Cheese Sauce and Seasoned Beef in Hartford Schools
Five iconic, unusual and historical burgers y'all'll (likely) merely find in CT
Connecticut may exist known for its pizza and seafood, but ane could argue we're as well a burger land, with some truly iconic, unique, artistic and headline-grabbing meat-and-cheese presentations.
Nosotros could spend all day on National Cheeseburger Day, Sept. 18, extolling all the fantastic burgers in Connecticut. Just here, we're focusing on five of the Nutmeg Land'south all-time-known, quirkiest and most distinctive offerings — menu items you'll likely just observe within its borders.
The historical burger
Louis Luncheon, New Haven
Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media
Louis Lunch is a fable in Connecticut and beyond. The historical New Haven joint, founded in 1895, has long been acknowledged as the birthplace of the hamburger sandwich, even recognized as such by the Library of Congress. Original owner Louis Lassen is said to have invented it for a customer in a rush, equally he placed ground steak trimmings betwixt two slices of toast.
Only controversy emerged recently, equally a Connecticut Magazine reader cast doubt on Louis' merits. The reader establish Texas newspaper archives featuring cartoonish ads from 1894 that depicted "hamburger sandwiches" at a saloon, vi years before Lassen apparently served his first hamburger in New Haven. Jeff Lassen, the fourth-generation owner of Louis Luncheon, said the cartoon "proves naught" to him and isn't credible prove.
The renewed fence over its origin hasn't inverse Louis' status as i of the best-known burgers in the country, having been featured on the Travel Channel and in numerous national publications. The patties are fabricated with a proprietary blend of five cuts of meat, footing fresh daily, and cooked in cast-iron vertical broilers, served on toast with simply cheese, onion and tomato plant as acceptable toppings. The Lassens have long believed the meat's quality speaks for itself, so don't yous cartel inquire for ketchup or other condiments.
Louis Lunch is at 261 Crown St. in New Haven. 203-562-5507, louislunch.com.
The Connecticut steamed cheeseburger
K. LaMay'due south, Meriden and Wallingford; Ted's Eatery, Meriden, others
General manager Dylan McNulty shows off a double cheeseburger with melted aged Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese at LaMay's Steamed Cheeseburgers in Meriden on May xiv, 2021.
Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media
Chances are, if you enquire someone from outside of Connecticut if they know of steamed cheeseburgers, they'll look at you funny. It'due south pretty rare to discover the regional specialty outside of fundamental Connecticut towns and cities like Meriden, Middletown and Wallingford. Only give-and-take has spread over the years, as Ted'southward Restaurant in Meriden has been featured on national television and trucked its mobile Steam Machine effectually the land to breweries and special events.
These burgers aren't char-grilled or seared on a flattop. Instead, they're cooked in metal trays in a steam cabinet. Blocks of cheese too go the steam handling, softening the cheddar to a molten land so information technology can pour out of the tray and blanket the patty. And at K. LaMay's, with an original location in Meriden, the cheese is everything, says founder Kevin LaMay, who uses a specific type of Wisconsin sharp cheddar.
"The cheese is the big, big matter," said LaMay, who's been steaming cheeseburgers for nigh 30 years. He got his start working at Ted's, and opened his restaurant in 2006.
"If you don't get enough sharpness of the cheddar, it doesn't make the kick to the sandwich and the flavor. And if you give it too much aged sharp cheddar, if it'southward aged also long, it overpowers the sandwich and becomes existent rich...and information technology's too rich."
K. LaMay's has two locations, in Meriden at 690 Due east. Main St. and at the Double Play Buffet in Wallingford. klamayssteamedcheeseburgers.com.
Ted's Eating house is at 1046 Broad St. in Meriden. tedsrestaurant.com.
The "how practice you eat that" burger
Shady Glen, Manchester
Leeanne Griffin / Hearst Connecticut Media
At the delightfully retro Shady Glen in Manchester, the "Bernice Original" (named for co-founder Bernice Rieg) is a sight to behold. As the burger hits the grill, cooks lay 4 slices of American cheese in a square pattern atop the patty, positioned then the border of each cheese piece comes into contact with the heated flattop.
In one case the cheese edges are perfectly crisped, the melt gives them a slight up flip with a spatula, giving the cheeseburger a "winged" look. Customers either fold the crunchy cheese wings in to eat as part of the burger experience, or tear them off to munch separately. (And regulars know you can too social club a plate of fried cheese on its own.)
Shady Glen has appeared on Nutrient Network and Travel Channel programs, and earned an "America's Classic" award from the James Beard Foundation in 2012. While they're known for burgers, their ice cream is too non to exist missed.
Shady Glen is at 840 Middle Turnpike East in Manchester. 860-649-4245.
The advanced burgers
Flipside Burger & Bar, Fairfield and Milford
Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media
Flipside Burgers and Bar possessor Mike Baffa hasn't had information technology easy with the timing of the debuts of his Southern Connecticut burger restaurants.
"In Fairfield, nosotros opened upwardly in the middle of the 2008 recession," he said. "And Milford, I opened up in the eye of a pandemic."
But during both historical periods, Baffa and his team serviced diners looking for reliable, cheap and fun comfort foods, with an emphasis on creative burgers. Flipside'south "classic burgers" — some of its original recipes from the Fairfield original — are anything but traditional: a "patty melt" burger stuffed betwixt two grilled cheese sandwiches, a "virgin Mary" burger playing off the flavors of a Bloody Mary beverage with horseradish and spicy ketchup, and a Waldorf burger, with Gorgonzola cheese, green apples, candied walnuts and cranberry aioli.
The specialty sirloin burgers are even more innovative. When we asked Fairfield County foodies for their favorite local spots, Flipside's "Processed Popper" burger came up over again and over again in a Facebook thread. This one features a slab of cream cheese, candied bacon and sweetness jalapeño-carrot slaw on a pretzel bun.
Baffa says the Dominate Burger, with grilled crispy cotija cheese, taco slaw, avocado, fried jalapeño and chipotle aioli, is another new favorite. The mac and cheese burger, with a square of cheesy pasta, bacon, cheese sauce and pico de gallo, is a all-time-seller.
Flipside Burgers and Bar has locations in Fairfield and Milford. flipsiderestaurant.com.
The burger that will hit yous in the wallet
Republic, Bloomfield
The name is either a reference to sticker stupor, or a cardiac result brought on by its rich ingredients. The "Heart Attack Burger" at Commonwealth, which runs a absurd $49 at the Bloomfield gastropub, is the picture of indulgence: domestic Kobe beef, foie gras and black truffles on brioche with a truffle demi-glace dipping sauce. The burger alone will cost you a Grant, or you tin can add together a canteen of Darioush wine to brand it two Benjamins.
Source: https://www.ctpost.com/food/article/Five-iconic-unusual-and-historical-burgers-16182248.php
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