How We Did It

Over the course of the spring, food and dining editor Adam Platt, food editor Stephanie March, and mspmag.com blogger/chef/caterer Philip Dorwart (of The Dining Studio) visited dozens of burger spots. The competitors included winners of our 2003 burger survey (see sidebar on page 54), places that scored highly in recently published burger tastings, places we knew served good burgers, and joints that had a rep for being burger barons. From Delano to Stillwater, Anoka County to Savage, we ate and ate and ate.

On our outings, we ordered a burger with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and mayo (or whatever sauce was offered). This seems to be the standard burger in the Twin Cities. If that wasn’t available, such as at Cafe Maude or 112 Eatery, we got the version on the menu.

We ordered our burgers “medium.” What we usually got was a briquette that was fit for cooking our next burger over (see sidebar on page 51). We judged each burger on doneness, beefy flavor, texture, seasoning, bun quality, and the burger’s overall eatability. We gave each a score of 0–100. There were a couple of burgers (including one Kobe) that had such an off-putting odor that we took a whiff and promptly entered “00.”

The most frustrating aspect of our effort is that we know many of you will not be able to replicate our peak experiences. There is just too much variability in the way even some of our best burger joints cook. And that’s a crying shame.