Liberty Burger

Ever since Liberty Burger opened last November, it has enjoyed high accolades.  It's located at the corner of Forest and Inwood and tonight, just like every night since opening, it's had a steady stream of people coming in for fabulous burgers.  I"ve not met one person who didn't have great things to say about this burger which is made from tenderloin, chuck, and brisket.  Unless, of course, you order the bison burger, and that apparently, is just as fabulous.



Big O Rings



When you enter Liberty Burger, you are automaticaly in line to place your order. And I think there's always a line.  Because the line is long, someone is there to take your drink order, which arrives lickety split.  That is a great little piece of customer service.  Liberty Burger has a wide variety of specialty burgers, and some of them are pretty unique; the Amore includes cantaloupe.  I just had to get the Nooner.  It's been awhile since I've had a burger with a fried egg, and it was just calling my name.  The buns are homemade, and it's built with American cheese, Applewood-smoked bacon, ham, hash browns, and ketchup.  I'm not really a hash browns kind of girl, so I went without them.  But after I saw someone else's Nooner, I kind of wish I had kept them on.  They looked pretty tasy and crunchy, not soggy like I think hash browns usually are.  Despite the full restaurant, it didn't take very long to get our orders.

Let's start with the sides this time.  The sweet potato fries and skinny fries are good, although I think the sweet potato fries could have used a little something.  I would say their star side is definitely the Big O Rings.  Great flavor, the perfect amount of crisp, and fabulous onions cooked to perfection.



As you can see, a Liberty Burger is a sight to behold.  The homeade buns are in perfect proportion to all of the yummy goodness and the meat is fulll of flavor, although it was cooked all the way through and I prefer my burgers with a touch of pink.  And at this point, I'm really struggling with the rest of my review.  When I placed my order, I debated omitting the ketchup.  While I am a fan of ketchup, I don't always need it on my burger, especially if there's going to be fried egg goodness.  Well, I should have gone with my gut.  Not only did the burger not need the ketchup, there was too much ketchup on the burger and that just overpowered any yumminess.  And I feel the same way about the ham as well.  Love it on my pizza, but I don't really need it on my burger.  I would have been happy with just the bacon.  Of course, I can't help but think that maybe the hash browns would have been a good balance for the ham.



Baby Bella Burger with Skinny Fries



Everyone else absolutely loved their burger whereas I liked mine.  But I also know that I didn't have the right combination of condiments.  I definitely want to go back and give Liberty Burger a second chance.  Next time I might just try a the standard Liberty Burger with no frills.  Although the Baby Bella looked pretty awesome.  Then again, so did the Wild West.  Or maybe the Libertine...

Tommy's...Well, Kind of, Sort of...

Using one of my many Groupons, Mandy and I went on another unofficial Burger Babe outing, this time to Tommy's in Fort Worth.  This was actually quite a few months ago (October, I believe), but I figure better late than never.  Of course, many of the finer details have escaped me, but two things did stay with me. Number one is that the sweet tea was really not that fabulously sweet. Number two is that Tommy's was horribly understaffed, especially since the Groupon expired the following day.

Due to the gap between writing this entry and actually eating the burger, I can't really tell you too much.  Although, maybe that in itself says all you need to know.   Be sure to order the corn nuggets; they will definitely not disappoint you.

Have you been to Tommy's? Feel free to add your own review in the comments section.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...except for burger reviews

Over the past year and half, I've been to Las Vegas three times.  That's pretty impressive considering I had never been before and I'm not a gambler. My two favorite things about Vegas are the shows and the food.  You'll find some pretty amazing restaurants with some fabulous food in Vegas and of course, being a burger babe I'm always looking for the best burger Sin City has to offer.

Instead of doing a different blog for every Las Vega burger place I've visited, I thought I would do a quick summary of each place.

January 2011  - New York New York
The very first time I went to Vegas I went with fellow Burger Babe Anita, and her friend, April, to see Cher at Caesar's Palace (great show, by the way).   While we were waiting for her mom to fly in, the three of us found our way to the Broadway Burger Bar. They do boast one of the healthiest burgers around, made with 100% free-range, grass fed, Estancia beef from Uruguay. To be honest, it has been over a year since I ate at Broadway so I don't remember all of the details of the meal. I had the Black and Bleu and the fries and it was a good, solid performance.  I do recall that service was slow, which was weird because it wasn't very busy and that our meal was good, but nothing to write home about. I would say if you're on that end of the Strip and you really want a burger, you won't be disappointed.  However, if you've got the time to venture out and you want a fabulous burger, then the next place might be for you.

November 2011 - The Palazzo
The second time I went to Vegas I was with the de la Islas.  Again we arrived right at lunchtime and we had just one thing on our mind...lunch!  Thanks to the beauty of Yelp, we found I Heart Burger at the Palazzo.  The burger does have a pretty hefty price tag on it, but it's definitely the best I've had in Vegas and it's probably one of the better burgers I've had overall.  Anita and I split the i ♥ bacon burger, which is a blend of ground sirloin and applewood-smoked bacon, topped with crispy bacon, bacon mayo, smoked gouda, & onion strings, all on a brioche bun.  And yes, we had the fried pickles, one of our all-time favorite sides. Super yummy!  We also had the parmesan garlic fries, a good choice for the fry lover in your group.  We splurged and had the Fremont Street Sampler - Fried Oreos and Twinkies. Need I say more?

March 2012 - Fatburger and munchbar
The last time I went to Vegas was just this past Spring Break and this time I went with my two college roomies to celebrate our birthdays.  
While we were waiting for Kim and Justin to arrive, Diane and I decided a burger was in order.  We headed down to Fatburger, at the other end of the Strip, near the MGM Grand.  I think Fatburger is a West Coast thing, kind of like In-and-Out. And I've had more than one person tell me I should try it. But to be perfectly honest, I wasn't that big of a fan. I don't really like my burgers well done and that's what this one was. In fact, it kind of reminded me of the burgers at Goff's...charred and well-done. And, for a fast food burger, it was pretty pricey.  Definitely my least favorite out of the four burgers I've had in Vegas.

We also had a Munch Burger at munchbar in Caesar's.  It's right next to Pure, which makes it the perfect stop after dancing the night away.  It might have been because we were famished and because it was late, late at night, but the Munch Burger is pretty darn fabulous!  It comes with melted cheddar, tomatoes, pickles, onions, shredded romaine, and “fancy sauce.”. I didn't figure out what the fancy sauce was, but it really didn't matter...great burger!  And the burger comes with a stupid amount of fries, which were also incredibly tasty.  On a side note, munchbar has also grilled cheese sandwiches, which I've heard are just as fabulous.  Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to try it, but it is on my to-do for next time

Sorry, no pics of any of these burgers.  I know I have them somewhere...I just have to keep looking.  If you have any Las Vegas burger recommendations for me, please make a comment on this blog. You never know when I'll get the urge to go.