How do you batter...?

Here's some advice I learned from a not so recent trip to San Antonio.

"How do you batter your mushrooms/pickles?"

This can be one of the best assessments of the burger place you are about to try out. If the best judgement of an Asian restaurant is their rice, then the best judge of a burger place is how it treats its sides.

Walking into one burger place, and looking at the menu, I wanted to try out their fried mushrooms, but Frederick was quick to stop me saying "this place? Fried mushrooms? (whispering) they probably come off of the back of a truck." I asked the girl at the counter "how do you batter your fried mushrooms?" She responded "they come prebattered." I went with the fries instead even though they probably came precut. How did this reflect on the burger? The meat was finely ground and we assumed, came as a pre-formed patty. Mine didn't taste bad, but it's a matter of quality. The burger was also a little on the greasy side.

A few trips later, I asked the batter question to the counter girl at one of my usual SA haunts and get the reply "we dip them in butermilk and dredge them in flour." That is a much better answer. Needless to say, the burger was well made and not a greasy meat sponge.

Email me if you want to know the first place, but I'll say that the second place was Sam's Burger Joint.