The 10 best hamburgers in the NOLA Metro

Last year, at a point when I thought I wouldn't become a mainstay on the Food Board (who was I kidding? I built the Food Board years ago), I hastily threw together a Top 10 burgers of NOLA list. Looking back at the list I realize I did not give the list a thorough, internal tete a tete. I also realized how flamboyant and mercurial my writing and taste can be. What is my favorite one year may fall from my highest favor for the most arbitrary of reasons. Humans are whimsical creations, often carried into the wilds of delusions, humiliation, or foolishness by our irrational whims. While it is easy to dismiss other peoples' always changing opinions about food or movies or taste in clothing as something entirely subjective and significant only to the person making the judgment, it is important to remember that all institutions on this Earth, from the courts to the Church to the hospitals, are run by people who are often controlled by the human zeitgeist, a infinitely weaker agent of change than the eternal, capital Z one.

Hamburgers are said to have originated in Germany. Should it therefore be any surprise that New Orleans, with its strong German influence, has a thriving hamburger culture? Granted, we are currently experiencing a revolting revolution of the gourmet burger, something I decry and regret because the best of all hamburgers are those cooked in homes. I cannot say this without a stronger emphasis: home-cooked burgers are better than the best of the best restaurant burgers. Burgers, owing to the Philistine-like culinary skills of Germany, are a simple thing that requires no skill to master. I will put my basic burger against any burger in town, and mine will win. I have confidently said this for years, even as the gourmet boom started.

The history of the hamburger in New Orleans is shrouded in the annals of memories and long ago thrown away menus. I speculate that the first burgers were served at Muller's Bar*, a long since closed bar that catered to the working German craftsmen of the late 19th century Bywater. There Carl and Leni Muller served their own beer and some of the nastiest, greasiest burgers the Big Greasy has ever known. Following their success, the burger spread slowly.

In the early 1900s, the burger was soon to become a respectable rival to the more established roast beef sandwich of New Orleans, a delicacy that had been introduced to the area by the Scotch-Irish and English, but perfected by the French. The French Martin brothers, owners of the first po-boy shop, made a crushing blow against the newcomer burger. The invention of the roast beef po-boy ensured that burgers would forever face an uphill battle in the city that often is defined by its seafood, but still has made better use of beef than any other American city.

Following World War II, the nation saw a rapid explosion of cheap burgers. Diners like Camellia Grill and fast food chains like McDonald's and Fro Stop became popular throughout the nation and even in New Orleans. Their top seller? Burgers. Lots of cheap burgers. The bars, which became specialists in serving roast beef po-boys, once again considered serving burgers again.

By the 1950s, many local establishments had seen the success of the national burger and went about starting their own burger joints. Of most historical significance was Bud's Broiler, which opened in 1952 in a working class Mid-City neighborhood. The burgers reflected the clientele: gritty, salt of the earth, and tough. It provided the energy that kept the city going. Even still, the burger played second fiddle to the poboy throughout these years, and really, up until the decline of the post-Katrina po-boy renaissance.

As Nixon rose to power, the burger craze transformed from cheap fill up to something with a little more class. The 1960s saw the opening of Port of Call, although hamburgers did not become its wheelhouse until a decade later. It was in the early 1970s that the area's first truly gourmet burger restaurant opened: Ground Pati. Ground Pati flourished, but at the same time, bars began serving strong burgers, which some would call gourmet. Cheap burgers remained popular, and one could argue began to eclipse the roast beef po-boy, even in New Orleans. It was for this reason that po-boy shops throughout the city began to offer burger patties on French bread: the birth of the hamburger po-boy.

The 1980s and 1990s were a time of national chain expansion in the New Orleans Metro. Restaurants like TGIF, Applebees, and Bennigans expanded the gourmet burger market. Houston's showed all what a burger was capable of doing. And still bars became even better at producing a local's favorite, while the lower class began to depend on fast food burger chains for their sustenance, something that was occurring nationally, while contributing to the nation's obesity.

When Katrina hit, national burger chains and their cousins at Subway had put the roast beef po-boy on the endangered list. But the hurricane brought with it a surge of city pride. I fully expected to see the gourmet burger die a slow death in the wake of Katrina, as po-boys became the pride and joy of a recovering city. But somehow, even in the midst of our rebirth of civic pride in a unique and beautiful history, the city succumbed to a new national movement: the gourmet-gourmet burger. I see this new breed much as I see yogurt chains. They serve something good, but something that endangers our future.

But one could argue that burgers are every bit as much a part of New Orleans' culinary history as the roast beef po-boy. And if that is the case, this recent rebirth is not so much a discipleship in a national trend but a reclamation of a city's love for minced beef on a bun.

As is always the case, you are invited to insult me, criticize my list, and add your own opinions and lists.


10) Ground Pati - I hadn't been to the G.P. in years until November when I fell in love all over again with their standard, yet delicious cheese burger. Love that shredded cheese.

9)BooKoo - My boy Lester loves BooKoo, and on his recommendation, I tried it and can see why he rates it so highly.

8) Lakeview Harbor - Some people say it's the same burger as Port of Call. I think it's better, and you don't have to stand in line with drunk tourists to eat there.

7) Yo Mama's - As many of you know, I despise bars for the destruction they can cause to communities. Still, it's hard to hate a place that makes a burger as good as Yo Mama's.

6) Beachcorner - See #7.

5) Cowbell - The first time I ate here I thought it was unbeatable. The second time, I realized it was my love of the novel that led me to say that. It's very good, but not the best.

4) Company Burger - Like Cowbell, a part of the post-Katrina gourmet-gourmet burger phenomenon. I think it's a slight bit better than Cowbell though, but really, they're very close.

3) Snug Harbor - Jazz in the rafters and a nod to the steakhouse that is really a burger joint phenomenon.

2) Houston's - It took me years to overcome my aversion to chain restaurants. When I did, I opened my eyes to this truth: Houston's serves the best burger in any New Orleans restaurant.

1) Whole Foods - A head scratcher to some, if any of you have ever tried the smoke burger samples at the butcher counter, you know what I'm saying. Sadly, they do not sell these burgers cooked because it may well be the only burger that is better than mine.



* Muller's Bar is entirely a fictitious place established in my imagination. There were likely many similar bars in the area, and I would not be surprised if the first burger in New Orleans had been served there.