Johnny Angel's 6.5 out of 10

For our next review it brought us to Johnny Angel's.  We received a few suggestions from people to check this place and their burger.  Before we go into the burger just let me tell you that this is a place to see.  I felt like going back into a time warp into the 'Back to the Future' and showing up into the 50's.  I love that.  The entire atmosphere in there was very entertaining.  But enough of the hype going into the real reason why we were there.  They have a nice selection of burgers, from your James Dean to your Atomic burger.  I picked the Heavy Chevy which comes with chili which is also a challenge by itself for restaurants to make enjoyable to eat.  Anyway, here is what was served as the Heavy Chevy as the presentation.  Before I get into the specifics let me just mention that we also ordered the onion rings which I'm a huge fan off, if they are done correctly. Believe me, there are many restaurants that can't make onion rings or even french fries correctly and in other words are shyte.  I have to say, they probably made the best onion rings I have had so far.

They were awesome, huge, perfectly cooked, tasty, so worth getting.  But enough of that, lets look at the burger.  The burger was perfectly cooked how I ordered it.  The chili on top was by the best alright. I spent many years in Texas and got spoiled for having awesome chili.  So in this case,  wish it would have been better. Actually I have to say that the burger was good, but not where I would go, out of the ordinary.  I felt that it lacked a lot of seasonings in the meat.  Even the chili was kinda of blahhh.  Was OK, not bad, but was missing something, if you know what I mean.  Same for the burger, it was OK.  Now, if you take this burger with the combination of the atmosphere, the fries and the onion rings.  Sure, I would order it again.  Great place to hang out and enjoy the surroundings.  But because we are doing a burger review here.  Would I come here just for this burger, sadly I would have to say no.  I know my partner in crime has a bit of a different view on his burger that he received and his review is coming next.
BurgerMeister

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Poe's Tavern review 8 out of 10

Today it took us to Poe's Tavern in the. Jacksonville beach area.  Thank you Nicole for giving us the recommendation.  When we ordered the hamburger of course the first question was how do you want it cooked. Of course right away I thought to myself I wonder if they actually going to cook it this way.  I ordered mine medium rare.  Here goes there first plus point because, guess what,  I got my hamburger medium rare.  As you can see from the picture the burger looked already awesome. It was a good sized hamburger everything looked delicious . Let's see if looks can be deceiving. I took a cut through the hamburgers to see if it was cooked just as I ordered it and it looked perfect .

Now I took my first bite . The juices were flowing from the meat and it tasted oh so good . While I am continuing to eat the hamburger I'm starting to taste some spices, the lettuce, the pickles and the chili that I ordered to be on top of it and not to forget the cheese  to finish it all off.  After I took a few more bites I started to compare in my mind the burger to other reviews that we've done.  The hamburger tasted great but it didn't taste as good as it looked.  To me the  lettuce and pickles just had an ordinary taste nothing special like the place we reviewed before where you thought everything was just picked out of a garden just for your burger.  Don't get me wrong this was a very good burger and that is why I gave it a score of 8.  What was missing here was the extra touch the wow factor.  Would I come here just for a hamburger, I think I would just for the atmosphere and how great Poe's looks, it is an experience.  The waiter staff was attentive and we didn't have to wait long to get the service. Because I'm looking also at the rest of the meal like the french fries and the onion rings, I do have to mention that I was not impressed with those items . They were very greasy and did not compliment the burger . In my opinion this is one of the good hamburgers in Jacksonville but is it the best?  No it's not, so the hunt continues..........

BurgerMeister

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MShack at 10281 Midtown Parkway, Towncenter 1 out of 10

Our next review brought us to Mshack in the Town center . The first impression I had was, a lot of people here . Those burgers must be awesome.

Lets get right to it . After a long wait the burger arrived.  Let me give you my opinion about this burger.

When the burger arrived I was thinking hmmm not so sure if I Like the presentation of this.  But as we know looks can be wrong.  So we attacked the challenge.  Right from the going, the burger was not cooked how I wanted it.  It wasn't medium at all.  So the first little ding, but well maybe the taste was good.  Nope, not at all.  It tasted burned.  Everything just tasted like, how should I put this.  Fast food on its worst day.  The bacon was kinda bacon, but really had no taste to it.  The letters looked and tasted like someone cut them the day before and they were just laying around so they threw it on the burger.  The meat was tough, no seasoning in it from what I could taste.  So, I was not impressed at all.  I kept on looking around and thinking, what the heck are all those people doing here.  Well yes, they are shopping and anything to eat would do I guess.  Maybe we expect more because we review burgers and we already had great burgers so the expectation is high.  I don't know, but to me, this was a poor example of a burger.  Now because we look at the entire thing at a restaurant I do have to mention the onion rings.  They were huge.  They looked great.  Ok, lets stop right there.  Perfect example how it is not all about looks.  The sec I picked them up, the grease was just dripping down.  I never had onion rings that looked so good and tasted so bad.  When you touched them, the grease was just dripping of them.  It was so bad, we all didn't even eat them.  So the entire experience of this place was not very good, I'm sorry to say.  Let me mention again, this review is my opinion and if we ever go back and have a better experience, I will edit this review.  For now though, I don't think I will try this Mshack again.  For sure, not worth the drive there.  BurgerMeister

Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails 10 out of 10

Our hunt for the best burger in Jacksonville is bringing us to the Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails.  Thanks to Greg for this recommendation, not only for that, but he also joined us to review this burger.  Enough of the intro, lets get right into the guts of things.  As you can see from the title, we were impressed with this burger. We actually got a little frustrated with the burger tasting we done lately.  Nothing really that exciting.  There were some we did, we didn't even post because it wasn't worth it.  It would have been a one liner saying, yup, burger is ok.  Nothing special.  Well, our frustration was answered with this burger.  I can only say wow.  As you can see from the pictures it was something to see.  Our first impression was that we all got our burger exactly cooked how we wanted them.  I ordered a medium rare and man it was perfectly cooked that way.  Another burgergeek ordered it medium well and bingo it was that way.  We all said that this is the first time we actually all got exactly what we wanted.  So first impressions were good so far.  But we have learned, it is not about looks.  So into the battle we went, the taste test.

Right away it tasted like everything was freshly made or picked. What I mean by that is the onions, the lettuce, the pickles, just everything tasted so fresh like it just came from a garden.  The onions tasted like they were just cut for this burger.  I hope you all know what I mean.  Sometimes you can taste if ingredients were laying around for a while or were cut the day before.  Not this time.  The burger was just so juicy and the taste itself was just awesome.  Per their description they put bacon into the meat.  Oh yes, you can taste it.  The spices were done perfectly.  Now to my wow factor.  It was the egg.  Not just the egg, because if you read some other reviews you know I love egg on my burger.  We'll talk about prices here in a few but they were saying that their eggs are open range farm grown and it cost me an extra 2 bucks to put that on there. Was it worth it.  Short answer, yes.  Long answer, oh my lord what a difference.  Just looking at the egg, it was so....how should I put it....eggie.  lol.  Just perfectly looking, it looked great, strong white, strong colors in the egg jog.  Let me include a picture here so you can see what I mean.

Do zoom into the picture to see how good it looked.  So did it taste good, oh yes, what a egg taste, it fitted perfectly with the burger and it was perfectly cooked.  There was nothing running other then what should be running once cut.  I do have to mention the fries, I know we are reviewing the burgers but we do look at the total package.   The fries were awesome.  I couldn't stop eating them.  Perfectly cooked, no greasy mess, perfectly season on them.  It was just perfect.
We are always the opinion that when it comes to the burger, a lot depends on the cooks.  I tell you one thing, this place has a chef who knows how to make good food.  Wow, we all were very impressed.  Now a little bit to the part we didn't like.  The price, now of course this is the kind of place that I call fru fru.  Some new yappie place sorte say.  So the burger was 14 dollars and you had to pay extra for the bacon and for the egg,so this burger ended up around 16 dollars or so.  So the question is, was it worth it.  Well, not only yes, but hell yes.  I have no problem paying extra if it is worth it and in this case.  Oh yes, big time.  I do also want to mention that the service was outstanding, very attentive wait staff, even the manager come by to check on our water.  We tasted some other items on the menu and deserts. Yes very fru fru, but worth the try.  I mention pig ears, lol.  An experience for sure.  The desert, chocolate covered peanut thingy, oh yes, out of this world.
So without writing a book here, is it worth going there for the burger.  OH yes.  I would take the drive and I would pay the extra money to have this experience.
My hope is back to taste awesome burgers in Jacksonville, but we will keep on searching because thanks to all you guys sending us emails with recommendation, we will keep this going until we find the best ever burger in Jacksonville.  Well this one is on top for sure. BurgerMeister

The latest stop in our quest brings us to the Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails. Moxie is located at the St. Johns Town Center, and is a very nice, upscale establishment. One look at the menu and you'll notice that they serve many chef-inspired dishes and that it's not the least expensive place to dine, but it is not your typical fare. They feature one burger, appropriately named the Moxie Burger. Someone with some culinary know-how put some thought into this and kicked this burger up a few notches. For starters, the burger is a 1/2 lb. beef-pork-bacon blend. Mmmm, bacon. It is served on a brioche bun with your choice of add-ons, a generous portion of crispy fries and a side of Ms. Mary's pickles. I ordered my burger cooked medium, topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. For the first time ever, all the burgers we ordered arrived cooked as requested. Kudos to the kitchen! In our experience, it has been more a rare occasion (no pun intended) to receive a burger that was cooked as requested. The first thing I do with my burger is to taste a piece of the patty before anything else is added to judge the flavor. This burger was outstanding! Really juicy with tons of flavor and just the right amount of bacon smokiness. Mmmm, bacon. The toppings were cool and crispy, and the brioche bun was fresh. Since the burger tasted  so good, I decided to eat the burger without adding any condiments (a first). I have got to say, this was probably one of, if not THE best tasting burger I have had in all our burger reviews. Delicious to the very last bite, and the fries were also a golden, crispy delight. I honestly couldn't eat them all. Using my rating scale, I give the brioche bun a 3 out of 3, the toppings a 3 out of 3, and the burger gets a 3 out of 3 plus 1 point extra for the wow factor. Absolutely delicious, and well deserving of my highest rating - a perfect 10. Thank you Moxie for a great burger. I am already planning on another trip to have another. To any of you burger lovers out there, I highly recommend the Moxie burger.

Burgernator

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We went back in March'2015 to see if they are still making the 10 out of 10 burger we reviewed the first time.  We were happily surprised to experience the same as we did the first time.  The burger was just like the first time, great burger, tasty, perfectly done.  So a well deserved 10 in our eyes.