BEST BURGER UPDATE!! Even though the posts online have been few and far between as of late, the quest never stops in real life. Due to the long break we will be going mega thread with multiple reviews, on some big name heavyweights! A couple that ended up with a punchers chance at the crown and another a champ in a different title only. Bigger picture, I have a few absolute burger classics I need to hit yet, but that list is dwindling and I’m always open to new suggestions. My only caveat is no food trucks, temporary menus or other chicanery or tom foolery. If you want to be the boss, you have to be ready to be checked at anytime. Not the 4th Thursday in an odd month with a waxing moon. This is bigger than the big leagues, and there are (few) rules. So here we go:
Kelly’s Lake City:
This great spot is the new sibling of Kelly’s in Red Wing, and overlooks the beautiful and massive Lake Pepin (biggest lake on the whole MIssissip). We pulled up proper from the lakeside and tied off on their massive dock. Plenty of parking dockside, so I think they stay busy. Order some Ellsworth cheese curds while you wait, really good light beer batter on the curds and even better honey butter and homemade ranch. As for the star of the show, I went with the 60/40 burger. 60% brisket 40% house cured pork belly, smokehouse bacon onion ring and pepper jack cheese. And a zesty sauce. This was really really good, the ground brisket and pork belly was crispy all over but still juicy and the onion ring and sauce were the crown, literally and figuratively. This place felt like a great lakeside bar and restaurant should, just like a Minnesotan feels most at home lakeside. Like International Falls great Frank Youse coming home back in ’62 and rocking the 7.2.
Hope Breakfast Bar
This restaurant has an awesome story, and their breakfast is legit. Like one of the better a la carte breakfasts in all of the cities. But they are a breakfast bar, not a burger joint. And it shows. It was a perfectly fine and well executed burger, but came with hashbrowns and just didn’t move the needle at all for me. If you want to check this place out, just get there earlier and order breakfast. Kinda like Greg Beikert #5.4 should have got to the Vikes a couple years earlier.
6Smith
This Wayzata juggernaut does what the Lake Minnetonka shore does best. Flaunt it. I believe this was the most expensive burger on the list at $23 before tax, title and licensing. But I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I had the A Fat Burger- bacon and onion jam, Blaser’s sharp cheddar fondue, Nueske’s bacon, LTO, brioche bun. This was ooey and crispy and gooey and that bacon and onion jam could make a Red Wing boot taste good. Perfectly done fresh cut fries, perfectly! This is a great place to treat yo self for that special night or just feel flaunty and wanna purify yourself on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. A Minnesota Classic like Matt Birk 7.8.
Attachments:
IMG_7856-scaled.jpeg
IMG_8161-scaled.jpeg
IMG_8235-scaled.jpeg
