Whataburger

928 S 7th St
Waco, TX 76706

(254) 753-0389


For my birthday, we went on a burger run trying 15 or so LA's finest fast food establishment and white cloth counterparts. So, with Texas being the beef capital of the US, I thought it was only fitting to try their McDonald's alternative.

The location in Waco has a various Dr. Pepper memorabilia on the walls paying homage to the soft drink's origin and museum. There were no remembrances of David Koresh at the location we visited.

 

$3 Whataburger with large cheese (2)
Unfortunately, Whataburger turned out to be Whatashittyburger. If it was part of our burger run, it may have landed second to last. Right above Burger King. There was no flavor to the beef and it was as dry as a hockey puck. However, the service was much better than in LA. I would have expected nothing less from properly raised Texans.

Wingfield's Breakfast and Burgers

2615 S Beckley Ave
Dallas, TX 75224

(214) 943-5214

  
It was our first day in Texas, we woke up early and raced three miles, loser paid for dinner at Pappas Bros later that night. We got dressed and headed out for our first meal, a light snack at Wingfield's. I first read about Wingfield's on Chowhound. I was frequently mentioned on the Top 10 dishes to try in Dallas. It was awarded Best Burger by the Dallas Observer in 2009 and on their 100 Favorite Dishes, landing at #67.

We had just tried a few burgers back in Los Angeles and we eager to try the Lonestar state's offerings. Wingfield's was in a rougher part of town and we called ahead to get our order started. At 11AM, it took 20 minutes to prepare a bacon cheeseburger.

Once inside, there is limited room, so we got our burger to go and ate it in the car. The patty was huge, but lacked flavor and was substantially overcooked. The bacon matched the patty in size and in flavor. No sweet bacon grizzle flavor was present. The whole thing is a mess and I can see why people suggest bringing your own napkins as none were provided. I think Wingfield's survives on a local following craving their portions, rather than good quality meat.

Umami Burger

850 S La Brea Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90036

(323) 931-3000

www.umamiburger.com/

Umami Burger, named after the umami seasoning indigenous to Northern Japan. The restaurant actually imports their umami directly from Japan on a weekly basis and they sprinkle a little on each burger similar to the use of Fleur de Sel in French cuisine. Yep.



$4 Pickles (4)
From top to bottom, hearts of palm, haricots vert, tomato, peaches, cucumber (traditional American pickle), relish.
I wouldn't call it a bad dish, just different. I'm not sure how appetizing it is to start off a meal with a bunch of pickles. The best ones were the peaches and the relish. The others were unambitious.



$9 Umami Burger (10)
Their signature burger topped with oven dried tomatoes, a parmesan crisp, caramelized onions, and shitake mushrooms. The burger was so juicy and tender. Compounded with the attention to detail of the other components, it was truly an amazing creation. It blows 8 oz. away and probably slightly edges out a rare burger at 25 degrees. The juice even oozes into the bun, which some people might find unappealing, I'm not one of those people. And they're right, as I look at the picture, I do crave it.



$3 Side of Fries (2)
How can a place get the burger so right and fail so bad on the fries. It was only good if the comparison is local high school cafeterias. A fry should have an extra crisp texture and these fries were too wide to achieve that desired texture. Plus I'm not a fan of the log cabin replica presentation, I feel like I'm getting ripped off. Most things are better homemade, ketchup is not one of them. I made it at home once and had the same experience, it's too watery. Unfortunately, Heinz has a monopoly on good ketchup.



$1 Side of Sauces (5)
(Clockwise, starting at 1 o'clock) new diablo sauce, thousand island dressing, dijon mustard, roasted garlic aioli, relish
All are homemade except for the dijon. All around nothing special. If I had to choose one, I would go with the aioli.



$4 Peanut Butter Cakewich (7)
The dessert is sourced from Cake Monkey a bakery in Burbank with no storefront as of yet. A yellow cake sandwich with marshmallow & peanut butter cream dipped in milk chocolate. Hard to go wrong with peanut butter, but it didn't taste that much fresher than a store bought ding dong.


I wish them well and continued success with the planned opening of their second location. Because the truth is I don't plan on going back to try the other burgers, I don't want to ruin the memory I have of this experience. I just can't take that chance.