TGIF 5 out of 10

I can almost hear the groans of discontent coming from  TGIFriday's fans.  My rating is not a reflection on the restaurant.  It is strictly about the burger.  On the recommendation of another burger geek, I ordered the Jack Daniel's burger.    It is served with your choice of the standard burger toppings as well as cheese, bacon, and an awesome Jack Daniel's sauce - which comes on the side.   In my opinion, the sauce definitely makes this burger.  I'll explain.  Immediately, I noticed that the shape and size of everybody's burger was identical - no variation.   As a national chain striving for consistency, they hit the bull's eye.  The bacon, which was lying cross-crossed on the melted cheese, was neither underdone nor overdone.    My first taste of the sauce was on a french fry.   I was pleasantly surprised as it didn't taste anything like I was expecting it would based on the name.   It was sweet without a hint of pungent alcohol that I was expecting.   I ordered the burger well done.  It came as ordered and wasn't dried out or burnt.   As I took my first bite with the sauce, I was impressed with how good the burger was.  However, after a few more bites, I had to know if it was only the sauce that impressed me.  So, I tried a bite of burger only.  That's when I knew it's all about the sauce.  The burger standing on its own was very bland.  After that minor let down,  I realized that the entire meal was, at best, lukewarm.   Without the sauce, this would have been like any other chain's burger.   And, that is why I rate it a 5.   No, I wouldn't drive 5 miles out of my way to have this burger; but, I would definitely recommend it to friends.
Becky
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I would have to say, I was looking forward to testing this Burger.  One of our other geeks was very impressed with this burger when he gotten it before.  A Jack Daniel's burger, how can you go wrong with that title in it? Well, I hate to disagree with my brother in crime, but I wasn't to impressed with the burger.  The BBQ sauce was outstanding.  It made the entire burger.  Without it though, the burger tasted pretty ordinary. Tasted like there were no spices used for it.  Now, TGIF did a great job on that BBQ addition to the hamburger.  I think you could put this on anything and it would taste fantastic. In this case I voted for a 5 out of 10, the reason being, that the addition of the BBQ sauce made that burger and for sure worth trying.  As Becky mentioned though, I wouldn't take a drive just to go there to get it.  Also one of the things that always gets me in restaurants.  If you cook the burger all the way, then don't ask me how I would like it.  If I say medium, it should be and not cooked all the way.  The hunt continues.........
BurgerMeister

Pine Grove Market 6.5 out of 10

Our hunt for the best burger in Jacksonville brought us to the Pine Grove Market http://www.pinegrovemarket.com/ .  First impression I have to say I like those kind of places.  Small neighborhood places where you can find some of the secret culinary places that give you the best experiences.
Let's get right to the burger.  The first thing that hit me was the presentation.  I think this was the first time I saw a burger cut in half.  My burger was ordered medium and right away I could see, yup, cooked perfectly.  As you can see from the picture it was a great size as well.  Looking at the burger I have to say, it looked great, smelled good, so the first impression was: 'Yes I'm looking forward to this'.  Once I took my first bite I have to say it tasted very good.  The mixture of spices and the meat tasted great.  As you can see from the picture I ordered mine with fries and with onion rings.  Holy crap those rings where huge.  They as well tasted very good as the fries did.

I'm sure you wonder why my score isn't higher with me saying everything was good.  Well, as you know I'm looking for the extra wow factor when it comes to burgers.  This was a great burger, but it reminded me to much of a burger I would do at home.  So, yes, I know, isn't that what it should be?  Great tasting burger you could get home?  Yes and no.  I'm looking for the burger which I can't do at home or blows my mind how well it was done.  In this instance I have to say.  Yes, the burger was great but somehow was missing the umpf sorte say.  Would I recommend going there to try it.  Absolutely I would recommend it.  Would I take the drive there though just for the hamburger.  I would have to say, no.
BurgerMeister
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My first BurgerGeek foray was to the Pine Grove Market in Riverside just east of Park Street.  The Market is a neighborhood jewel.  The kind of place I imagine exists on most NYC corners.    On to the review.    My first impression was this looks like my Momma's burger:  Thick and moist, made with quality beef.  That the burger and fries were served on a real plate may have added to the illusion.  Taking my first bite, I was pleased by the taste: not to much seasoning and not bland.  Moist but not falling apart.   Definitely fresh, quality beef.  Not frozen, trucked and thawed patties.   The only thing missing were the cross-hatch marks and that slight hickory flavor from a backyard grill.  The fries were nicely done.  Not to thick or to thin with a good flavor.  They complimented the burger well.   The available toppings were the expected minimum burger standards - which was more than enough for me.

That said, my rating is a 7 out of 10.  Why?  I really could make a burger like this myself.  However, for a quick fix of homemade on a hectic workday without the prep and cleanup hassle, this burger would sure do the trick.   Using the BurgerGeek drive scale, no, I wouldn't go out of my way to have this burger; but, if I was already in the neighborhood, you bet I would.

Becky

Southern Grill 9 out of 10

Our search brought us to the Southern Grill located at 800 Flagler Ave. This restaurant offers a variety of dishes which one of them is a burger and that is why we are here.

Let's get right into the review, shall we. As you can see from the picture the burger arrived like what you expect the typical American burger to look like. It looked perfect.

Just the smell alone coming to the table made your mouth water. I was shocked taking my first bite how good it tasted. It was perfectly cooked exactly how I wanted it. Everything tasted fresh, homemade, cooked fresh. I think we all were shocked how good this burger tasted. The size was perfect. Not to forget the fries, fitted perfectly and tasted great as well. The only thing that was missing was that shake to make it the 'American perfect meal'.

If you are looking for a great hamburger then this is the place to try, highly recommend it. Hmmm actually thinking going back for another one........

MikeR

Wild Wing Cafe 5 out of 10

Our next target was Wild Wing Cafe located at 4555 south side blvd. The first thought is that this place is not what normally comes to your mind when it comes to burgers, but a few people recommended to us to try them.

Let's get right to the meat of things. As you probably figured out from my reviews I'm the one in the group that always looks for that wow factor in burgers. When the waitress arrived with my order I was like, wow, look at that thing. If this is not a wow factor. Got my burger with egg on it, topped with some sloppy joe sauce. Not to forget the huge onion ring on top. As you can see from the picture it was a sight to see.

I think I had a smile on my face attacking this behemoth of a burger. Well, now to the sad part and why the score is not sky high for them. The taste was blahhhh. Nothing really tasted good. The burger was kinda no taste, no taste at all. Same with the sloppy joe topping . Somehow everything tasted like, how should I say. No spices at all. Very blend and boring. It's a shame because look at that thing, it great looking.

Just to add another disappointment were their fries, not sure what they thought off. But just cutting up some potatoes and throwing them into the deep fryer and calling them french fries does not work at times. In this case it didn't. Same as the total experience the fries didn't taste like anything special.

So sad, such a good looking burger. The search continues ...........

BurgerMeister

Harpoon Louies 7 out of 10

Our best burger in Jacksonville brought us to Harpoon Louie's located at 4070 Herschel street.

I was looking forward to this, because I had a few people recommending this place to us. So let's get right to the burger. Out of our group I'm mainly the one who is looking for that wow factor, meaning, what can I put on it or order that makes it different.

As you can see from the picture I got it loaded up in addition to chili all over my fries.

This was a good burger. It had good taste and was what you are looking for in a burger. Now of course we are not looking for the average burger, but for the ones that stand out. Did this one stand out? Well, it was good all around, but didn't stand out.

As one of the burgergeeks uses this for giving his rating. Would I eat a burger here if I'm here, yes. Would I drive here for just the burger, no. So in short do we recommend it? Yes. You won't be disappointed. Is it the best burger in Jacksonville? No.

BurgerMeister

The search continues.....

Dave and Busters 5 out of 10

Our endless search brought us to Dave and Busters. As we all know this place is famous for the gaming but we got the recommendation to try their burgers. Sorry to say I wish we didn't get it. I didn't have big hopes, but you never know where you find that great burger. Let's get right into it. Right from the get go I was disappointed that the burger was not cooked, how I wanted it. Why ask how you want your burger, if you can't provide it.

Just looking at the picture I think you can already see the problem. It was so greasy, which of course gives the burger normally a great taste and texture, but not here. The minute you picked this burger up, it was just dripping the fat, way to much for my taste. All the burgers we got were the same size, the same cut, the same grease. It was screaming 'I'm a frozen burger' for mass production. Overall it had an alright taste, nothing special about it. If you are there for the games and want a quick burger, sure, why not. Would I recommend it? No.

BurgerMeister

Cheesecake factory 8 out of 10

The Cheesecake factory was our next target for doing a burger review.  They are located at the Town-center. Personally I have been looking forward to this for a while now.  One of the reasons was that I heard they had a Kobe burger.  Let me get right to the meat of things sorte say.  First impressions of the restaurant of course is grandiose, very clean, very elegant even though it does have a little flair of 'elegant fast food setup'.  What I mean by this, was the feeling, sit down, order, eat and get out so the next customers can sit down.  With that said, lets look at our burger experience.  Right from the start I have to say the burger looked great.  Everything looked fresh, well presented. Cutting open the burger was perfectly cooked just how I ordered it.  Now, here comes the important part.  Was my first bite the wow factor that I expected.  Well, yes and no.  I was looking for that, oh my God, this is Kobe meat.  The cows that are feed only the best and from what I've seen on TV being massaged to make the meat nice and juicy.  Hmmm, maybe I was expecting someone to come by and massage me while I'm eating this.  I really don't know what I expected.  But, it didn't happen. I tried very hard to find a difference in burgers I had before to this one and I couldn't find one.  Now for the overall taste of the burger I have to admit.  That was one great tasting burger.  It was juicy, well seasoned, perfectly cooked.  Everything a burger should have.  Did I taste anything different?  Sorry to say, I didn't.  As from some of our previous reviews you can get some great tasting burger from regular beef.  Would I recommend this burger to someone?  Absolutely.

 It was a great, great burger.  One of best I had and for this they get a high score.  Again, I'm missing the wow factor, that makes it stand out from the rest.  That it lacked a bit.  Would I go and have another one of those.  Well, if I'm in the neighborhood, sure.  Would I take a drive there just for the burger, probably not.  Lucky for us Burgergeeks it just means, the hunt continues, for the holy grail of Burgers.....
MikeR