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Rooms222
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Username: Rooms222

Post Number: 9
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 11:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Saturdays Wall Street Journal has a huge article on finding the best burger in America (with the point made that small bars and restaurants are where they are at). The Detroit portion of the article is below:

ARTICLE START

The Best Burger
The beef patty on a bun is America's contribution to world cuisine. Our food critic takes a cross-country -- and artery-clogging -- journey to find burger perfection.
By RAYMOND SOKOLOV
March 10, 2007; Page P1.......SKIP TO DETROIT PART

In Detroit, where I consumed my first hamburger in 1944, the returning native can motor from one end of a metropolitan area devastated by urban renewal and economic implosion to the other, tasting excellent burgers in settings that preserve or recreate the ambiance of better days. Miller's Bar serves handmade hefty, grilled-to-order burgers -- nicely charred, with optional slices of raw onion, on waxed paper without plates -- to capacity lunch crowds in a cheerful, low-key bar-restaurant on Michigan Avenue near the once-worldbeating Ford Rouge Plant in downriver Dearborn.

Ford's, as older locals call it, is, to put it politely, on the wane, but inside Miller's, it's easy to feel like it's the day the place opened in 1950 and the Tigers still are playing in Briggs Stadium at the downtown end of Michigan Avenue. An eight-point buck's head is etched in the mirror behind the bar, and the bartender reminisces with a regular about the most burgers eaten at Miller's in one sitting: "I've seen 11."

The portions are much smaller at The Hunter House in the posh northern suburb of Birmingham. Just a mouthful, really, but a mouthful topped with fried onions, the same way they did them here back when the Red Crown gas pump in the corner of the little diner was still filling 'em up.

By the time it took to drive the 15 miles downtown to Slow's Bar BQ, I was ready for a burger with a forward-looking attitude. The people who opened this temple of eclectic barbecue two years ago this St. Patrick's Day had to be optimists. Slow's is at the bleak edge of Detroit's Corktown, the Irish enclave where Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium now stands derelict and the most prominent competition for Slow's is a bar called O'Blivion's; aross the way is another monumental hulk, Michigan Central Station, where we once caught the Wolverine to Chicago and no trains chug any more. Inside Slow's, customers start arriving around 11 a.m. Premium beer flows. Pulled pork is pulled. And I get my best sandwich of the day. The beef is charred. The cheese is Gouda with a nice snap. The bun doesn't ooze away under finger pressure.

This is an important point, practical and historical. Burgers are finger food. The bun, among its other virtues, keeps your hands dry, or should, and lets you pick up the meat without making you wish for a finger bowl.

ARTICLE STOP

The article has Miller's and a picture of a Miller's burger on a map of sample joints and a picture of Miller's sign as well rather than Slow's..Maybe all the photography was done already!

The winner nationally? In Atlanta......

ARTICLE START

But the outstanding hamburger experience I found in an odyssey of several months and thousands of miles was at Ann's Snack Bar, a justifiably renowned little diner on a broken-down industrial stretch of highway.

Miss Ann, as habitués call her, is a woman of commanding style and ready banter. She works alone at her grill, patting each ample patty lightly as she sets it down. Her masterpiece, the "ghetto burger," is a two-patty cheeseburger tricked out with bacon that she tends closely in a fryolator.

Observing Miss Ann in action would be enough of a show, one perfected over many decades. But while she demonstrates the extreme economy of motion of a superb short-order cook, she simultaneously carries on a running dialogue of lightly sassy repartee with customers she knows.

Then Miss Ann dusts your almost-ready patties with "seasoned salt" tinged red from cayenne pepper. It looks like a mistake, too much, over the top. But when you get your ghetto burger in its handsomely toasted bun envelope, you regret doubting the lady for one second. The big burgers stand up fine to the spice. This is the next level in burgerhood. And it just barely fits in your mouth.
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1218
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 11:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nice!
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Karl
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Username: Karl

Post Number: 6486
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 11:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oops, it's from the WSJ - a widely mistrusted newspaper on these threads. Must not be true - or this viewpoint is being pushed by religious zealots - or Haliburton owns all the burger joints.
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3rdworldcity
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Username: 3rdworldcity

Post Number: 501
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 11:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Karl, you said it a lot better than I could.

Got to go. Off to Slows, despite the fact I said I wouldn't go back until they go "no smoking." Ah, willpower.
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Karl
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Username: Karl

Post Number: 6487
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 12:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

3rdworld, enjoy - was in there recently for ribs, excellent. Just pretend the smoke is from whatever smokes the ribs.....
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1219
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 12:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Karl,
Reporters at the WSJ are not part of the editorial page Taliban. They are even --gasp! -- unionized.

Most of us read the excellent articles in the WSJ written by the top-notch writers, and toss the editorial page.

So sorry to burst your bubble.
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Newman
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Username: Newman

Post Number: 78
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 3:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Karl,
In case you forgot...

You are an Asshole.
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220hendrie1910
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Username: 220hendrie1910

Post Number: 64
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 8:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Newman spewed:
quote:

Karl,
In case you forgot...

You are an Asshole.

And an impassioned one, averaging 12 posts a day for 18 months.

But without Assholes, there would be no Burgers, just as without Ureters, there would be no Beers.

Keeping track in Ottawa.
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Detroitplanner
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Username: Detroitplanner

Post Number: 1066
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 10:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm rather partial to the burger's at Casey's myself.
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Ray
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Username: Ray

Post Number: 864
Registered: 06-2004
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 12:09 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, while the WSJ editorial pages are consistently conservative, the rest of the paper is ranked left-of-center by a non partisan ratings group. Shocking, but true.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 4752
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 2:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This is an opinion on a burger at a restaurant. What's to distrust? I think you can arguably disagree but to distrust to me means there's some evil or unreliable intent here.
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Sailor_rick
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Username: Sailor_rick

Post Number: 166
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 11:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yesterday, when I asked one of Slow's co-owners what he thought about the article, he shrugged, "I didn't even know we sold burgers."
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 3183
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 12:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"Actually, while the WSJ editorial pages are consistently conservative, the rest of the paper is ranked left-of-center by a non partisan ratings group. Shocking, but true".

Not really, it's that pesky liberal bias of reality!
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3rdworldcity
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Username: 3rdworldcity

Post Number: 510
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 12:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Newman (as pronounced by Seinfeld): Jerry is right.
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Track75
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Username: Track75

Post Number: 2517
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 1:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Not really, it's that pesky liberal bias of reality!

Rather, Not really, it's that pesky liberal bias of reality most journalists! Numerous studies show the political leanings of the newsroom to be leftward.
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 3184
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 1:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

But do the realities that most journalists cover on a daily basis push them leftward, or do they start that way?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
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Track75
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Username: Track75

Post Number: 2518
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 2:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Journalism students and their academic departments are mainly left-of-center. They have a "save the world" imperative that dovetails well with a liberal outlook.

I read a study that showed that working journalists' attitudes stayed to the left of the average American. One area that drifted rightward was that their belief in big government solutions waned.

I don't think journalists purposely write biased articles. I do however see that their inherent biases influence which stories they choose to cover and how they approach them. That's just human nature, but it's still bias.

And Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burgers makes the best burger in greater Detroit.
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Bobj
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Username: Bobj

Post Number: 1769
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 2:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have been to Slows many times, never for a burger. I will have to try one now!

I don't agree with many WSJ's opinions, but I like the paper and the reporting.

Karl, with all of your negative feelings about our City and State, why do you come here?? Start an Arizona.yes
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Long_in_the_tooth
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Username: Long_in_the_tooth

Post Number: 21
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 4:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

last time i buy that mariner a beer.
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Sailor_rick
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Username: Sailor_rick

Post Number: 168
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 5:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

And revoke my deputy status?

Dang, and already I've got a dozen miscreants corralled at the Michigan Central station, ready to be run out of town on the 5:15 to Ishpeming.
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3rdworldcity
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Username: 3rdworldcity

Post Number: 514
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 6:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bobj: Why pick on Karl? Just because he has has quite a bit of knowledge about a lot of topics here, and has realistic views and opinions of Detroit and MI's problems, doesn't mean he's negative about the state. He, as would the rest of us who acknowledge those problems, would like to see the city and state do better. That's all.

And besides, Arizona.yes would not be nearly as funny, aggravating, and enlightening as this forum. Bangladesh.Yes? Maybe.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 389
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 8:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Got to go. Off to Slows, despite the fact I said I wouldn't go back until they go "no smoking." Ah, willpower.


Hey man, you live in the blue collar town of Detroit. You want smoke-free? Head to the 'burbs, buddy. :-) hehe I'm kidding, of course.

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