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Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2009
Battle of the Burgers: Fred's edges Dutch's in a Fort Worth deathmatch
BURGER BATTLE: Fred's edges Dutch's in a squeaker, as the field is narrowed to an elite eight.
The five-mile swath of prairie west of downtown Fort Worth should officially be renamed Hamburger Heaven. Fred’s, Kincaid’s, M&O and Tommy’s all grill up burger goodness along West Seventh Street and Camp Bowie Boulevard. Delicious newcomers Dutch’s and Pappas Bros. makes things juicy just a mile or so down the road from there. And now Love Shack is joining the Westside beef brigade, with a new location in the So7 development.
That is a roundabout way of saying that narrowing the field to eight great burgers just in Fort Worth is difficult. Trimming our 32-burger bracket to an Elite Eight is downright excruciating. Every burger that has advanced thus far in dfw.com’s Battle of the Burgers is a PTPer (Dick Vitale-speak for prime-time player).
But only one glorious slab o’ beef will emerge from our judges’ summerlong search for the best. Could the winner be among this week’s mega-matchups? Grab a napkin and check ’em out:
2. Fred’s vs. 6. Dutch’s
■Winner: Fred’s
Dutch’s is the new kid in town. Fred’s is the grizzled veteran. Both serve magnificent burger creations — juicy half-pounders that reflect their unique and contrasting styles. Their matchup was one for the ages, an instant classic.
The bacon blue cheese burger at Dutch’s is a masterwork. Rich and flavored, the prime beef melds beautifully with the creamy but not overpowering blue cheese. The hunk of bacon is a salty, chewy compliment to the hint of sweetness from the bun. We could find barely anything wrong with this hamburger, except that it was facing off against the genius of Fred’s Diablo Burger. (Cue gunfighter music.)
Like Fred’s itself, the meat in the restaurant’s burgers is unadorned — thick and mmm, mmm good. But the Diablo’s combination of juicy beef, fiery chipotle peppers and cool, perfectly melted Swiss cheese is simply inspired. Add a crunchy pickle and a dab of mustard for some vinegary sharpness, plus a sturdy bun bathed in butter, and the result is a taste explosion, bite after sumptuous bite.
Truthfully, it’s a crime that either of these burger titans has to fall. But the bracket gods have spoken.
3. Fuddruckers vs. 7. Mooyah
■Winner: Fuddruckers
This was a nailbiter that went into overtime (a second visit). On our first visit, both chains served up such juicy goodness that we couldn’t decide which we liked better. For the return matchup, we repeated our order. Mooyah’s double-patty burger with bacon and mushrooms was sloppier this time around, with mustard oozing from a hole in the bottom of a smushed sesame-seed bun. We gave extra points for the tangy Cheddar, but the Mooyah beef was noticeably drier than its opponent. At Fudd’s, we had the house favorite: the "Works" burger — a 1/3 -pound single-patty with bacon and grilled mushrooms, to which we added deli mustard from the toppings bar. Well-constructed with not much topping slippage, it was cooked to order (we wanted it somewhere between medium and medium well, and the cook delivered both times). Between that, the burger’s salty-greasy (in a good way) flavor, and the homemade grilled bun and its tiny circle of sesame seeds on top, Fudd’s pulled out the decisive win.
2. Keller’s Drive-in vs. 3. Jakes
■Winner: Jakes
Let’s call this the Poppy-Seed Smackdown. Both burgers are served on grilled buns — crunchy to perfection. But the distracting hail of poppy seeds rained on our teeth, fingers, laps and tables. At Jakes, we opted for the Burger of the Month, a (piping hot!) Red Steer with Cheddar cheese and hickory sauce. At first, the heft and power of the two nicely seasoned patties nearly eclipsed the toppings. But once we got far enough in, the succulent hickory sauce, peppery beef and grated, melting Cheddar revealed a minor symphony of flavors. At Keller’s, we had the double-meat with cheese, mustard and lettuce. It was a solid, old-fashioned burger, but it didn’t sing a siren song. To give it a fair shake against Jakes’, we also sampled the burger with hickory sauce. The sauce reminded us more of a tangy ketchup than hickory, and it couldn’t stand up to Jakes’. (Now, excuse us while we floss.)
2. Johnny B’s vs. 3. Al’s
■Winner: Johnny B’s
Another clash of tradition (Al’s has been in Arlington 50 plus years) and upstart ingenuity (Johnny B’s is tucked in a suburban shopping center in Southlake). In this case, the young Turk is the clear winner. We tried the double-cheese burgers at both places, and Johnny B’s was just better. The burger, with two flat and juicy patties, was tightly constructed. The tender beef had a rich and salty flavor. The fresh sourdough bun gave off a lovely whiff, too. The veggies were not as crisp as we like, but that was our only quibble.
Al’s double cheeseburger, on the other hand, served up two flat, firm patties that could have used a bit more seasoning. The American cheese was melted nicely between the patties and the tomato was juicy, but overall it was just a decent old-fashioned burger. A bit too ordinary to take down Johnny B’s.
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