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Best Burger in the state.

E

ElizabethtownHeel

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Oct 6, 2006
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Last summer , I think anyway there was a top 10 burgers in the state list on Facebook. It included Johnson's Drive in , located in Siler City, NC . Pete's in Reidsville and Melvin's in Elizabethtown , NC. So being a burger tourist I wanted to see if the other guys could make a burger as well as Melvin's magic burger. Pete's it is only 15 minutes from my house so wifey and I tried them several friday afternoons in a row. First it is a good burger but that is all, nothing wrong with being good but it seems to just be a premade patty.
Well I got off early today , and got down to Siler City to try the Johnson's burger and tried a hamburger to compare it to an original Melvin's burger. Melvin's is still king of the burgers and it is not even close. When you get the Johnson burger with the melted Valvetta it does improve but it still can't compete with a Melvin's magic Burger.
I am gonna go ahead and declare the Melvin's burger as the best burger in the state. Wifey took me to Red Robin and claimed the bacon burger for about 11 bucks is better ! Please it is 4 times as much and only a 1/4 as good. Guys get down there and try the Melvin's magic burgers ! Then you can get on here and agree with me.
 
Since you’re in Greensboro, have you tried Hops? I won’t go as far as saying they are the best burgers in the nation (as some yelp reviews said they were), but they are pretty good. They have a nice beer selection, and the sweet potato fries are tasty too.
 
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TarHeelMark said:
Since you’re in Greensboro, have you tried Hops? I won’t go as far as saying they are the best burgers in the nation (as some yelp reviews said they were), but they are pretty good. They have a nice beer selection, and the sweet potato fries are tasty too.
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They’re one of my customers. Good burgers. They’re actually getting ready to open their third location.. this time on Franklin St!

Staying in Greensboro another good burger joint is Stumble Stilskins.
 
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If anyone ever in Lenoir(Hickory, Boone area) check out Carolina Burger.... Actually last summer win a statewide contest that a magazine was running.... Good food, portions are very generous, not overly expensive and staff very friendly... Open Tuesday-Saturday 11-7
 
Love Hops. Original location is not far from my office but parking is terrible so if I want lunch I’ll order takeout. Battleground location is better for parking but not by much. Didn’t know they were opening a third location. As far as burgers go, theirs is pretty dang good.

Haven’t tried Stumble Stilskins, so I’ll have to check it out sometime. Where is it?

I know some folks like Burger Warfare but I wasn’t that impressed.

For a more traditional, greasy spoon type burger, I love Pete’s in Reidsville.
 
ohio tarheels said:
If anyone ever in Lenoir(Hickory, Boone area) check out Carolina Burger.... Actually last summer win a statewide contest that a magazine was running.... Good food, portions are very generous, not overly expensive and staff very friendly... Open Tuesday-Saturday 11-7
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I've heard a lot about that place since I'm up in that area quite often, and I've always wanted to try it. Everyone raves about it up there. I'll definitely have to swing by sometime.
 
Littlejon said:
Love Hops. Original location is not far from my office but parking is terrible so if I want lunch I’ll order takeout. Battleground location is better for parking but not by much. Didn’t know they were opening a third location. As far as burgers go, theirs is pretty dang good.

Haven’t tried Stumble Stilskins, so I’ll have to check it out sometime. Where is it?

I know some folks like Burger Warfare but I wasn’t that impressed.

For a more traditional, greasy spoon type burger, I love Pete’s in Reidsville.
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Yea their Spring Garden location sucks parking wise. Mainly bc most of those parking spaces are reserved for their next door restaurant Scrambled.

Stumble Stilskins is downtown on the corner of Greene St and Market St. It’s more of a sports bar but their burgers are legit awesome.
 
TarHeelNation11 said:
Bun's is DAMN good. It's the best in Chapel Hill for my money.

But PT's burger was better. Remember that place @heelz2345? It closed down while we were in school. They had the best burger and the best damn fries ever (I think they put like lemon pepper seasoning on them).
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Yeah PTs is good, there is one in Wilmington and there is actually one in Goldsboro as well
 
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toophly1124 said:
Yea their Spring Garden location sucks parking wise. Mainly bc most of those parking spaces are reserved for their next door restaurant Scrambled.

Stumble Stilskins is downtown on the corner of Greene St and Market St. It’s more of a sports bar but their burgers are legit awesome.
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I’ll have to check it out. I like sports bars so that would be a bonus for me!
 
Wife and I went to Scrambled once. It was OK, but not all that. Best place we’ve eaten in a while was Pier Oyster Bar & Grill on Elm. Not too expensive and the food was really good.

Sorry, were talking burgers, not oysters!
 
Littlejon said:
Wife and I went to Scrambled once. It was OK, but not all that. Best place we’ve eaten in a while was Pier Oyster Bar & Grill on Elm. Not too expensive and the food was really good.

Sorry, were talking burgers, not oysters!
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There used to be a place located in the same building as Pier called Bloody Mary’s. Seafood and bloodys man. Haven’t been to Pier so I can’t speak on them but do yourself a favor and go to Full Moon Oyster Bar in Jamestown it you havent already. We love that place.
 
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My favorite back in the day was a double cheeseburger on a pita from Hectors. I remember the hurricane game vs Syracuse standing in line for hours to get into Hectors as they had a backup generator and were one of the few places open.
 
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TarHeelNation11 said:
Bun's is DAMN good. It's the best in Chapel Hill for my money.

But PT's burger was better. Remember that place @heelz2345? It closed down while we were in school. They had the best burger and the best damn fries ever (I think they put like lemon pepper seasoning on them).
Click to expand...

Preach. PT's was great, as is Buns. And since the rest of the places getting mentioned are in parts of the state that I'll never be in, I'll give my backing to these two.
 
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coolwaterunc said:
I've heard a lot about that place since I'm up in that area quite often, and I've always wanted to try it. Everyone raves about it up there. I'll definitely have to swing by sometime.
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Just ate there for my B-Day lunch.... Only drawbacks are parking and seating if u eat there but other things make up for that in my opinion...
 
There is a place in Wilson that is pretty good called Best-N-Burgers. They do kind of the smash burger (sort of like how I imagine In-N-Out burgers would be), and I thought it was a solid burger.
 
There used to be a massage parlor up on High Point Road just a block or so down from Beef Burger. One time my buddy paid for his uhh, "services" at the massage parlor with a credit card. The receipt said he got $200 worth from Beef Burger. So technically, he would argue that was the best burger.
 
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Heres the thing. Most places wont give u “done” options. Their burgers are cooked all the way thru. I dont care what the quality of meat is or what u put on it or how its cooked, a medium well-well done burger is trash. Theres got to be some pink for it to be tolerable. There a place in carolina beach called “sea witch” that will cook huge grass fed bison burger patties med rare over charcoal. Nice and bloody but not cold in the center. Slap some sharp cheddar cheese on it, fresh local maters, vidalia onion, romaine lettuce with some duke’s mayo all on a buttered bun toasted on the grill..That shit will make u wanna slap your granny.
 
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heelmanwilm said:
Heres the thing. Most places wont give u “done” options. Their burgers are cooked all the way thru. I dont care what the quality of meat is or what u put on it or how its cooked, a medium well-well done burger is trash. Theres got to be some pink for it to be tolerable. There a place in carolina beach called “sea witch” that will cook huge grass fed bison burger patties med rare over charcoal. Nice and bloody but not cold in the center. Slap some sharp cheddar cheese on it, fresh local maters, vidalia onion, romaine lettuce with some duke’s mayo all on a buttered bun toasted on the grill..That shit will make u wanna slap your granny.
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Any piece of meat cooked well done is a waste. The girl I'm dating took me for burgers for my birthday at a nice-ish burger place in downtown Marietta (GA), and ordered hers well done. I about broke up with her on the spot.
 
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Hops cooks it like you want. Burger Warfare supposedly does, but I ordered mine medium rare and there wasn’t anything pink inside that burger when it arrived.

As far as I’m concerned, ANY piece of red meat that is cooked beyond medium rare might as well be thrown out.

As far as accessories, I’m not real adventurous. I like simple condiments, beef seasoned with salt and pepper, cheese, onions and maybe lettuce and tomato. I do like blue cheese and sautéed mushrooms as well, but I’m not into all the crap some places like to put on burgers. I don’t want an egg on it, don’t want some mango chutney either. Keep it simple and let me enjoy the beef and a good bun and little else.

Just how I roll. My wife likes to be adventurous with hers sometimes. Not me.

Oh, the other thing I like about Hops is their fries. Now those are tasty! Jalapeño ranch dip is great too
 
@Littlejon I’m assuming you never get Hops “Burger of the week” then? Lol I swear this week it looks like they have an Italian sub on top of their burger. Some of them look good but most is just overkill to me.
 
Just in case some of you have no idea how to construct a burger, here's how you do it.
  • Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato & onion is your must-have base.
  • Mustard is optional, but I do not recommend it for the higher-end burgers since mustard has a strong flavor and will stand out too much.
  • Ketchup is only for fast food burgers, I'm talking drive-thru quality only. If you put ketchup on any other burger, then GFY and die.
ETA:
  • If you're at a cookout and the person on the grill has no idea what he's doing, then feel free to go all out and put everything but the kitchen sink on it because that burger is trash and needs all it can to help you get it down.
 
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coolwaterunc said:
Just in case some of you have no idea how to construct a burger, here's how you do it.
  • Mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato & onion is your must-have base.
  • Mustard is optional, but I do not recommend it for the higher-end burgers since mustard has a strong flavor and will stand out too much.
  • Ketchup is only for fast food burgers, I'm talking drive-thru quality only. If you put ketchup on any other burger, then GFY and die.
Click to expand...
Stop it.
 
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toophly1124 said:
@Littlejon I’m assuming you never get Hops “Burger of the week” then? Lol I swear this week it looks like they have an Italian sub on top of their burger. Some of them look good but most is just overkill to me.
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Umm, no! Occasionally they have something that looks interesting but almost every time I have been, I kept it simple.

As for Dukes mayo, I love the stuff, but put it on a burger? Never!

Should add I rarely put any condiment on a high quality burger. No ketchup or mustard and definitely no mayo. Bacon? Yes! Onions? Yes! Lettuce and tomato? Most of the time.

Like I said, I love blue cheese, sautéed mushrooms and onions, but I like to leave the sauces off.
 
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TarHeelNation11 said:
Any piece of meat cooked well done is a waste. The girl I'm dating took me for burgers for my birthday at a nice-ish burger place in downtown Marietta (GA), and ordered hers well done. I about broke up with her on the spot.
Click to expand...
Have you gone to Vortex yet or are you still one of the three people living here that hasn't been?
 
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