The Houseburger

The Houseburger

homemade

B

We almost called this the Endless Summer burger because, here at home in Las Vegas, it's still 100 degrees and we're two days away from October. It can be tiresome, but it's mostly awesome, because we get so many more weekend cookouts during the year. On this particular weekend, we decided to re-create the great American burger with standard great American flavors. We mixed the seasonings into the ground beef and smashed them into medium-thin patties, grilled them up and melted Kraft American cheese on top, plopped them on top of potato buns with raw onion slices, and added beefsteak tomato, butter lettuce leaves, spicy dill pickle coins and straight-up Thousand Island dressing. It was a delicious summer bite, which is why it's now the burger of the house.

Bresaola Montadito

Bresaola Montadito at Bin 702

bin702.com

B+

Offering up a plethora of Spanish mini-sandwiches at a cozy wine bar is simply genius. The montadito is the ideal snack for an afternoon of leisurely boozing, and this one, cramming a neat stack of salty dried beef and triple-creme Saint-Andre cheese into a baby French roll, is a fast favorite. The only problem is: do we eat another one of these with our next glass of red, or do we get one with cured pork loin, or lobster salad, or prosciutto? It's a wonderful dilemma.

Pabellon

Pabellon at Viva Las Arepas

vivalasarepas.com

A

I dream about this sandwich. Slightly spicy, endlessly rich, succulent and tender beef in the style of mechada (Puerto Rican pot roast) is stuffed into a savory grilled cornmeal cake, crowded with queso fresco, black beans and plantains for a sweet and salty explosion. The texture of the juicy meat inside the crisp arepa "shell" is sublime, but that meat is just so good. I had this one for breakfast. It's also the perfect lunch. And dinner. It's not huge but it's unbelievably satisfying and filling. It's perfect. And it's $7. Why am I not eating this right now?

Jumbo Dog

Jumbo Dog at Woody's Chicago Style Hot Dogs

A

This may be the first time in the history of allsandwich that I cannot find an internet presence for a sandwich venue. Sigh. It's because Woody's is a cart that is periodically parked in front of the Lowe's hardware store on the northeast corner of Buffalo and Washington in northwest Las Vegas. It's a cart, not a food truck. And it's likely my last hot dog of the summer, a massive Vienna Beef link in a perfectly steamed poppyseed bun, served plain to my paw. I then decorated it vigorously with yellow mustard, nuclear green relish and raw onions. Then I ate it in few bites, something I've done at least twice every summer for as far back as I can remember. Woody's is awesome, and hot dogs are street food, and they taste best when you're eating them from a cart on the street ... even if that street is in suburban Las Vegas.

Bacon Clubhouse Burger

Bacon Clubhouse Burger at McDonald's

mcdonalds.com

C

I suppose I need to give credit to McDonald's for crafting a burger that doesn't taste like a McDonald's burger. But I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Also, I'm not sure if it tastes better than a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, for example. Instead of a sesame seed bun, it has the clown's "artisan roll," which is shiny and fluffy. It has the same cow disc, and the same sauce as the sweet goo that comes on a Big Mac, but there are respectable bacon strips, caramelized grilled onions (which appear to be the key element in the non-McD taste phenomenon), leaf lettuce instead of shredded iceberg, tomato and a slab of white cheddar. It looks like fast food but it doesn't really taste like it. I suppose it's a step up, or at least a half-step. Three quarters of a step?