Top 5 Burger Places

For a while now I've been wanting to rank my top five favorite burger places in the greater-southwestern-suburbs-of-Kansas City-of-Johnson-County.  Obviously, an extremely prestige list to be a part of!  Without further ado, here we go!

To make this list, each place will be graded on three different criteria: Taste, Fries, Price.  The highest average score will obviously top the list.  Each grade will be given on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being high.

5. Hardees - 8.0/10 (Taste: 8.1, Fries: 8.1, Price: 7.7)
Now, I know you're saying, "but Hardees is a chain, and I can get those burgers anywhere."  Yeah, well if you haven't had their Thickburgers before, you should treat yourself sometime.  Along with the wonderful Thickburgers, the curly fries at Hardee's are wonderful as well.  Considering these are both found at a fast food joint, the price is decent.  Granted it will probably be one of the more expensive "fastfood burgers" you'll ever eat.  Plus, their commercials are pretty much spectacular.

4. Fox and Hound - 8.1/10 (Taste: 9.2, Fries: 7.5, Price: 7.5)
Perhaps not as well known for their burgers, the Fox and Hound surprised me when I ordered my burger there.  Great taste, super soft bun, served with your typical bar fries.  Decently priced as well.  Located in Overland Park, KS.

3. Austin's Bar and Grill - 8.2 (Taste: 8.8, Fries: 8.2, Price: 7.7)
Austin's in Olathe, and now Gardner, offer some tasty options for your burger pleasure.  One nice thing about Austin's is that each burger come's plain.  It's up to you to dress it how you want at the condiment bar.  Fries were crispy and seasoned well. 

2. Wendy's - 8.3/10 (Taste: 8.9, Fries: 8.1, Price: 8.0)
If you know me well at all, you know that my favorite fast food restaurant of all time is Wendy's.  There are few things in this world that can top a nice Classic Double with Cheese with all the toppings.  There is just something about those fresh, cooked to order, square burger patties.  Wendy's fries are fantastic in their own right as well!  I know I'm not the only one out there who loves to dip those fries in a nice cold Frosty!  The best thing about Wendy's is that if you are looking for something other than a burger, you can always fall back on their wonderful Spicy Chicken Sandwich.  Although their prices have gone up over the last couple of years, it's still a pretty cheap option for a great burger and fries.

1. Five Guys Burgers and Fries - 8.7 (Taste: 9.5, Fries: 9.0, Price: 7.5)
If you have not tried Five Guys before, do youself a favor and run, DON'T WALK, to your nearest FGBF and join the club.  This place will never wow you as far as looks or decor goes, but the food will keep you coming back for more.  For starters, the burgers are awesome.  The menu is very simple too.  Basically, you order your burger, then you can choose which toppings you want on it.  Get as many or as few as you want for no extra cost!  If you order fries, you better hope you have someone there to help you eat them.  If you watch the guys scooping the fries, you will notice that they fill up your cup of fries, and then fill up a second little boat container full of fries, and dump that in you bag on top of everything else.  Awesome!  To top that all off, you can even choose between regular and cajun fries.  Both of which are very tasty.  The price appears really nice at first, but when you are ordering everything seperate, it adds up quickly.  But, it is still pretty reasonably priced in my opinion.  Having a FGBF within walking distance of our apartment was probably the one and only regret I have about moving to our house earlier this year. 


Honerable Mention:

Red Robin - If I was only voting on burgers alone, Red Robin probably would have made the top five.  However, taking into consideration the fries and price kept it out.  The fries, eventhough they are "all you can eat" are average at best.  I also think RR is one of the more overpriced burger places out there.  However, they have a wide variety of toppings and flavors abailable. 

Winsteads - Great place to go for a nice steakburger and a shake!  The fries are your standard crinkle cut variety, if memery serves me right. 

Smash Burger - Good burgers.  GREAT fries.  Higher price tag.  This place would have scored very high marks if their portions matched some of the other places.  The smashfries are tossed in rosemarie, olive oil, and garlic.  They are wonderful, but you only get a handful with your burger.  In order to match the portions that Five Guys gives you, you'd be spending quite a bit more!

Culvers - Another great fastfood burger.  The classic Butter Burger is always a great choice.  They serve classic crinkle cut fries which are good, but nothing to write home about. 

Blanc Burgers and Bottles - I have not eaten here yet, but I've heard great things.  My brother-in-law says this place is pretty legit and always recommends that we go.  Looks a little pricey for a burger joint, but the variety in the menu has me wanting to try it!

Atlanta Adventure!

Before I dive into our recent trip to Atlanta, I must start by telling you why we went.  Early this year, my dad and I decided that we would attempt to visit all 30 major league baseball stadiums, by hitting a few each summer.  We will attempt to see the Cardinals play in as many as possible. 

Because of some pretty awesome circumstances, my dad was able to score us some great Braves tickets for Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  It was such a good deal that Katie decided to tag along!  So on Friday Sep. 10th, we land in Atlanta, get in our rental car, and drive straight to Turner Field.  We get to our seats just in time for the first pitch.  After the first inning, we decide to go ahead and get some food.  I spied a tasty looking hot dog stand on the way to our seats, so my dad and I decided to head back that way. We both ended up ordering the "Georgia Dog".  It was a footlong beef hot dog, with coleslaw and a sweet onion relish.  Holy Toledo that was a great hot dog!  

To add to the enjoyment, I ordered a "small" cup of fries to go with it.  The dog and fries ended up being $11.25.  Now, if you've been to ballparks, you know the food isn't exactly cheap.  But this was the first time I can ever remember beign full after my meal at a ball park.  All in all, a great meal!

On Saturday, we got up early and headed to the Georgia Aquarium.  If you are ever in Atlanta, I highly recommend going if you are ever in the area.  This was another big reason why Katie wanted to travel with us.  She had a great time!  Probably the most memorable part of that was getting to pet the manta rays. No food stories from here, but a great stop none-the-less.

After the aquarium, we headed to our first stop on our "Man vs. Food" tour.  We ate lunch at the Votex Bar and Grill. Here is a short vlog entry of Adam Richman talking about the Vortex.  I ordered the Tasmanian Devil Burger.  It was a 1/2 lb sirloin burger with a pepperberry rub, pinapple salsa, and pepper jack cheese.  It was amazing.  I ordered onion rings to eat on the side.

Katie ordered the Pesto burger, which was topped with a pesto spread, of course, and provolone cheese.  She had fried zucchini for her side.  My dad ordered the Coronary Bypass burger.  It came topped with a fried egg, 3 slices of cheese, and 4 slices of bacon.  He had sweet potato fries on the side.  It was an excellent meal.  The Vortex got six thumbs up from the Montagues!

After the Vortex we went back to Turner Field early to watch some batting practice.  Katie was able to catch a practice ball thrown to her by Chris Carpenter who was out shaggin fly balls.  For the second straight day, the Cardinals ended up losing, but at least they were both close games.  After the game we drove a little north to visit our second stop on our Man vs. Food tour.  We ate at The Big Pie in the Sky Pizzaria.  Here are the highlights from the Carnivore Challenge as seen on Man vs. Food.  We  merely attempted to tackle a 20" Large supreme pizza.  That turned out to be way too much pizza, even for the three of us.  It was still very good pizza! 

Sunday, we ate a quick bite in the morning, headed to the airport, and flew back home.  It was a quick, wonderful, delicious trip to Atlanta and back.  I would definitely go back to both of these wonderful restaurants if given the chance.  If you ever find yourself around Atlanta, we highly suggest stopping at either of these places. 

A Tasty Breaded Talapia Recipe

Ok, for our first post, I figured we would share one of our favorite recipes for Talapia.  We make the breading using Cream of Wheat.  I know, it sounds a little strange, but trust us, it's delicious!

Here's what you will need:

Up to 4 Talapia Filets

1/2 cup of Cream of Wheat
2 tbsp of Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

1 Egg
Some lemon wedges

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a flat dish or container.  Beat the egg in a seperate flat dish or plate.  Before you get too carried away, make sure your fish filets are fully thawed.
Next, pat the fish filets dry with a paper towel.  Dredge the fish through the egg wash, then dredge the fish through the breading. 

Now, you have a decision to make.  We have prepared this recipe using three methods of cooking.  All of which are delicious! 

Method 1: Using a deep fryer, cook each filet 2-3 minutes.  Fish doesn't take too long to cook!
Method 2: Put enough vegatable oil in the bottom of a large pan, and pan fry the fish a couple of minutes on each side.
Method 3: For a healthier taste, throw it on the grill!  Make a little aluminum foil boat for the fish, spray it with a little oil, and cook it a few minutes on each side.  I have a charcoal grill, but i'm sure a propane grill would work great!

Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on your fish, and enjoy!  If you try this, let us know what you think, or any variations you try with it.

Welcome, to Monty's Food Blog

Howdy!  My wife Katie, and I, have been discussing starting our own blog over the last month or two.  After careful consideration, we decided to start Monty's Food Blog.  Now I'll be the first to admit, when it comes to cooking, we are average at best.  However, while we have been married, our cooking ability and quality has become noticably better.  As I learned from my parents long ago, "You won't get any better, unless you try!".  This applies to most anything you do in life, but it definitly holds true in cooking.  Anyway, the point is, I wanted to have a place where we could give helpful hints that we have learned over the years, share recipes, tell stories, and give advice to anyone who likes to cook.

In addition to giving mediocre cooking advice, be on the lookout for topics that might include art, bowling, home how-to projects, our cat Murphy, Xbox, family, fantasy sports, movies, music, and so on. 

That is just a "taste" of things to come on this blog.  I'll try to keep it up-to-date, and post as often as I can. Thanks for reading!