Lunchbox Laboratory - Bellevue

My oh my - I can't believe it but I think that I have a new favorite burger, as the "Smoker Burger" at Lunchbox Laboratory - Bellevue (989 112th Ave NE) has surpassed the Bacon Cheeseburger at Jak's in Issaquah as my favorite local burger.

Brian and I hit Lunchbox Laboratory today at lunch. We had heard really good things about the location in Seattle and just found out that there was now an eastside location.

We got there about 11:50am to beat some of the lunch crowd, but there was already a small wait (about 10 minutes). The decor is interesting - black walls with some old barn type of wood along one wall and lunchboxes of all different shapes, sizes, styles and vintages spread throughout the room. The tables and chairs are basic, aluminum frames with light wood surfaces. The staff were all very friendly and seemed to all work together well. They were pretty swamped, and it took maybe 20 minutes for us to get our order, but given how busy they were, I wasn't bothered by this in the least.

Warning - Their burgers are not cheap!! $11/$12 bucks for the most basic burgers and $14/$15 for deluxe models. The burger I ordered was "The Smoker" Super-beef patty, creamy havarti cheese, bacon, lunchbox onions, smoked pepper mayo. It was unbelievably good. Burger was charred nicely on the outside, but very juicy on the inside. The ingredients blended wonderfully together and no one ingredient overwhelmed another. The buns have the slightest crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Also, good bun to burger ratio. Similar to "The Swinery" (see last blog post for more on this), this is a very messy burger. I counted nine napkins used during the course of the meal. I cut the burger in half to get started and it was still a two-hander with plenty of fixin's trying to sneak out the other side of the burger during each bite!

I opted for the skinny fries with my burger. They were perfectly salted and nicely crispy. After I ordered though I realized they also have tater tots and i really wished that I had gone that direction. Just something to stick in the old memory bank for the next time I hit this joint.

In summary - GREAT BURGER!, but you need to be prepared to shell out significant $$$$s at this place. Still, it is worth a trip AND NOW HOME TO MY FAVORITE BURGER IN SEATTLE.

That said, so many more burger joints to hit and so little time. Oh well, it is a cross that Brian and I are willing to bear in our continuing search for the best burger!

The Swinery - West Seattle

On Monday, February 27th, Brian and I hit "The Swinery" in West Seattle: 3207 California Ave SW Seattle, WA ~ 98116.

We read about The Swinery in the January 2012 edition of Seattle Magazine, as it was mentioned in an article on the best burgers in Seattle. In fact, The Swinery had been selected as having the "Best Bacon Burger" in Seattle.

So we drive out to West Seattle on our lunch break looking for the restaurant. It turns out that this is not really a restaurant at all, at least in terms of a traditional restaurant with tables, chairs, a kitchen, wait staff, etc. The Swinery is really a butcher shop that happens to sell a few sandwiches and burgers as a side business. Inside the shop there are no tables, just a shelf along one wall with some chairs and a stack of napkins. The only other thing in the shop are the traditional meat counters and an icebox with pops and juices of various types. The cooking is done "out back" on a charcoal grill. There are some benches located out back as well, but they are not covered and on a chilly or wet day would not be practical at all.

Brian and I both ordered the Bacon Cheese burger (see picture) and an order of garlic fries (huge, huge order definitely need to share). The burger was delicious, very, very, juicy, served with bacon, arugula, tomato, cheese, sauteed onions and really tasty painted hills beef. This is the type of sandwich, that once you pick it up, you can't really put it down because it will literally fall apart on you.

I would put this burger pretty high on my list, but still trailing the bacon cheeseburger at Jak's in Issaquah. We decided that it is definitely worth a drive to West Seattle to try it. I would recommend going on a nice day though, so that you can take advantage of the outside seats. The shop itself is so small, that it would be very likely that you would either have to take your burger to go or else eat standing up. With this messy of a burger, you definitely want to be sitting down and have something to lean over to catch the ooey gooey goodness that will inevitably slide off of the burger during your meal.

Give it a shot - you won't be sorry!

Pine Lake Ale House

Today's burger adventure found us at Pine Lake Ale House in Sammamish. The place was clean, a few TVs tuned to sports, but nothing extra special about the interior. Seemed like your basic pub, maybe a little better lighting than some and definitely not a dive. It's located in a Safeway parking lot, so about as suburban as you can get.

Our waiter was very friendly and helpful. Maybe it helped that Brian and I went with a local that was a regular customer (thanks for hosting us James!), as it seemed the staff knew him well. Picture the old TV show, "Cheers" and when Norm used to walk in everyone would say, "hey Normy!!". Kind of like that. :)

The waiter suggested that I try a modified version of their BBQ burger - it was bacon, crumbled bleu cheese, onion straws and barbeque sauce. It was very good. the regular, non-modified BBQ burger, which James had, has cheddar cheese instead crumbled bleu cheese and does not come with bacon. I would definitely suggest this place for a good burger to anyone. Maybe a little pricey, I think it was $12.95 for the burger and fries. But a good burger for sure.

Speaking of fries - they were good, but the best part was the amazing 'special' tartar sauce that they supplied for dipping. Not sure what was in it, but it was awesome!!

I'm thinking that I would rate my Pine Lake Ale House burger somewhere between Zippys (which was better) and Five Guys.

So many burgers, so little time..

Wibbley's Gourmet Burgers

Checked out Wibbley's Gourmet Hamburgers in Bellevue today. Nice little place. It is located just off of 140th and just north of 520. Servers were friendly, place was clean, pretty quick service. Kind of no frills or extras place.

I enjoyed the Picante burger: swiss, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos and chipotle mayo. Good burger.

Brian had the Century burger, bacon, blue cheese, bean sprouts (hmmm), lettuce and tomato.

The buns at this place were really good, perfectly toasted, so that it had a very light crunch on the outside but still soft on the inside. Burgers were juicy and bun to burger ratio pretty good. Not the biggest burger that we've come across in our journey, but tasty. Fries were run of the mill.

Would rank this one about even with Red Mill and Five Guys but below Zippys or Jaks.

The journey continues Seattle's best burger!

Zippys - West Seattle

Hit another 'must try' burger place from our life list today.

Zippys in West Seattle. It was a little bit hard to find, but definitely worth it. Small place, fun atmosphere, good food. The walls are covered with photos and memorabilia from classic burger joints. Soft drinks are all served in the old fashioned glass soda pop bottles. Staff was friendly and place was clean.

The only thing that you'll find on the menu is burgers - lots of them. I tried the Jimbo at the recommendation of the guy working the counter. Pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, lettuce, and mayo. It was a very good burger. I would put it in the same class as Red Mill or Five Guys, but below the level of Jaks in Issaquah (still the reigning champ). I would rate it higher than Fat Burger or Kid Valley and higher than the Keg.

Fries were okay - average, nothing special. Overall experience was great. Worth the drive.

Best Burger Hit List

Collected this list of 'must try' places for the best burger! Brian and I will hit them all - consider it a sort of 'gastronomical bucket list'.

(not in any specific order).

1. Kidd Valley - decent
   
2. Pine Lake Ale House - Good size burger, juicy, highly recommend their special tartar sauce to go with your fries!
   
3. Counter Burger
4. Woody's in Woodinville
5. Lunchbox Laboratory
6. Fat Burger - okay but a little too cookie cutter, commercial
   
7. Bob's Burgers and Brew
8. Wibbley's Gourmet Hamburgers - Great buns (sounds funny), juicy, not the biggest burger, good but no threat to the current champ.
   
9. Jaks in Issaquah - The current champ, best burger i've tasted!
10. Zippys West Seattle - worth the drive, cool place, good burgers
    
11. Bad Alberts
12. Latona Pub
13. Uneeda Burgers
14. Billy Bob's Burgers and Barbeque - The jalapeno cream cheese burger is awesome
15. Red Mill Fremont - Good burger, interesting place
16. Five Guys - Very Good burger, like it better than Red Mill, fries are the real story though - man they are good
17. Ixtapa Carnation - Their secret is the deep fried bacon on the bacon cheese burger. Really good, but not a consistent experience.
18. Brickhouse Tavern
19. Lil Woody's
20. Katsu Brger
    

Quincy's - Real charbroiled burgers... Seattle Center

I went to Seattle Center to meet my family and see Robin Hood at the children's theater...

To my surprise, I found a Burger joint...

Burger to bun ratio was good. Fresh lettuce, crisp tomato, crunchy fries...  Very nice surprise.  Bacon blue cheese did the trick this evening.  Accurately named, it was well charred on the outside of the patty, yet tender and flavorful.

This was a burger of convenience, if in the area, I'd recommend it... But not quote worth the half of parking and walking into Seattle Center.

It's no Jak's, but I'd come back if I were attending another event here.