BuiltBurger - Custom Built Roof Top Crowd Pleasing

Built Burger
http://www.builtburger.com
10700 Marine View Drive SW
Seattle, WA 98146

THE CONQUEST
Down at the bottom of the Burger Conquest site you'll see the following -

CONTACT
Questions, comments, suggestions, recipes - email us at beeftouchdown@burgerconquest.com

It's been there since the site was started and it's the quickest way to get a message to anyone at Burger Conquest. That's exactly what David from BuiltBurger.com used to send me this message;
"As founder/owner of BuiltBurger, I want to send you a free sample so you can taste a selection of our more than 15 flavors of gourmet burgers. Really delicious and unique."

He had me at burger and won me at delicious and unique. David and I eventually got on the phone and within only a few sentences I knew we were cut from the same t-bone. David's love of burgers and meat inspired him and a friend to start a company that custom creates burgers with ingredients, toppings, garnishes, odd spice and different meats, all INSIDE THE PATTY. The idea blossomed and now the word can feast on their creations that come across as the musings of mad meat geniuses.

Brilliant Prosciutto - All Natural Beef, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Caramelized Balsamic Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Salt, Pepper

Trailblazer Melt - All Natural Beef, Caramelized Onions, Cave-aged Gruyere Cheese, Ground Caraway, Salt, Pepper

Pinnacle Bacon Bleu - All Natural Beef, Roasted All Natural Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Danish Blue Cheese, Parsley, Thyme, Salt, Pepper

Is your mouth watering yet? If not, read about the other flavors here.

The BuiltBurger team uses only the freshest, quality meat that they grind daily to hand make each and every burger (and sausage) they create. Most of the meat comes from the Northwest US where they are based and is hormone and antibiotic free. They pack their meat into dry ice and overnight the order directly to you. Feeling creative? Submit your own recipe or blend idea and if they dig it, they'll make them and send you 12 for free! (THAT'S DIRECT CHALLENGE READERS!!) You can learn more about the company and their policies by clicking here.

With Memorial Day around the corner I knew someone from Team Burger would be throwing a BBQ and sure enough, Bram came to the rescue. With the team assembled and ready for a taste testing of epic proportions, I gave David the high sign. The next day 12 frozen burgers arrived in my office. I couldn't wait!! Finally the day came and the group assembled a top Bram's rooftop deck in Jersey City, NJ with an amazing view of NYC.





THE BURGERS
Working in stages with my grill side-kick Maggie, we ate our way through the assortment burger by burger. I would grab 2 different burgers at a time, place them on the grill, carefully cook them and serve to the hungry masses. using whole wheat buns, (much better flavor than white!) I cut each burger them into 4s and fed them to Team Burger. At most no one really got to try more than a bite or two but with 12 total burgers, it worked out so that everyone could taste a few.

Magnificent Chorizo - All Natural Beef, House made Chorizo, Roasted Poblanos, Grated Cotija cheese, Fresh Cilantro, Fresh Onion, Salt, Pepper

Thrill BBQ Pork - All Natural Pork, Slow braised All Natural Pork Shoulder, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Salt, Pepper, Chipotle Chili Powder

Both of them were damn good but the Magnificent was AWESOME. Putting chorizo INSIDE of a burger is pure blissful insanity.



Superb Trio - All Natural Beef, Shallots, Parsley, Thyme, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper

Brilliant Prosciutto - All Natural Beef, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Caramelized Balsamic Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Salt, Pepper

The Superb Trio was a fantastic use of spices to create a uniquely flavored burger. The Brilliant Prosciutto was pure meat magic! I can honestly say I have never eaten anything like it and it was far and above the crowd favorite. The patty was juicy, exploding with interesting flavors and delicious.



Splendid Stout BuiltBurger (all natural Beef) - All Natural Braised Beef | Dick's Imperial Stout | House made Mirepoix | Caramelized Onions | Fresh Herbs

Sriacaha Beef BuiltBurger - All Natural Beef | Ginger | Shallots | Garlic | Basil | Sriracha (rooster sauce) | Fresh Lime Juice

These 2 selections came from BuiltBurger's "Limited Edition Builts, Summer 2010" menu. The story behind each is published on their website but at the time, we didn't care about the story, we just wanted to eat!

The Stout Burger was exactly that, beef with stout and the combination gave the burger a really robust taste. The onions and herbs kept the burger from tasting too malty or toasted, creating a nice balance in the flavor.

Sriacha is a temperamental garlic-based, hot sauce to cook with. It's relatively hot as far as spice goes and has a really distinct flavor. Using even a little too much can be overpowering to the palette. The BuiltBurger team clearly understands this as their burger creation uses just the right amount to accent the overall tastes. The burger is a little spicy, a little savory, a little sweet and all delicious!



Pinnacle Bacon Blue - All Natural Beef, Roasted All Natural Bacon, Caramelized Onions, Danish Blue Cheese, Parsley, Thyme, Salt, Pepper

Brilliant Prosciutto - All Natural Beef, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Caramelized Balsamic Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Salt, Pepper

Superb Trio - All Natural Beef, Shallots, Parsley, Thyme, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper

Last up, the Pinnacle Bacon Blue BuiltBurger, which is the one I was most excited about. Thankfully, once again, the BuiltBurger geniuses delivered the goods. While I think we can all agree, bacon is great and bacon on a burger is awesome but it isn't necessary. Used in the right manner, its a meat marriage made in burger heaven. This burger was incredible! The flavors mixed up to create a tornado of awesome. Look at the ingredients and tell me you aren't curious to try this burger!

We closed the session with another visit to the Brilliant Prosciutto and a Superb Trio. Thus giving nearly everyone a chance to try them.



As you'll notice scrolling back through the reviews, we didn't add cheese to ANY of the burgers. Why? They didn't need cheese, let alone any topping at all. You can order these burgers, put them right on your grill and all you need to get are buns or no buns for our Atkins readers! Place an order for any of these or the other BuiltBurger creations on their website. If you live in NYC, you could ask nicely for a certain East Village bar that's about to open up to put them on the menu (wink, wink).

Overall, BuiltBurger gets an 8 out of 10 ounces
The Brilliant Prosciutto gets a 9 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

To keep everyone's pallet's moving between burgers, I threw in a couple of random non-traditional grilling treats. If you take a moment to understand how a grill actually works, you really can cook just about anything on them. Just takes a little TLC. My 3 selections were as follows;
- Chicken Tenders served with Peter Lugers Steak Sauce for dipping
- Jose Ole Chicken Taquitos
- Totino's Combination Pizza Rolls

Grill Em All Truck - The Food Network's "Great Food Truck Race"

Grill 'Em All Truck
http://grillemalltruck.com/
New York, NY

THE CONQUEST
It's late in the evening on a Wednesday and my phone rings. It's Matt from the heavy metal themed gourmet burger Grill 'Em All Truck. Turns out that he and his partner Ryan, along with chef Joel were coming into NYC as they have been involved in a new reality TV show that's coming to the Food Network. It's called "The Great Food Truck Race" and it pits several different food trucks in a "Cannonball Run" like battle across the US. As part of the competition, the trucks are not allowed to update any of their websites or social networking profiles as it pertains to the show or their location. However, they can enlist the help of friends and family and thus, the conversation we were having.

Matt wanted to know if I would be willing to use Burger Conquest and my fellow colleagues in the music business to help drum us business and hype for their participation the NYC portion of the competition. As I later told one of the producers "once you have their burger, you will understand why I will do anything for these guys!" So with that, the metal army, the food fanatics and friends were mobilized and ready to eat, tweet and meat.

I won't get into the specifics of the contest or what happened while they were here. For that, you will have to tune into the show once it airs. (We'll share that information as soon as we have it.) But I will say thank you to each and every person who came out and ordered a burger, organized a gathering or helped us spread the word. It was 48 of the craziest hours of my life and we had an amazing time driving around NYC and selling delicious gourmet hamburgers.

SPECIAL THANK YOUS
Cara - For showing amazing support while I dropped everything last minute to ride around in a truck, selling burgers with 2 of my goofy friends from LA while being really stressed out. Also, for being shameless enough to parade around Union Square with a "Grill 'Em All" poster board.
Chuck - For riding along for the entire thing and being a great wing man.
Jason - For showing up 3 different times to eat, scout and help promote.
Kari - For organizing a group of hungry metal heads outside of Whisk, an awesome cooking store in Brooklyn.
Ben, Patrick & Sherwin - For allowing us to park in front of and feed people who were visiting the amazing Brooklyn Brewery.
Maria and Rikki - For helping to spread the word and going on a burger binge to help the greater good of metal heads and burger fans everywhere.
Mike, Rich & JD - For bringing the "Slider" into Staten Island to eat burgers and scout locations.
STEVE & WSOU - For promoting the truck's area appearance on the amazing WSOU, 89.5 FM.
Kyle, Rob & Marc - For holding a space and allowing the guys to vend in front of NYC's two coolest new bars; Idle Hands Bar and Billy Hurricanes.
Maggie - For making sure that everyone knew that "Chicks Dig Burgers."
Robyn from A Hamburger Today, Ross from NYY Stadium Insider & Amy from Austin Daily Press for abusing their twitter accounts to retweet me and help us promote.

THE BURGER
Amongst all the chaos and mayhem, I did get a chance to try a Grill 'Em All selection that I had yet to try. In the past, I've had the Molly Hatchet, The Witte & the Reign In Bun, all of which are DELICIOUS. But on this little adventure I got a chance to sink my chompers into the Behemoth. This burger is named after the polish black metal band of the same name (Behemoth). It's served with grilled cheese buns, smoked cheddar, apple wood smoked bacon and beer soaked onions. But what made this particular burger different this time was the beef used.

While in NYC, I turned the guys onto the amazing butcher Pat La Frieda. Pat for all intense purposes is a rock star of beef. He gets more press than the US President and he supplies the meat for many of New York's most popular burgers including Shake Shack, Primehouse, Kenn's Broome Street Bar, Spotted Pig, Little Owl, Market Table and more. Chef Scott at the very tasty Dos Caminos, was gracious enough to help us get some for the truck. So if you are doing the math, in NYC, we were treated to Grill 'Em All Burgers like no one has tasted before, this time with Pat La Frieda beef.

Words like "gut-buster," "amazing," "tasty," "unique," and "special," barely do the sheer intense insanity of this burger any justice whatsoever. While it sounds like it would be an overload, Chef Ryan from Grill 'Em All knows just how far to push the boundaries without going over. Kind of like a great Slayer song, if you will. I enjoyed every last juicy, savory, delicious bite of it and only wish I could have another.

While you are waiting for the show to air on the Food Network, get your ass to LA and try these burgers! It will probably a long time until they are back in NYC but until then, you can get an official Grill 'Em All Truck t-shirt!



8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Rare Bar & Grill - National Hamburger Day

Thank you to everyone who came out and Celebrated National Hamburger Day with us at Rare Bar and Grill! It was the highest attended Burger Conquest to date! Special thanks to George Motz from Hamburger America who showed up with a jar of Cheez Whiz! The bacon wouldn't have been the same without you.

Here's to another wonderful year in burgers!!

Trailer Park - Help Grill Em All Truck win the Great Food Truck Race

Trailer Park Lounge
http://trailerparklounge.com/
271 W 23rd St
New York, NY 10011

THE CONQUEST
You read the site so I'll assume you know what the Grill 'Em All Burger Truck is all about. If not, read this story about them and me getting onto the Travel Channel. They are based in LA and will be in NYC this weekend. The guys and their amazing truck are participating in a food truck competition reality show being filmed by the Food Network called "The Great Food Truck Race." The competition itself is a race. Each truck must sell a certain amount in each borough before they can move to the next borough. The competition begins tonight, coincidentally it's National Hamburger Day, and runs through Sunday. Stay tuned to the Burger Conquest Twitter for locations and updates.



The truck parked at the Flatiron Building today where they were to be given the details of the challenge so Jackie and I walked over to say hello. As we arrived they were just finishing. Matt and Ryan asked if we could take them and one of the producers for lunch. "No problem. What are you hungry for?" Without hesitation they all said "BURGERS!" These dudes are no joke! The most genuine burger fans in the whole world and that's why I love them. That meant I had to take them for one of the best burgers in NYC. Although we were across the street from the Shake Shack, the line was more than an hour long. My next thought was RUB, but they only server burgers on Mondays. So a mere 3 avenues later, we arrived at The Trailer Park.

I twittered our location and were joined by my burger buds Jonah, Ivy and Ben.

THE BURGER
The Trailer Park is one of the best burgers I have ever had. Be sure to wash it down with a CAN of beer. I suggest you try a Porkslap Pale Ale, but you can read about that on the Idle Hands Bare website. It's a really old-school, back-yard, char-grilled burger not unlike the kind your Dad used to make. I won't bore you with yet another review of the burger (there's already 6 of them on the site) so just click here.

What I will tell you is that you need to come out this weekend and try a burger from Grill 'Em All!! Their competition doesn't sell burgers, they sell bánh mì. So let's rally up burger eaters and help The Grill 'Em All Truck win The Great Food Truck Race!! You can help by coming out for a burger, sharing the up to date locations on your various Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Blogs and Foursquare accounts.

TONIGHT, FRIDAY, MAY 28TH
THE BRONX - Approx 7 pm 161St street and Gerard (near Yankee Stadium)
QUEENS to follow. Any suggestions on location?

FOLLOW THESE FOR UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION!
Burger Conquest Twitter
Burger Conquest Foursquare


8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Wing-Off 13 - The Final 4, Part 2 - Wogie's vs. Lansdowne Road

From the same people that bring you Burger Conquest, we bring you the New York City Wing-Off. A crew of men on a search for the best wing in NYC. Wing-Off judges solely on quality of the Medium and Hot wings only. Service, ambiance, beverage selection, price and other menus have no factor but they sure do count for a good time! Also, NO WOMEN ALLOWED!!

In January of 2007, 2 men had an argument over where to get the best hot wings in New York City. The debate grew intense and while an audience watched, they agreed to battle it out, wing vs. wing, to see who was right. Some rules were established, some friends were invited and some wings were eaten. In the end, everyone had so much fun that we decided to do it again, and again and again. Thus, the NYC Wing-Off was born.

After 3 and half years of eating delicious wings, we decided it was time to crown a champion. 4 of the top Wing-Off winners were picked to battle it out for the top spot. Bar-Coastal defeated Croxley Ale house to make it into the semi-finals. But before we could get to that, 2 other Wing-Off faves had to face each other to determine who Bar-Coastal would face.

WING-OFF 13
WOGIE'S vs. LANSDOWNE ROAD
- The Final 4, Part 2

Wogie's
http://www.wogies.com/
39 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Charle's & Perry)
New York, NY 10014

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

WOGIE'S


Wogie's squeaked past the Town Tavern in what was a close victory to win Wing-Off 7. Their Philly style eatery is parked in the West Village and although cheesesteaks are their claim to fame, they make some damn fine wings. As it was a nice spring day, we took a seat outside on the sidewalk and placed our order for Mediums, Hots and also the Wogie's specialty wing, the Salt and Pepper.

With several of us still dusting off cobwebs from Wing-Off 12 and the 12 hour party that followed, only the day before beers were not only in order, they were needed. A few frothy bevs were sucked down before Wogie's delivered the wings. Oh Wogie's. How do you do it? How do you make such delicious, hot, crispy wings? The sauce is good and the wings are meaty. The difference in heat between Medium and Hot could've been more distinct but regardless, these are great Hot Wings. The Salt and Pepper are really unique and although simple, they are quite delicious. Our server suggested we dip them in the Hot sauce and we tried it, we realized what great advice she had given.



LANSDOWNE ROAD


Wogie's, indeed had a very strong showing but they had to face our first champion, Lansdowne Road. Lansdowne Road serves Scruffy Duffy's wings and for those that know the story, Scruffy's are the wings that started the Wing-Off argument. Scruffy's eventually was forced to close and their sister bar, Lansdowne Road began to serve them. In fact, we even retired Lansdowne Road's wings after Wing-Off 5, as it seemed they could not be beaten. Today, the title would be challenged.

Scruff Duffy's Wings are no joke son!! They're the perfect size, cooked just right, crispy on the outside, yet moist under the skin and the flavors, oh the flavors!! The Scruffy Duffy's wing sauce is one of the most original out there. No hints of Frank's Red Hot here, these are made from scratch. The Hots are hot and the Mediums are a true medium. Truth be told, you can not go wrong with the wings at Lansdowne Road.

WING-OFF 13 OFFICIAL WINNER - DECLARED A DRAW!

Honestly, it was just too close to call. Both Wogie's and Lansdowne Road make killer wings and truly deserve a chance at the top spot. That means Wing-Off 14 will be Bar-Coastal vs. Wogie's vs. Lansdowne Road. I hope our stomachs can handle it!

WING-OFF HISTORICAL

WING-OFF 1
January 28, 2007
Scruffy Duffy's vs. Atomic at Down the Hatch
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Scruffy Duffy's
www.scruffyduffys.com
743 Eighth Avenue
(between 46th & 47th)
New York, NY 10036

Atomic at Down the Hatch
http://www.nycbestbar.com/downthehatch/
179 W. 4th St
New York, NY

WING-OFF 2
June 3rd, 2007
Scruffy Duffy's vs Blondie's
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Scruffy Duffy's
www.scruffyduffys.com
Scruffy Duffy's 743 Eighth Avenue
(between 46th & 47th)
New York, NY 10036

Blondies's
www.blondiessports.com
212 W 79th St
(Between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway)
New York, NY 10024-6225

WING-OFF 3
September 11, 2007
Mudville 9
http://www.mudville9.com/
126 Chambers St
(Btwn Church and W.Broadway)
New York, NY 10007
Phone: (212) 964-WING

WING-OFF 4
January 20, 2008
Scruffy Duffy's at Lansdowne Road vs. Texas Arizona
WINNER by disqualification, SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

WING-0FF 5
June 27, 2008
Lansdowne Road vs. Croxley Ale House vs. 1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer
WINNER: SCRUFFY DUFFYS

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

Croxley Ale House
www.croxley.com
28 Avenue B
New York, NY

123 Burger Shot Beer
www.123burgershotbeer.com
738 10th Avenue
New York, NY

WING-OFF 6
October 6th, 2008
Scruffy's Retirement Party at Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008

WING-OFF 7
TOWN TAVERN vs. WOGIE'S
WINNER; WOGIE'S

Town Tavern
http://www.towntavernnyc.com/
134 West 4th St
(at MacDougal)
New York, NY 10012

Wogie's
http://www.wogies.com/
39 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Charles & Perry)
New York, NY 10014

WING-OFF 8
BLIND TIGER ALE HOUSE vs. THUNDER JACKSONS
WINNER; Both DQ!

Blind Tiger Ale House
http://blindtigeralehouse.com/
281 Bleecker St (@ Jones St)
New York, NY

Thunder Jackson's
http://www.thunderjackson.com
169 Bleecker St (@ Sullivan St)
New York, NY 10012

WING-OFF 9
Tuesday, August 4th
Johnny Utah’s VS. Point Break (formerly Nation)
WINNER: POINT BREAK
EX-PRESIDENTIAL RUBBER MASKS ENCOURAGED!

Johnny Utah’s
www.johnnyutahs.com
25 W 51st St (Between 5th and 6th Aves)
New York, NY 10019-6902
(212) 265-8824

Point Break
http://pointbreaknyc.com/
12 W 45th St (Between 5th and 6th Aves)
New York, NY 10036-4202
(212) 391-8053

WING-OFF 10
Saturday, November 21st, 2009
Bar-Coastal vs. Brother Jimmy's BBQ vs. The Back Page Sports Bar
WINNER: BAR-COASTAL

Bar-Coastal
www.barcoastal.com
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355
(212) 288-6635

Brother Jimmy's BBQ
www.brotherjimmys.com
1485 2nd Ave (at 77TH St)
New York, NY 10075-2001
(212) 288-0999

The Back Page Sports Bar
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7175125/new_york_ny/the_back_page.htm
1472 3rd Ave (Btwn 83rd and 84th)
New York, NY 10028-1967
(212) 570-5800

WING-OFF 11
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
The Wing Bar vs.Bonnie's Grill
WINNER: BONNIE'S GRILL

The Wing Bar
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-wing-bar-brooklyn
275 Smith St (between Degraw St & Sackett St)
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Bonnie's Grill
http://brooklyn.citysearch.com/profile/7356065/brooklyn_ny/bonnie_s_grill.html
278 5th Ave (1st Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11215

WING-OFF 12
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
The Final 4, Part 1 - Bar-Coastal vs. Croxley Ales
WINNER; BAR-COASTAL

Bar-Coastal
www.barcoastal.com
1495 1st Ave (at 78th St)
New York, NY 10075-1355
(212) 288-6635

Croxley Ale House
www.croxley.com
28 Avenue B
New York, NY
212-253-6140

WING-OFF 13
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
The Final 4, Part 2 - Wogie's vs. Lansdowne Road
WINNER; DECLARED A DRAW

Wogie's
http://www.wogies.com/
39 Greenwich Ave
(btwn Charles & Perry)
New York, NY 10014

Lansdowne Road
www.lansdowneroadnyc.com
599 10th Ave (Btwn 43rd and 44th St)
New York, NY 10036-3008