Update Time

Lindell AC(RIP) For those of you who never made it there, I am truly sorry.
Howell's Great Burger cooked slow. Staff can be entertaining.
Sandy's by the Beech Great neighborhood bar with a great burger and good specials
Red Coat Tavern Now 2 locations. Go to the original. Not cheap, but good.
Mr. Joe's Temporarily closed. Hopefully reopens with the same food.
Poole's Good bar great burger. Triple cheese and bacon, mmmmm
Don's of Traverse City Nice old school diner burger.
CheeBurger CheeBurger Best chain burgers, shakes and frings. Yes, frings.
Five Guys Another great chain burger. Great fries. Order the small.
Fuddrucker's Overpriced, but very good burgers. Add your own toppings.
Miller's Very good, but not as good as the hype.
Nemo's Great place to go before a game, pretty darn good burger.
Cutter's Really good burger right the the meat packing plant

The Good

Mason's Great when cooked right. Great local memorabilia on the wall
Grenwich Time Better than average burger, pretty cheap.
Fatburger Good chain burger. Terrible atmosphere(in Southfield)
Jaws Maybe too much butter on the buns?
Lakepoint Yacht Club Good burger. Better atmosphere.
Bagger Dave's 2nd visit
Harry's
Blarney Stone
Bar Louie High quality beef. Not enough fat. $1 on Tuesdays


The Not So Good

Bagger Dave's(1st try)Over cooked(twice)
Balloon Saloon Over cooked and dull
Checker Bar Frozen Patty
O'Charlie's Gray meat, creepily greasy.

Burgers and Brews on Wednesdays

A few people got tired of reading about the burgers and wanted to go and eat a few, so we now do Burgers and Brews on Wednesdays. Last week I took them to Poole's in Northville. They just happened to have a special on a triple cheese bacon burger. Not much talking once the burgers arrived. Afterward, many stories were shared by friends and a few beers were consumed.

This week we will reconvene at Howell's. I hope they can handle it.

Tony's and the Hubbard Lake Tavern

Tony's
is the King of "Big Food" on I-75, but this time I just got a burger. It was a third of a pound(not part of the Big Food portion of the menu). Made to order and nice and juicy. Solid 4 out of 5.

Hubbard Lake Tavern
is a drive, but if you are in town, stop and get a burger. Lots of garlic, very juicy, loaded with fresh toppings. The beer is cold, too. $3.95 makes it a great deal, too. Say "Hey, now" to Anna for me, but don't look directly at her makeup. 4 out of 5.

Balloon Saloon

Have been told the Balloon Saloon, in Southfield, has a great burger. It doesn't. I got a 1/3 pounder and my son got a 1/2 pounder. I got the same toasted bun as he did just with a lot of extra bun. I order mine medium and my son medium-well. His was well and mine was crispy. I doubt I will go back. 1 of 5

Updates

A few new places have been ticked off the list.

Bagger Dave's Uh, in a word. Meh. Many have raved, so I will have to try again, but the first visit was a DUD! Two patties on a pretty good bun. My burger, my son's burger and the burgers of the people next to us all were wayyyyy over cooked. My medium was a well done. I know what the peoples burger next to us was, because the water swapped our orders and theirs, and I bit into one of theirs, before we realized the switch. The fries were over cooked and the sweet potato chips were bland. I have never had a sweet potato with less flavor. I dunno? 1 of 5

Don's of Traverse City What a diner burger should be pressed to the grill to give it crunchy edges juicy in the middle. Slightly pricey for a diner, but it is Novi... 3 of 5

Places for me to try?

Not that I am running out of ideas, it is just that I love when someone is passionate about a place and wants me to try it. I have a student that wants me to try a couple of his favorites; The Full House in Ypsi and the Wheat and Cheddar in Romulous. Where do you think I should go?

Sandy's by the Beech

Nice bar, nice burger. A good old fashioned alley bar that grew, Sandy's has plenty of tables and probably needs them. The burger is good. I went on a weekday around 11:00 before the lunch crowd came in. There were about 6 regulars bellied up to the building length bar, myself and one other customer at a tables. The staff was nice and the bar itself is nicely upgraded with plasmas scattered around a second room and a patio that looks like a great place to hang when the weather improves.

The menu was simple and they had a daily soup and a dinner special. Of course I wanted the burger. Sandy's burger is about a 1/3 pound, nice size with a side of fries for $5.95. The table has the bar stack of fresh pickles(maybe homemade, at worst deli quality) pepperoncini, relish, ketchup and mustard. It came with onion, tomato and lettuce. I order mayo on the side. One of the best I have had in a while. Nice and juicy good white onion, plentiful tomato blending together with the melted American cheese perfectly. I just had arthroscopic surgery and I could barely eat it with one hand. 4 and half out of 5.

I went back on a Saturday to try it again and this place could sneak into the 5 out of 5 territory. The Saturday special was 50 cent coney dogs...