Burger Quest :: Bobby’s Burger Palace

This wasn’t a planned outing. It was on my way to another Burger Quest trip (Holstein’s) while in Vegas for my daughter’s dance competition that I spotted Bobby’s Burger Palace, (yes, that Bobby) along the way, all glass and shiny and Vegas glitzy. Perhaps it called out my name as I swam along the drunken crowed. All I knew was that I had to try it. I had to work it in to my already impossible schedule.

There was a small window. I had two hours on one of the days of competition between my daughter’s last dance and the awards ceremony for that category. If I ventured out alone, if I hot-stepped it through the casino and down the Strip, I could do it.

And so I did it, getting all bubbly with sweat while doing so. With all the effort, I was a little perturbed when I sauntered up to the To-Go counter at BBP only to be ignored completely by the woman who hustled behind it. I didn’t even get as smile or the “just one second” finger. While being ignored, I had a couple minutes to glance at the menu, where I spotted a brilliant grouping of words: Cactus Pear Margarita. And that’s when I decided – I still had plenty of time; and the staff behind the sit-down counter across the way seemed happy, even eager for customers; and hey, if you’ve seen one dance competition awards show, you’ve seen too many of them – I needed to hang out at BBP and enjoy the whole burger (and Cactus Pear Margarita) experience.

My choice was a hard one with so many burgers that sounded special and promising. The Crunchburger with American cheese and potato chips piqued my interest, yet I ordered one called The Dallas as I’m a sucker for BBQ sauce and Jack cheese. And I figured the coleslaw served just under bun would be a cool and tangy companion to the meaty cheesy robust flavors of the burger.

Unfortunately, I was sorely underwhelmed with my choice. Initially, I blamed my selected protein, the ground turkey patty. Turkey burgers are a pretty easy find these days as restaurants attempt to cater to a variety of palates, including those who like healthier options. I don’t do turkey for health reasons. I just have a long and storied history with cows (as noted in other Dianderthal posts) and don’t like to eat them. If I wasn’t such a picky eater, I’d probably be a vegetarian (I’ve tried!). But I do poultry.

In keeping things healthy, some places, such as BBP, use white meat for their turkey patties. This was the mistake I initially identified here, as the patty was dry and lacked anything but that wimpy birdy flavor reminiscent of a sad Thanksgiving. I might forgive them this since turkey burgers are typically the beef burger’s awkward little sister; an afterthought. But this is a burger place. If you’re going to do a burger place right, you gotta make sure that all your offerings – chicken, angus beef, veggie – are on point. After dwelling on it some, I realized that my disappointment with the burger didn’t alone lie with the meat. I didn’t get a spark from anywhere – the cheese, the slaw, the sauce were all very gray and dull. A better assembling would have perked up a bland turkey patty, but that didn’t happen here. And like Forrest Gump says, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

What I can get excited about are my drink and the sweet potato fries. The drink especially made my sweaty walk-run to BBP worth it. It was a smooth and slushy cup of fun, despite the brain freeze it gave me.

But this here quest is about burgers, not margaritas (although I wouldn’t mind partaking in a margarita quest). Here’s how Bobby’s Burger Palace stacked up.

Bobby’s Burger Palace
3750 S. Las Vegas Blvd. in Vegas and other lcoations

Official Dianderthal Burger Quest Burger List:
1. Hawkins House of Burgers turkey burger with everything (mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato, red onion, lettuce), cheese added
2. PCB (Plan Check Burger) at Plan Check with americanized dashi cheese, ketchup leather, schmaltz onions, mixed pickles, crunch bun
3. 25 Degrees Number One Burger (turkey subbed for beef) with caramelized onions, crescenza, prelibato gorgonzola, bacon, arugula, thousand island
4. Father’s Office Burger with arugula, caramelized onions, Gruyere, applewood bacon, and maytag blue cheese
5. Island’s California Flyer turkey burger (BBQ sauce, “Island Reds” – fried onion straws, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato & mayo)
6.Golden State turkey burger with provolone, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli, and ketchup, (added grilled onions)
7. Holstein’s California Turkey Burger with sprouts, tomato, avocado, cucumber claw, pepperjack cheese, and Russian dressing
8. Yeah! Burger (Make It Your Own – turkey patty, whole wheat bun, pepper jack cheese, sriracha mayo, ketchup, grilled onions, honey mustard)
9. The Habit (Veggie burger made like a Charburger, with mayo, pickle, tomato, lettuce, caramelized onions, cucumber, and sprouts)
10. The Counter (Build Your Own – turkey patty, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, ketchup)
11. Burger City Grill (The BCG, turkey patty, pickles, grilled onions)
12. The Dallas at Bobby’s Burger Palace – spice crusted ground turkey patty with coleslaw, jack cheese, BBQ sauce, and pickles

Fry Factor
1. Island’s fries with ranch dressing
2. Golden State fried sweet potato wedges with garlic aioli (and a few with curry ketchup)
3. Holstein’s sweet potato fries
4. 25 Degrees Half & Half (sweet potato and regular fries)
5. Father’s Office sweet potato fries with blue cheese aioli
6. The Counter 50-50 fries (half regular, half sweet Ps)
7. The Habit french fries
8. Plan Check sweet potato waffle fries and regular fries
9. Bobby’s Burger Palace sweet potato fries
10. Burger City Grill fries
11. Yeah! Burger sweet potato fries
12. Hawkins House of Burgers fries

Burger Quest :: Holstein’s

Not sure if it’s due to my childhood years growing up in Cali’s Central Valley, but for decades I’ve had a dear love for cows. Dairy cows were my favorite, my fondness for them sealed after a class trip to the farm where I got up close and personal with pent-up cattle in all their glorious and turdy funk. For years, I kept on my dresser the pressed and cubed hunk of cud we got to take home as swag.

While I’m not as obsessed as I once was (thanks to my husband, who put an immediate halt to my plans to countrify and cowify our kitchen), this cow girl had to try a place called Holstein’s after hearing about it. On my recent trip to Vegas, I added it to the Burger Quest list, convincing my youngest to choose it for her birthday meal.

If this quest were all about aesthetics, Holstein’s would rule, a funky little space in a red-hot hotel, the Cosmopolitan (also home to Hidden/Secret Pizza and Wicked Spoon). They also have a nice set of pickings, with options to satisfy the various assortments you might have with you on a Vegas vacation. At our table, we had plain sliders, wings, boozy shakes, and a blackened salmon po’ boy.

But I’m all about the burgers. I ordered the California Turkey (I wouldn’t dare order a beef burger at a place called Holstein’s – awkward!), with avocado, sprouts, pepperjack cheese, slaw, and Russian dressing. I had pretty high expectations, which I’d have to say were met. The bun was lofty (though not as soft as I prefer) and a dense and flavorful turkey patty, a hearty balance to the rich avocado and tangy slaw. Only problem is my Quest list is pretty well stacked with some amazing burgers. Even those on the bottom are rather phenomenal in my book.

So how well did my Holstein’s burger compete?

Official Dianderthal Burger Quest Burger List:
1. Hawkins House of Burgers turkey burger with everything (mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato, red onion, lettuce), cheese added
2. PCB (Plan Check Burger) at Plan Check with americanized dashi cheese, ketchup leather, schmaltz onions, mixed pickles, crunch bun
3. 25 Degrees Number One Burger (turkey subbed for beef) with caramelized onions, crescenza, prelibato gorgonzola, bacon, arugula, thousand island
4. Father’s Office Burger with arugula, caramelized onions, Gruyere, applewood bacon, and maytag blue cheese
5. Island’s California Flyer turkey burger (BBQ sauce, “Island Reds” – fried onion straws, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato & mayo)
6.Golden State turkey burger with provolone, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli, and ketchup, (added grilled onions)
7. Holstein’s California Turkey Burger with sprouts, tomato, avocado, cucumber claw, pepperjack cheese, and Russian dressing
8. Yeah! Burger (Make It Your Own – turkey patty, whole wheat bun, pepper jack cheese, sriracha mayo, ketchup, grilled onions, honey mustard)
9. The Habit (Veggie burger made like a Charburger, with mayo, pickle, tomato, lettuce, caramelized onions, cucumber, and sprouts)
10. The Counter (Build Your Own – turkey patty, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, ketchup)
11. Burger City Grill (The BCG, turkey patty, pickles, grilled onions)

Fry Factor
1. Island’s fries with ranch dressing
2. Golden State fried sweet potato wedges with garlic aioli (and a few with curry ketchup)
3. Holstein’s sweet potato fries
4. 25 Degrees Half & Half (sweet potato and regular fries)
5. Father’s Office sweet potato fries with blue cheese aioli
6. The Counter 50-50 fries (half regular, half sweet Ps)
7. The Habit french fries
8. Plan Check sweet potato waffle fries and regular fries
9. Burger City Grill fries
10. Yeah! Burger sweet potato fries
11. Hawkins House of Burgers fries

Holstein’s Las Vegas
3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South in the Cosmopolitan

Eating Las Vegas :: 2014

With yet another summer begun for me, it was time to head to the border (the Cali-Nevada border, that is) for another dance competition with my youngest and the rest of the family. I started Dianderthal two years ago just before this same competition in Vegas with not much hope that I’d keep it going for more than a week or two, as I’m good with starting, not with maintaining. And still I’m here, with many, many food experiences shared and plenty of unfortunate typos and grammatical errors (I’m working on my revision/editing skills).

While I tried some great dishes on my previous trips, to the LV, this time I was on a straight-up mission to eat Vegas. I think I did a pretty good job considering I was there just three-point-five days and had to juggle gambling (I lost), two days of dance, lazy rive time, and the preferences of fam of five. Good thing I stayed busy – who knows how much more of Vegas I may have eaten. I probably should have jogged back home rather than nod off in the passenger seat as the hub drove so I could burn just half of the calories I must have sucked up on my trip.

I buffeted it.

I’m definitely not a buffet girl but everyone said I had to try Wicked Spoon, the bad-ass buffet at The Cosmo. Nowhere to be found are troths of gravied meat or jumbo pans of warming vegetables in a stewy bath. This place puts the individual in buffet with single-serve plates and dishes (and baskets!) that eaters can pick up to populate their plates. This sort of thing thrills me since I have a thing about disparate types of food touching one another (e.g. I wouldn’t appreciate the sauce from my teriyaki chicken sliding over and seeping into, say, my cornbread muffin). They offer “all you can drink” wine (in quotes because there’s a time limit of 2 hours, which doesn’t even begin to contain all that I can drink) and lots of options from around the globe. My favorites were the fried chicken wings and the Heathbar chocolate covered strawberries.

I repeated it.

This wasn’t my first time at 800 Degrees but it’s still wonderful enough to mention.

I continued the quest.

Check out Burger Quest entries on Holstein’s and Bobby’s Burger Palace.

I didn’t turn down – until the wee, wee hours.

No food involved, but I had to mention my first experience with Vegas nightlife.

I late nighted it.

Also in The Cosmo, I enjoyed two greasy slices of pie late night at the joint that has no name, but is known by the masses as Secret Pizza (and also Hidden Pizza). We just walked up to staff and asked “Pizza?” and were quickly told to go upstairs and down the hallway plastered with retro record albums.

I indulged my sweet tooth.

They are short and sweet – two Sweet Spot posts on Hershey World and Blvd Creamery.

And I made it back home, full and then some. Good thing it’s time to start training again for my next half marathon.