hamburger Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Better Butter Burger

Remember what Julia Child said: "You can make anything taste better with butter."

Cuisine beef

Ingredients

9 Tbs. salted butter, softened
1 onion
1 Tbs. water
Salt and pepper
1 lb. 90% lean ground beef
4 hamburger buns toasted
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
4 slices American cheese

Instructions

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, covered, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and continue to cook until translucent and just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Cover and keep warm.
Transfer beef to rimmed baking sheet and separate into 4 equal mounds. Gently shape each mound into 4 1/2-inch-wide by 1/2-inch-thick patty. Combine 3/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in bowl and sprinkle both sides of patties with mixture. Refrigerate until ready to cook, up to 30 minutes.
Spread 2 tablespoons butter onto each bun top; set aside. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Using spatula, transfer patties to skillet and cook without moving them for 3 minutes. Flip patties and cook for 1 minute. Top each burger with 1 slice of American cheese and continue to cook until cheese is melted, about 30 seconds longer.
Transfer burgers to bun bottoms. Divide onion mixture among burgers and cover with buttered bun tops. Makes 4 burgers.

In case you haven’t figured this one out for yourself, Thrillist.com is here to tell us where to find the Best Burgers in St. Louis, listing five area favorites. To start with, they point to Five Star Burger—no argument there—and their “Dad’s Green Chili Cheeseburger.”

Five Star Burger

Actually, 5-Star’s mushroom burger, shown above, is my favorite. I must admit I’ve not felt heroic enough to take on “Dad’s Green Chili Cheeseburger” with its Hatch chilies, pepper jack cheese and green chili mayo. But I’ve had only the finest and juiciest burgers at Five Star whether the patty was made of beef, bison, lamb, or veggies. Two locations: Clayton and Kirkwood.

Carl’s Drive In

No list is complete without mention of the landmark burger joint, Carl’s Drive-In, where you might expect to find Fonzi and the gang, but more likely families or old-timers re-living the happy days. The Double Cheeseburger with the edges flattened on the grill until they’re thin and crispy is a mouthwatering bite of nostalgia. You can chow down while sitting at the counter with other regulars, watching the traffic along what was once old Highway 66. (Photo: Eatery.com)

BC’s Kitchen

Having BC’s Kitchen located in Lake St. Louis makes it a bit far away for me. But I’m glad Bill Cardwell’s outpost is getting its much-deserved recognition in the burger wars. His offering for best burgers: the highly acclaimed “Bill’s Burger Meister.” For those living closer in, he’s got a pretty terrific burger on the menu at Cardwell’s in Frontenac, too.

Dave & Tony’s

You can build the burger of your dreams at Dave & Tony’s choosing from an array of meats, cheeses, buns, sauces, and toppings. Using corn-fed, Angus beef, the Creve Coeur diner customizes its burgers and salads, serving them from a kitchen where everything is made from scratch. (Photo by and Tony and Brandi Dahl)

Gordon’s Stoplight Drive-In

In Crystal City, Gordon’s Stoplight Drive-In has been smashing burgers since 1948. Like Carl’s they, slap the meat flat and sear it senseless. Then in a move that would make J. Wellington Wimpy drool, they stack four patties onto a bun laced with American cheese to form their Quadzilla.

Sidenote: Thrillist.com managed to ignore burgers in the City—an oversight, I think we should help them rectify. I always have a place on my platter for a Dressel’s lamb burger with goat cheese and apricot chutney. And Death in the Afternoon with its splendid cheeseburger would definitely be on my short list.