11.13.12- Black & Orange vs Stoney's (the wildcard!)

Black & Orange vs Stoney's (the wildcard!)

Black & Orange

This one is located just south of Dupont Circle. It's hard to tell if it's supposed to be a good burger place, that was just empty on a Tuesday, or one of those after-2-am kind of burger places. Their thing is that you can order the burger "Pink" or "Not Pink," which pleased those among us who prefer their burgers really cooked. The Pink is like an average medium, the Not Pink is like gray. You can also choose between the welterweight and the heavyweight (quarter pound vs half pound). We did the welterweights, in the interest of watching the cals. Sweet potato fries were delish, not salted. (But they do have Old Bay in the pepper shakers at the tables, nice touch). We had two burgers- the first was the "Pardon my French," a truffle oil and thyme burger, pink, with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and provolone. The truffle oil was amazing. The other was the "Rogue State," Black & Orange's former name. This one was Not Pink, with lettuce, tomato, raw purple onion, and pickles. (The Rogue State is a burger with the house spice blend, chipotle, and cilantro- fyi, I had to look those ingredients up online because the flavors were not clearly apparent when we ate the burger, and therefore not memorable). And, not to focus on the negative, but the bun was super stale. The kind of stale where when you poke it, it leaves a hole in the bread. Overall, more of a 2 am burger. With an Allagash White. 

T.K. Taste 3.0, Bun 0, Condiments 0.8, Presentation 0.1, Service 0.7, Doneness 0.8. Total 5.4

A.H. Taste 1.0, Bun 0.2, Condiments 0.8, Presentation 0.6, Service 0.8, Doneness 0.8. Total 4.2

H.W. Taste 3.0, Bun 0.1, Condiments 0.9, Presentation 0.4, Service 0.8, Doneness 0.8. Total 6.0

Overall weighted score: 5.28

Stoney's (the wildcard!)

Not going to lie, this place came up because of their ridiculous slab of chocolate cake that they have, or used to have... unfortunately no longer on the menu. But either way, it is one of my favorite bars in D.C. Cozy like Cheers. We asked the waitress whether we should go with the Texas Burger or the Stoney Burger (with Stoney's special sauce)... the answer was a definitive Texas Burger- bacon, cheddar, BBQ sauce, grilled onion, and cole slaw. It was very tasty, one of those messy burgers. One of our tasters is a bit of a minimalist, and felt that there was "too much going on," and was "overwhelmed." The same taster was throwing numbers around when it came time to score, so take the final numbers with a grain of salt. (FYI, their Super Grilled Cheese is the claim to fame... not to be missed.)

T.K. Taste 3.5, Bun 0.2, Condiments 0.8, Presentation 0.8, Service 0.4, Doneness 0.3. Total 6.0
A.H. Taste 3.0, Bun 0.4, Condiments 0.1, Presentation 0.7, Service 0.4, Doneness 0.3. Total 4.9
H.W. Taste 4.0, Bun 0.2, Condiments 0.8, Presentation 0.7, Service 0.3, Doneness 0.3. Total 6.5
Overall weighted score: 5.88

Stoney's wins!

Just a random burger...

This one's not in the bracket, but it was just a delicious, delicious burger...

May 2012- Jack Rose vs The Blaguard

Jack Rose vs The Blaguard

Jack Rose

One of my favorite places because of the rooftop deck (unless you accidentally go on cigar night, that's really a thing there). A surprising side with the burger- black eyed peas. The burger is straightforward- beef, lettuce, tomato, onion and cheddar. A.H.'s service score had something to do with free drinks, I think... 

K.J.- Taste 2.9, Presentation 0.6, Doneness 0.4, Condiments 0.4, Service 0.9, Bun 0.4 [Total Score 5.6]
H.L.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 1.0, Doneness 0.0, Condiments 0.5, Service 0.5, Bun 0.5 [Total Score 4.5]
D.H.- Taste 3.8, Presentation 0.6, Doneness 0.8, Condiments 0.6, Service 0.8, Bun 0.3 [Total Score 6.9]
N.P.- Taste 4.0, Presentation 0.6, Doneness 0.6, Condiments 0.6, Service 0.6, Bun 0.6 [Total Score 7.0]
L.- Taste 3.0, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.8, Condiments 0.6, Service 0.2, Bun 0.6 [Total Score 5.8]
A.H.- Taste 3.8, Presentation 0.8, Doneness 0.7, Condiments 0.4, Service 1.0, Bun 0.5 [Total Score 7.2]
T.K.- Taste 2.6, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.2, Condiments 0.4, Service 0.9, Bun 0.4 [Total Score 5.2]
Overall Weighted Score: 5.59

The Blaguard

This was really nothing special. (I actually did not participate this round; was delayed because I couldn't find a parking spot in Adams Morgan, and then was so residually angry, it ruined my appetite. don't worry, it came back for Jack Rose). Tater tots are always good, but the burger was basically a charred lump of overcooked beef. I think the Blaguard goes better with beer or rail mixed drinks, followed by Jumbo Slice.

K.J.- Taste 2.5, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.2, Condiments 0.6, Service 0.3, Bun 0.8 [Total Score 5.1]
H.L.- Taste 1.0, Presentation 0.0, Doneness 0.5, Condiments 0.0, Service 0.0, Bun 1.0 [Total Score 2.5]
D.H.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 0.5, Doneness 0.2, Condiments 0.4, Service 0.4, Bun 0.6 [Total Score 4.1]
N.P.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 0.3, Doneness 0.3, Condiments 0.3, Service 0.3, Bun 0.3 [Total Score 3.5]
L.- Taste 1.0, Presentation 0.1, Doneness 0.0, Condiments 0.2, Service 0.1, Bun 0.3 [Total Score 1.7]
A.H.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 0.1, Doneness 0.0, Condiments 0.1, Service 0.1, Bun 0.0 [Total Score 2.3]
Overall Weighted Score: 3.2

No surprise here... Jack Rose took it

May 2012- District 2 vs Cafe Deluxe

District 2 vs Cafe Deluxe

District 2

Conveniently located across the street from Cactus Cantina. Does mostly pub food, and a nice little brunch. They have a few burgers to choose from, but I think we just did the make-your-own option. (Although they do have a Sriracha burger, which I haven't tried but sounds good). We both went with a blue cheese burger (A.H. picked off the cheese). Nothing too special, but tasty sweet potato fries.

D.D. and M.T.- Taste 3.0, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.9, Condiments 0.5, Service 0.3, Bun 0.7 [Total Score 6.1]

A.H.- Taste 3.7, Presentation 0.8, Doneness 0.6, Condiments 0.7, Service 0.4, Bun 0.8 [Total Score 6.9]

T.K.- Taste 3.0, Presentation 0.5, Doneness 0.0, Condiments 0.5, Service 0.1, Bun 0.3 [Total Score 4.4]

Overall Weighted Score: 5.24

Cafe Deluxe

Any placed named Cafe Deluxe is already pretty good. We knew in advance though, that they have a really good buffalo burger, so maybe we were a little predisposed to the second place of the evening. So specifically, it is a Bison burger with herb mayo and balsamic onions. So good, we didn't even mind the fact that the waiter ignored us for a good 10 minutes after we sat down.

D.D. and M.T.- Taste 4.5, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.8, Condiments 0.7, Service 0.1, Bun 0.5 [Total Score 7.3]

A.H.- Taste 4.2, Presentation 0.8, Doneness 0.7, Condiments 0.9, Service 0.1, Bun 0.3 [Total Score 7.0]

T.K.- Taste 4.0, Presentation 0.5, Doneness 0.8, Condiments 0.6, Service 0.1, Bun 0.4 [Total Score 6.4]

Overall Weighted Score: 6.70

Cafe Deluxe wins!

4.1.12 St. Arnold's vs The Underground

 St. Arnold's Mussel Bar vs The Underground

St. Arnold's
Nice outdoor patio, just off Connecticut Ave. This is really more of a mussels place (we went with the mussels in a beer sauce with carmelized shallot, garlic and thyme in duck fat). Not really a good idea if you're planning on eating two burgers in one night.


But this is about the burger, right? There's just one, so makes the choice easy. It's the St. Arnold's stuffed burger, with your choice of cheese (we went with gruyere), bacon AND prosciutto, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and onion. Most of the goodness here comes from presentation and concept... It lacked in the taste department. A.H. was neutral to the bun. The flavor was dominated by the peppers and prosciutto, without really any contribution from the beef. Over-done. But it made for a nice picture... And did I mention that the mussels were out of this world??

D.D. and M.T.- Taste 2.2, Presentation 0.8, Doneness 0.7, Condiments 0.9, Service 0.9, Bun 0.8 [Total Score 6.2]
A.H.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.3, Condiments 0.5, Service 0.5, Bun 0.5 [Total Score 4.5]
T.K.- Taste 1.0, Presentation 0.7, Doneness 0.1, Condiments 0.5, Service 0.9, Bun 0.4 [Total Score 3.6]
Overall Weighted Score: 4.3

The Underground
Then after you've had a few and you're sufficiently dehydrated from excessive amounts of sodium, you can walk right downstairs to their lower-level bar area, which carries the same menu, in addition to this ridiculous "everything is deep-fried" downstairs menu. I mean everything. We may have indulged in a burger sandwiched between two slices of cheddar, wrapped in bacon, and deep fried... with a side of bacon-wrapped, deep-fried BLT hot dog with a fried egg on top. A little bit of an unfair face-off between these two places, since you can't really compare with anything that's deep fried... if only for the novelty. Additionally, it was the same burger, just dressed differently (aka, a bit tasteless). The friendly bartender won the service points right off the bat, treating us to a couple rounds of shots of his own creation. (Of note, D.D. STRONGLY disagreed with the outcome of this match-up, but was over-ruled).

D.D. and M.T.- Taste 2.0, Presentation 0.6, Doneness 0.6, Condiments 0.6, Service 1.0, Bun 0.7 [Total Score 5.5]
A.H.- Taste 2.8, Presentation 0.4, Doneness 0.4, Condiments 0.1, Service 1.0, Bun 0.8 [Total Score 5.1]
T.K.- Taste 3.0, Presentation 0.8, Doneness 0.1, Condiments 0.2, Service 1.0, Bun 1.0 [Total Score 6.1]
Overall Weighted Score: 5.86

Overall, the Underground beat St. Arnold's (5.86 to 4.3), as we knew it would. Neither are really a burger place, but we'll see how the UG does in the second round.