Houston's

http://www.hillstone.com/
7715 Woodmont Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 656-9755

I picked Houston's as my post-marathon celebration dinner, so that should tell you something. The fact that we took the metro to Bethesda and then wandered around looking for it after I'd run 26.2 miles should also tell you something. I really like Houston's burgers.

The service was unbelievable at first (refilling waters and diet cokes so quick we never saw it happen) but then I think there was a shift change so things got a little confusing. Anyways, I ordered the burger with shredded sharp cheddar, hickory sauce, and three thick slices of Canadian bacon. Hey, I'd just burned like 2,000 calories so I really didn't care. The burger was perfectly medium, enormous, piping hot, juicy. It is served open face with a some shredded cabbage and onion, and the cheese shreds melt nicely once you place the top on. I smothered that thing in hickory sauce and devoured it in record time....it was delish. The bun was a toasted and buttered egg roll, which was reminiscent of Fuddruckers and wonderful. Fries came in a thin little stack like Chef Geoff's, and I think were cooked in peanut oil, but one of the cool things at Houston's is that you have your choice of any of their side dishes, so I chose the couscous salad which comes with mint, almonds slices, golden raisins, and diced radishes....or it used to. This time it was cold, the almonds were whole, I don't think I saw any raisins, and instead of radish there were big huge chunks of tomato. I wasn't all that pleased, seeing as I liked their old recipe enough to choose couscous over fries. Oh well. Burgerman was nice enough to share his fries, so I was happy.

We'd never had dessert at Houston's before, so we tried the three nut brownie with Gifford's vanilla ice cream on top. They didn't have whip cream in the house, the server said....huge bummer. Overall it was nothing to write home about, and I didn't even bother finishing it. When I got home I had an oreo; now that was a dessert!
The burger was a good deal for $12, but the dessert was robbery at $8.

Rating: 4 to 4.5

Chef Geoffs

http://www.chefgeoff.com/main/
1301 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20004
(202) 464-4461

This is a fancy place right by metro center in dc. On Mondays there burgers are only 5 dollars so we thought that this would be a great time to buy. This was our first stop on our great burger hunt. The burgers cam out with a nice open faced presentation. my came with a nice slice of Canadian bacon (for an up charge). The first few bites of this guy were delicious but I am going to be honest and say that it fell a little down hill after that. I just ended up being not that memorable. The bun was nice not toasted, The fries were yummy but I think that they came from a frozen bag. I would rate this place a 4 (out of 10) and recommend it to others if they are going on the Monday night.

1. Description - beef on a bun, nothing special here
2. Presentation - open faced with plenty of Fries
3. Taste - Fantastic but not gourmet
4. Toppings - Bacon, tomato
5. Bun - plain, no seeds, not toasted, but good quality bread.
6. Fries - Delicious but I think they were from a freezer.
7. Price - 5$ during happy hour, 10 otherwise
8. Overall Rank - 4
9. Overall Thoughts - Great spot on a Monday night
10. Would we Recommend it to others - Mondays, def. other days perhaps if the location was convent.

How Are We Going to Rate These Places?

If we are going around to these restaurants eating burgers we will need a good rating system. Here are eleven simple categories that we came up with:

1. Description
2. Presentation
3. Taste
4. Toppings
5. Bun
6. Fries
7. Price
8. Overall Rank
9. Overall Thoughts
10. Would we Recommend it to others

I think that the last 3 are the most important. Only time will tell. Lets get started putting these places to the test.