef had the flavor of good quality meat and even though it sort of looked small on the large bun, the slightly over ½ lb. patty was quite filling and very juicy.

At Delux you have your choice of cheese; American, cheddar, monterey jack, or Swiss. The classic standard burger also comes with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and pickles, all of which were very fresh and had great flavor. They also have quite an impressive assortment of condiments available upon request, including several types of mustard. Each table is served with a small dish of ketchup and their own special aioli sauce. The special sauce, Dave told us, is supposed to be for the fries, but many people enjoy it on their burgers. Never ones to back down from a challenge (especially one involving food), we tried it and had to agree that it was quite good.

As the plates were cleared away, we realized that we had just sampled one of the best burgers that we had ever had. Some of the words that were tossed around were, Fantastic! Excellent! Amazing! and Spectacular! In short, we heartily recommend this burger to anyone, anywhere! It is worth a long drive to experience this burger; unless of course, you live in Miami or New York City or Anchorage. That might be pushing it a bit.

Final Score: 9.17

"Side" Notes

We ordered the combo fries, which is a nice mix of french fries and sweet potato fries. They are served in a miniature shopping cart that really rolls and is emblazoned with the Delux logo. While the french fries were good, there were not extraordinary. None of us did any back-flips over the sweet potato fries either. The aioli sauce was very good on the fries.

Signature Spotlight

The delux burger was very, very good as well, and marks the first specialty burger thus far on the tour that we have actually enjoyed. It sports a bleu and gruyere cheese blend, caramelized onions, baby arugula, and applewood smoked bacon “mixture” on a toasted demi-baguette roll. It was extremely flavorful and we recommend trying this burger.

Note: This is not the entire burger pictured here. This is just one section after it had been divided for us all to sample.

The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger. (See our 411 page for details.)