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Five Guys vs In-N-Out battle!

 Five Guy's Burger Homemade vs. In-N-Out Burger!

We tried this copycat recipe the other end to celebrate the end of Cincinnati Burger week 2019!

In a battle of burgers, Five Guys wins nationally. The East Coast burger sensation claimed the top spot in a 2017 brand report from Harris Poll, based on input from over 100,000 consumers.

In-N-Out, a cult favorite on the West Coast, held the title for the previous two years and has long been considered Five Guys' top rival. The burger chain recently announced it's opening a distribution center in Colorado, which could allow it to expand further east. All stores must be located close to these hubs because of the company's strict policy of serving its food fresh.

Five Guys has grown with it fame and fans. It has over 1,500 locations worldwide, while In-N-Out has about 300 locations across 7 states.

With their rivalry heating up between them my wife and I decided to give them a homemade taste-test, I've had both burgers more than once at their locations and I know how good both are and how they taste.   Here's are our results and we thing we made near perfect copycat recipes.

Here are the Copycat Recipes we used found online, we followed them down to the smallest detail!


Five Guys Burger Recipe
80-20 Beef Made into 3.5 oz. Patties
Stack 4 Patties high
on wax paper, then smash them flat.
cook on a grill & get a nice black finish to the patties

Grill some chopped onions
Sesame Seed buns - toasted

sliced deli American cheese - melt onto the beef patties while on the grill
To build the burger: 
3 rings of Ketchup on bottom bun
2 rings of mustard on top of ketchup

top those with the grilled onions

on the top bun put on it
Mayo
lettuce
5 pickles - spread out
2 slices Tomatoe
place both patties on the bottom bun on top of everything.
wrap in Foil.


The in & out Burger - Double Double, animal style

The Spread

Mix this together-
2 tblsp. Mayo added to 2 tblsp Ketchup
2 tblsp. sweet relish - 1 half tsp sugar
1 half tsp White Vinegar

Heat some oil in skillet

Mince 1 whole onion - pour in skillet of oil
add a little water when it dries out, cook until it turns into a paste like substance.

Arnold Brand buns - or a Good White Bread Buns
Put in over at 400* for 2 minutes to darken the bun.

2 - 2oz. 80-20 Patties flattened thin, season with Kosher salt & pepper on both sides.

Cook Patties on a griddle oiled on griddle, you want a dark black crust on the patties
Cover the top uncooked part of the patties with Mustard.

after the bottom cooks, flip the patties with the Mustard on them.

Place 1 slice American Deli Cheese on top of each patty.
Use a metal cheese topper to melt the cheese, then let cook a bit longer, then place to the side when done.

brush some oil on top of the area where the burgers cooked, don't worry about the Mustard & cheese left on the grill, just brush on the oil.

Toast the buns on the oil, put a pretty good toast on them, with a little black & brown color.
put the sauce you made on the bottom bun.

Place 4 pickles on bottom bun on top of sauce
1 slice tomatoe
1 good slice lettuce
1 patty,
Top with the Browned/carmelized onions.

Top with the last patty - Slice of Cheese

Add the Bun Top.   Wrap in Wax paper


The Homemade In-N-Out Burger Animal Style!

     
                The Five guys Burger!

Dunlap Cafe

Our 89th Review

Official Review #89  

Dunlap Cafe

                                1926 Dunlap Street, Cincinnati, Ohio                                                                45214-2308

                                              513.721.0704


Hours
Mon    7:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tue     7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Wed    7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thu     7:00 am - 9:00 pm
Fri      7:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sat      8:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sun    Closed

Definitely, a Local what would be called watering hole, Breakfast is served all day and you must try the Goetta.

This is a bar near Findlay market and Rheingeist, located 1 block west of Rhinegeist Brewery entrance.
 It's a small place that is primarily a bar, and a GREAT dive bar!

Is it a Hidden GEM?  YES, It's definitely a hidden gem!

The Henrietta

A fresh ¼ pound of ground beef seasoned and grilled with your choice of either cheddar or swiss cheese.
Then dressed in lettuce, tomato, mayo and pickle on a grilled brioche bun that can take it.

The Henrietta is what I ordered, it was their Burger week 2019 entry.

Sometimes you discover the best experiences where you least expect it and that's the case with the Dunlap Cafe, I don't know how many times in over 35 years I've driven past this place and never stopped, now that I've tried it out, I wish had found it years ago as I would have returned many times in all those years, you never know what your missing out by not trying these small local places.

They're are known for breakfast and lunch and generally close by 7pm, during burger week last week, we were coming back from other places we tried in Blue Ash 1 night me and another member of our burger review group, and I remembered the name on the list, so we stopped in to try it out.

 The Burger and fries were excellent and since my wife has not been able to attend my Burger week reviews, and I had been bringing her home many burgers this week, she wanted Chicken, so I saw the parmesan chicken hoagie on the menu and she said was Fabulous and would eat that again anytime, I tried it and agree, an excellent chicken sandwich! She also tried and loved the burger and fries.

The 1st one was good, I wanted to try just a cheeseburger, so I ordered the Deluxe Cheeseburger, The service was great and the food was fantastic.

Lettuce and tomato were all fresh and the cheese had a very good flavor to it.


Final Thoughts:  This is a great Burger and I would recommend it to anyone, it's very close to a top 10 on our list. try it out.


Final Review:      8.9* (Exceptional-Must try it!)

Next Tasty Review:  Slatts in Blue Ash! 

Best Burger of 2016

Breaking Gabby's Cafe's string of 3 straight 1st place Awards, Hutchinson's Grocery in Maysville, Ky. wins the 2016 Best Burger award! 

Since Winning this award, Hutchinson's had to close in 2017 due to the owner passing away!

Best Burger of 2015

For the 3rd Year in a row, Gabby's Cafe in Wyoming, Cincinnati, Ohio was voted our Best Burger in the City

 

Best Burger of 2014

Gabby's Cafe voted our Best Burger for the 2nd Year in a Row!.

Best Burger of 2013

Winner of our 2013 best burger, Gabby's Cafe in Wyoming, Cincinnati, Ohio

Best Burger of 2018

Voted as our Best Burger of 2018! 2nd Year in a row Prime takes the top spot on our Blog!

Best Burger of 2017

Prime!  is the Winner of our Top Rated Burger of 2017!

 

burgers & crafts

 Our 88th Review

Official Review #88  

burgers & crafts

shakes and fries 

                                             600 W 3rd St, Covington, KY 41011, USA

                                                                   859.547.4646

Hours

LUNCH
Monday- Sunday | 10:00am- 2:00pm

DINNER
Monday- Saturday | 5:00pm- 10:00pm
Sunday | 5:00pm- 9:00pm

I went for Cincinnati Burger week 07.20.2019

The restaurant is a Cozy little cafe just off the lobby inside the Holiday Inn with a small bar, friendly service, and surprisingly really great food. Everything I ordered was hot and super fresh.

We had the Peanut Butter Jelly Burger

 with Chipotle Honey Peanut Butter, Bourbon Bacon Jam, Crispy Pickles, American, and Swiss Cheese, Burger Blend of Short Rib, Beef Brisket, and Chuck was the Best, the mix of brisket, short rib and chuck was very tender, plus it was cooked to perfection!! it was Thicky & Juicy.
and it's not what you think, so just forget the peanut butter & jelly and just try it out.

They have several other craft burgers, as well as good sides.

It was definitely one of the very BEST burgers we've ever tried!

I had a wonderful burger, HUGE, delicious, juicy and flavorful.
 The toppings were great, They also gave me a big portion of French fries which were crispy, golden, and just perfectly cooked and seasoned.
The meat blend they use is definitely what makes the burger here special and so delicious! Good and friendly staff too.

They have so many burger combinations it's crazy. I've been here twice now and so far both times I've had great food! It's kind of sad that the place is empty. It's inside a hotel so it's nice and clean.
I ordered fried pickles and got a HUGE tray of them for $4 no place compares to the number of pickles for only $4!! Most places charge $6-7  for a handful or 5spears.
The Fried pickles were as good as any you can fin anywhere.

I also could not resist ordering a basket of tots which was enormous!

I had been here before but had not had the chance to post a review of it on my blog.
The burgers were fantastic. I had the mushroom burger and the Blu cheese both the first time the PB & J for Burger week this time.
They So big I can't hardly finish them, but I did, LOL!

I ordered the Craft burger to go for my wife who is can't get out due to health issues this with me to enjoy Burger week,  It had caramelized onion, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle slaw, a fried egg a chipotle honey drizzle.  It was cooked perfectly and very tasty, as I had to try a bite and she agreed it was an excellent burger.

If you want a great burger for a reasonable price, this is the place!!



Final  Thoughts:  In my humble opinion I consider this place a hidden Gem, due to the fact it is hidden away inside a Holiday Inn, so therefore it does not get the same kind of traffic and business as any normal Restaurant might get, definitely will be back again, and would recommend to anyone to try, the prices are perfect and so is the food.

Final Review:   8.9* (Exceptional-Must try it!)

Next Tasty Review:  Still looking my list over on what to review next, but more surely to come. 

                                    
                          Tator tots with Cheese, very yummy!

                                  
                          The Craft burger and a shake

 -

Burger Brothers

Our 87th Review

Official Review #87

 

Burger Brothers

                                                                   6301 Kellogg Rd
                                                              45230 Cincinnati, Ohio

                                                           513.232.8000


Summer Hours

Sunday – Thursday         11:00am – 7:00pm
Friday – Saturday         11:00am – 12:00am


We tried this one out during Cincinnati Burger week
 2019 July 18th.

This is a counter-service burger joint located in Belterra Casino.
You go past the buffet to find this little place.

There was a decent selection of options. It took about 10 min for our food to be ready.
Here is there claim to their Burgers, We use the freshest ingredients and ground Angus beef cooked just the way you like.
 You order at the counter and they are cooked to order, so it won't be arriving at your table in three minutes, so don't expect it.
I ordered a Medium-well done burger.
 It was juicy and perfectly cooked. I send my compliments to the chef.

 They call your name for you to go back up to get your order. Not a lot of seating - but these burgers are worth standing for!! if it's too busy to get a seat, these were Very Good! definitely worth trying out, but I don't think they get a lot of people during Burger Week due to where it's located, people think it might be a pain going in the Casino, but it's actually fairly easy to park and get in and out.

 I ordered the featured burger - The Bourbon Honey BBQ Burger

A 7 oz. Burger Pattie smothered in Bourbon, Honey BBQ Sauce with Fried Seasoned Onion Rings and Pepper Jack Cheese. I was very happy with it. Thick, hand made - not frozen. and not greasy - but yet juicy, and not dry.
This was an excellent burger, and very tasty, and have enough toppings so that it tastes like you made it at home. The size is out of this world, I love the fact that they have all kinds of condiments. I sometimes want bbq sauce or steak sauce. They were there.

I also ordered a more classic burger with all the normal toppings to take home for my Wife since due to health issues she has not been able to get to Cincinnati burger week this year with me.
It was also an excellent burger since they were busy and I was alone and rushed, I did not get the official name on this one but the photo is below and both burgers I would recommend.

Don't tell Bobby Flay, but their burgers are better than Bobby's Burger Palace, at the Casino in downtown Cincinnati, this is the best Casino Restaraunt Burger I've had at the several different Casino's we've been to.

Comment from another Patron during burger week, 
The place is very plain. No atmosphere at all. We were a bit reluctant to go ahead and order, but in the end, they said they were happy they went on in, so maybe a slight makeover or update is needed and a little advertising to get more people in to try their burgers.

Cincinnati Magazine named it the Best Burger joint in the East in 2018.

Final Thoughts:
This Burger joint just does not have enough reviews on Yelp, Tripadvisor or Google reviews to get an accurate description of what's going on here, less than 10 reviews at each website, and they are mixed, I always like to have at least 50 minimum before I really start to use them as a guide for any place I eat, and since my experience here along with several others that loved this Burger during Burger week, I'm thinking they are either upping their game or they could be up and down from visit to visit, that can happen depending on the help they have, I liked it.  

Final Ranking:   8.9* (Exceptional-Must try it!)  Tied for 10th place on our list with Donna's place in Brooksville, Kentucky.

The Classic Burger

Bard's Burgers & Chili

 Our 86th Review

Official Review #86

                                  Bard's Burgers & Chili

                                                        3620 Decoursey Ave
                                     Covington, KY 41015

                                           (859) 866-6017

Hours
Mon    Closed
Tue    11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Wed   11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Thu    11:00 am - 9:00 pm
      Fri    11:00 am - 10:00 pm   

       Sat    11:00 am - 10:00 pm    

Sun    11:00 am - 8:00 pm

UPDATE!   During Cincinnati burger week we had rated Bard's #6 on our list,  it was so good, I wanted to go back and try another Burger to better evaluate their offerings, sometimes during Burger week, we might get a little more rushed than other times and I felt this was the case here so I went back.

This trip I had The Classic, with American cheese, lettuce, pickles & mayo, for $7.25 with Fries, I upgraded for $1.75 to get the Cheese curds instead of fries.

I was absolutely right about this Burger, it clearly deserves a higher rating than even #6 on our list, I also made a trip Saturday night to Delities the #3 Burger on our list but it had been 3 years since we had reviewed it, so I wanted to see if it still held the #3 spot on our list and it did, but after doing this burger again, I am placing it just ahead of Delities and Putters and placing it in 2nd place and Delities even though it was as good as 4 years ago, this one was just a bit better, by only by a slight margin as the beef here was tastier.

The Man that waited on me  I believe was the owner, and also cooked my burger was very nice & friendly and we discussed the place and burgers and burger week, very nice person.

I loved the inside, it's an older local place and very nice atmosphere, if I lived near here, I would be in there quite often.

The Classic is a single patty burger, 1/3 pound of 80/20 fresh ground chuck beef, seared to perfection on a fresh toasted Potato bun.

Since my wife could not go in as she was not feeling up to it, I got the order to go, but we tried it in the car, and as usual I tore off a small piece of beef as I always do to get a taste of the meat without anything else interfering with it, and MY GOSH< it was awesome!

This 1st bite alone I knew I would be moving it higher than the #6 spot it already held, it was the 2nd best tasting burger with just the meat on our list, the toppings, the lettuce, tomato were all fresh and tasty, and the mayo on it was excellent, the flavors all blended very well together with the awesome toasted Potato bun  to make it the 2nd best burger we've had in nearly 90 reviews now.

We both agreed, this is one Awesome & amazing and flavorful burger, you must try it out, we will be back, my wife who absolutely loves a Frisch's big boy, said, it has a slightly similar taste to a big boy, I said yes it does but 10x better, she said I have to agree, for a single burger it was good sized piece of beef and a big burger overall.

Also, the Cheese curds were very good.

Final Rating:

 a 9.7* out of 10 just a notch below Prime in Cincinnati. 

Final thoughts: Plain and simple, go here try out the burgers and you won't regret it, we will be back as soon as we can.

 
 

A Great burger! it was awesome! Definitely coming back next time I'm in the area, my Wife & her Daugther our 3rd member of the group both thought The burgers were absolutely amazing. 

We went here for Cincinnati Burger Week 2019 on Friday 07.19.2019

It is definitely a local gem, that gives off a dive vibe.
Don't let that fool you, because their food is really good in all the greasiness & unhealthy ways that make these types of places the best to enjoy a meal!
 A great little dive for burgers and fries & Chili..assuming you like your burger(s) cooked well done.

We walked in and were immediately greeted with a very nice & friendly, smiling waitress.
She told us to have a seat wherever we'd like. We beat the dinner rush and were served right away. Our waitress asked if we had been to Bards before and when we said it was our first time she explained things to us. Our waitress was spot on the whole night. Lovely attitude, funny, always smiling and doing her best to make sure we're having a great experience. 10/10 for service

You can get burgers, tons of different fry combos, with Fresh cut fries, chili, chili dogs, chili ways, and some tasty desserts, also Fried Cheese curds & Fried Pickles.

I ordered their Burger week special!

Bard's Burger

Their best selling extra fresh third-pound cheeseburger deluxe which is dressed with pickles, fresh onion, fresh tomato, crisp lettuce and quality mayo on a fresh toasted local bun. Served with a regular order of fries.

They're known for one of the best local burgers and do not disappoint.

 For starters we had their Fried Pickles & Cheese curds both recommended by our waitress, & a Great marinara dipping sauce that came with the appetizers, We loved they were pickle chips vs. spears, Good batter, and tasty dipping sauce - more of a mayo base than ranch I believe, both were awesome, the Curds were absolutely amazing!” along with Local Post on eastern ave, these are the 2 best places to get Cheese Curds outside of Wisconsin, which is known for their Dairy Products & Curds.

The Burger:

I normally order my Burgers Medium-well, so let me preface this that I like my burgers medium-well, If they gave me a choice in how my burger was cooked, but some places like here do not and that's ok with me if that's how they decide to do it, as the charred burgers can be awesome, the way they used to do a Frisch's Big Boy before they ruined & shrunk them freshly made in house, charbroiled with crisp edges and every bite was moist and succulent. Coupled with hand-cut fries with sea salt my expectations were exceeded.

The Potato bun was buttered and grilled to an almost toast like firmness, the way they all should be, and aesthetically made the burger more appetizing. If you want a good burger I'd totally suggest coming here. I can't imagine you would ever be disappointed.

We also ordered the black and blue burger, which featured blue cheese and the poutine fries. Omg. SO GOOD. The fries were amazing. The cheese was SO FRESH. It literally melted in your mouth. Honestly, one of the best burgers I've had as well.

There was just something about the whole thing, all the ingredients, how it was made. You can really taste the love in the burger. Next time I'll add an extra patty on my burger for more meat.

My Wife ordered the Classic burger with egg and bacon added and normal fries. She loved her burger a lot too. She also said it was one of the best ones she's had in a long time.

We will for sure be back to taste more of this amazing menu! Next time we are going to try the Chili.

Final Thoughts: This one will make our top 10 list, it was an excellent burger, they all were as we tried more than the $5 Burger week special, will definitely return here again and recommend it to anyone.

 

Final Rating:  9.7*  (Exceptional-Must try it!)

New #2 Burger on our list. 

Next Tasty Review:  Burger Brothers

 

 

                                        Fried Cheese Curds!

                                       Fried Pickles!

                             Black & Blu Burger!

Local Post

Our 85th Review

Official Review #85

Local Post

3923 Eastern Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

          513.371.5858

UPDATE AS OF 02.23.2023   We went on a Friday for Lunch, I had a Coupon I purchased for $27 to get $40 in Food here, We ordered the Plain 1/4 Pound Burger with lettuce, tomato, onion & pickles on a Brioche Bun for $13.75 it was the cheapest burger on the menu, we order a large Pizza for $15.75  with Pepperoni $3 extra & Banana Peppers $2 more, so $20.75 for a pizza, it was good, but we like Dominoes & we thought it was much better than Local Posts Pizza and for the price we could have nearly ordered 3 at Dominoes for the same price, just outrageous for Pizza, & only good at best.                      The Burger was good, but just plain good nothing special & Not a top 10 Burger as it was upon our last visit in 2019, & 1/4 pound instead of at least half a pound, the burger was so small on the bun it reminded me of Mcdonald's tiny piece of meat on their crappy burgers, LOL!     We also ordered Cheesesticks, 6 for $9.50 maybe the best we've ever had anywhere, but that was the only good thing here we would recommend, total $43.20 & we drank water, but $40 came off on the Coupon, I will never eat here again  & I can't recommend anything but the Cheese sticks, I am moving them out of the top 10 down to around the 30 or lower spot on the list. Many better burgers all over the area.

This was our 1st visit to the Local Post, I had not heard of them before and had not seen them in any best burger lists in Cincinnati, I saw them advertising on Groupon Coupons, so I bought one and we tried it out today around 5:30 PM on Friday 06/29/2019

I looked they may have taken an old building and renovated it into a beautiful sports bar, it has a downstairs seating area with at least 1 Pool table, we ate upstairs and did not go down, it's much bigger on the inside than it looks outside, parking is mostly on Eastern Ave. during extremely busy times, a parking spot might be hard to come by, it was already getting crowded, the place looked very clean and updated, the waitress was a lovely young girl that was extremely nice & Friendly & helpful, she brought us refills on our water which came in some different glass wine bottles, a nice touch, but it was warm inside and we could have used some ice as the water got warm fast, the waitress really was awesome, she came back many times asking how everything was & if we needed anything, solid waitress, she did a great job.

We started out with the Cheese Curds: Wisconsin cheddar curds, local beer batter and fried golden. served with sriracha aioli,    $8

we just returned a couple of weeks ago from a vacation in Madison, Wisconsin and tried Cheese Curds at several places while there, including the #1 rated location in Madison, known for their cheese products and curds, these curds at Local post we would both have to agree were every bit as good as the #1 place in Madison, so before i get to the burger review, I would definitely recommend going here for the Cheese Curds, they were absolutely Awesome

Now for the Burger review.

I ordered the   East End Burger: American cheese, bacon, red onion, shredded lettuce, tomato & garlic aioli. delivered on challah with a fried pickle topper.     $14

The East End Burger was just fantastic, the flavor of the beef was delicious, I knew from the 1st bite it was definitely to 10 and maybe top 5 on our best burger list, I always tear off a piece of the meat to taste it with nothing else on it and it was very flavorful, I always order my burgers Medium-well when asked, this one they did not ask and came what appeared to be very well done, it had what I call, blackened seared edges, and again it was delish, after the 1st bite into the whole burger I knew it was one of the best I've ever had, the fried pickle on top was excellent, so I can also now recommend the Fried Pickles as an appetizer, the bacon was nice and crispy and tasty, red onion & lettuce and tomato were fresh and good, the garlic aoili also added to the flavor, the bun did not fall apart which for me is a key to a good burger, it was tasty and added to the flavor, the 2 patties added up to a very thick burger, and covered the entire bun, with just a bit sticking out, the meat appeared to be hand-made and not frozen patties out of a box, My Wife also agreed it was one excellent burger, she like it so much we switched burgers as she liked it better than the one she ordered, which we will review here next., it was also a big burger, you better be hungry, you can get it with chips or upgrade to fries for $2, or a House Salad for $5 more, we did both, she got a salad with ranch and I got fries with mine, the fries as compared to others, were just ok, I could eat them, but would not order them again, I would get the salad and or stick with the chips, the salad was big, fresh and very good, and so was the ranch dressing, just some plain old hand cut fries would be better.

Now for my Wife's burger, she ordered the  Royale With Cheese:  two 1/4 lb. patties, american cheese, pickles, onion, lettuce, and posty sauce delivered on 16 bricks focaccia   $14

The 2 patties on this was thicker than on my Burger, and also very tasty, but we both preferred the thinner patties, but that's not taking anything away from these, they tasted very good, the Focaccia bun was good, but we both also preferred the Challah bun on the other one, we switched burgers she like the East End Burger so well, I liked both but also preferred the East end.

overall a very good burger, I only rank 1 Burger per location, as I take the best one from each place, but i would rank this one outside the top 10 on our list, would I order it again, no, 2 reasons, the East End Burger is that much better and just did not care as much for the Focaccia bun, a good Brioche would be nice for this one.

Final Thoughts: Awesome Cheese Curds, very good Fried Pickle on the burger, and overall the East End Burger makes it to #5  on our list, we will return, & I definitely recommend the East End Burger, and Curds, overall it's a wonderful place to go, a bit loud, hard to hear inside, but very nice place, you can watch some sports & have a beer and a burger and appetizers.

Final Rating:   9.4* (Exceptional-Must try it!)  Just above Zola Pub & just below Willies Sports Cafe, not a lot of difference in the, all are awesome.

Next Tasty Review:   The Tipsy Cow from our Madison Wisconsin Trip.

 East End Burger

 East End Burger half eaten! LOL!< Awesome!

Fantastic Cheese Curds!

 

Salad!