FOOD

C-J staff picks for best burgers in Louisville

Courier-Journal
The $7 burger Shady Lane Cafe at 4806 Brownsboro Road stars beneath a humble Sara Lee bun with home-fried potato chips.

Shady Lane Cafe has never advertised but the hamburgers outsell anything else on the menu at the mom-and-pop cafe located where Brownsboro Road meets the Watterson Expressway.

At $7 and "a pinch over one third of a pound," the juicy burger is cooked to order. More important, each bite feels like home in the diner where "the wealthiest people in Louisville and construction workers eat side by side," chef Bill Smith said.

More refined and grass-fed beef eats can be had around town like the spectacular $17 Harvest Restaurant burger with smoked chevre and hog jowl bacon in Nulu, the $15 number on pretzel bread at Holy Grale on Bardstown Road or Grind Burger Kitchen beginning at $9.50 on Preston Highway.

"There is no pretense about it," said Smith, who traded a career in fine dining for his family diner. "I want to keep the people who can't afford expensive burgers coming in. I'm right on the edge now for some people."

THE C-J STAFF'S BEST BURGER PICKS

Hand-formed by Smith every morning, the burger is 30 percent fat, 70 percent beef and best-cooked medium on a seasoned flat grill between a lightly toasted Sara Lee bun that lets the meat star. You can add fries or homemade potato chips (my favorite) on the side. A veteran line cook from Jack Fry's, Equus and Captain's Quarters, Smith, 61, says he is "the heart" while his wife Susi Smith "is the soul."

Susi Smith is likely to remember your name amid the line of customers that reach the door most days. You can find a quiet spot upstairs in the back or sit across from the cash register at "Ed's Table," where a plaque on the wall honors the 94-year-old widower who ate daily there for a decade until his death last winter.

After Ed Richter's funeral, his family and friends marked that passing by crowding into Shady Lane for lunch. For me, the ultimate burger experience includes intimacy like that in a restaurant where you can relax without emptying your pocketbook.

"The kindness of Bill and Susi Smith made me feel warm and fuzzy before I even took a bite of my burger," author Ashlee Clark Thompson wrote in the closing to her new book "Louisville Diners."

Thompson singled out Shady Lane's most popular offering as a "burger done right," adding it "proves that simplicity can overpower the fanciest of flavors."

The book, "Louisville Diners" leans toward unpretentious, quality eats. Thompson also endorsed the Ollie Burger at Ollie's Trolley at 978 S. Third Street in Old Louisville. Fully dressed with mozzarella cheese and "Ollie Sauce," that cash-only burger is another Courier-Journal staff favorite.

In recent years, Shady Lane's hours were reduced to just lunch because of the nightly aches of Bill Smith's arthritic grilling arm. But a new shoulder joint installed last year with health insurance available from the Affordable Care Act gave Smith's arm new life, and the diner reopened for dinner recently on Thursday and Friday nights. With those newly expanded hours, Shady Lane's burgers, as well as legendary meat loaf, soups, or homemade desserts are in reach for anyone without the time to zip out to the East End for lunch.

Located at 4806 Brownsboro Road, you can find Shady Lane's specials hours, specials, online at Facebook or by calling (502) 893-5118.

Shady Lane Cafe style hamburger

The best hamburgers are cooked on a seasoned flat grill or cast iron skilled, chef Bill Smith said. While he would not part with his secret blend, Smith advised home cooks to season hand-formed patties burgers with beef stock and a mix of garlic and onion. The worst mistake cooks make is grilling the burger too long, he said. A well-grilled patty should yield slightly to a finger's touch.

1/3 pound (plus a pinch more) ground beef composed of 30 percent fat, 70 meat.

1 Sara Lee hamburger bun

Dressings of your choice, including lettuce, tomato, pickle, fresh or grilled onions and a smear of mayonnaise on the bun

Onion salt, garlic powder and a beef-based seasoning or Worcestershire sauce to taste.

Hand form the patty and season to taste. Cook the patty on a seasoned flat griddle or cast iron pan. A seasoned cooking surface is one of the tricks at Shady Lane cafe. Cook the burger but do not press down on it. That makes the juices run out and dries out the patty. When the burger is almost done, lightly oil the cooking surface and toast the hamburger bun to your liking.

Source: Chef Bill Smith, Shady Lane Cafe

Grind Burger Kitchen, 829 E Market St.

Grind Burger Kitchen's B&B burger – which has bacon, brie and habanero jam — is one of my favorites, but a little pricey at $11 and no side included. I think Highland's Taproom Grill has one of the best burgers in town (full disclosure, my fiance Devon used to work there.) Plus, I think it has the perfect bun-to-meat ratio. Devon and I talk about burgers pretty much all the time.

Education reporter Kirsten Clark

Holy Grale, 1034 Bardstown Road

I am not a huge burger fan (I know, blasphemy), but I have found myself craving Holy Grale's burger. The combination of the bacon, caramelized onions, cheese and arugula, plus whatever sauce they put on it, is just delicious! Plus the burger itself is juicy and the bread is great, too.

Education reporter Allison Ross

Dizzy Whizz, 217 W St. Catherine St.

Dizzy Whizz is by far my favorite, greasy spoon cheeseburger. It is a fat, juicy cheeseburger than forces you to eat with a napkin, served on an old-school sesame seed bun with your favorite toppings. I like ketchup, mayo and pickle. And you gotta order the crinkle fries to go with it. Perfect Saturday lunch.

Storytelling reporter Kristina Goetz

Check's Cafe, 1101 E Burnett Ave.

Gourmet burgers can be extraordinary, but a traditional burger is the most comfortable of all comfort food. No one does it better than Check's Café, a Schnitzelberg institution that keeps it simple and delicious with burgers that actually look like the ones you see in commercials: juicy, stacked tall, and begging for a cold beer to wash them down. The single with cheese is plenty, so that's why I always get the double. Moderation is for suckers.

Music reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett

Holy Grale, Mussel & Burger Bar, 9200 Taylorsville Road

The Holy Grale's burger is a perfect combination of a crispy, pretzel bun, a juicy, tender burger and their perfect fritje sauce. It's every flavor you could want in one burger. The Mussel and Burger Bar's BBB burger is an undertaking only for the hungriest. It has a fried egg and maple-glazed pork belly on top of an unreal burger patty. So, so filthy and so, so good.

University of Louisville reporter Jeff Greer

Mussel & Burger Bar & The Brown Hotel, 335 W Broadway

At the Mussel & Burger Bar, the "C.E.O" burger is a massive stack of top-quality beef and a bunch of ingredients I can barely pronounce, including Gruyere cheese, baby arugula, confit tomatoes, truffle aioli and caramelized onions. I barely know what a truffle is, and I had to ask my girlfriend what foie gras was, but it's an option for an extra $7. Get the foie gras. At the Brown Hotel, the "Angus Beef 10 oz. Cheeseburger" from the Brown Hotel's lobby bar is … well, exactly what it sounds like. A true classic, it comes with bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onions and your choice of five easy-to-pronounce cheeses. Did I mention it's a 10-ounce patty?

Designer Kyle Slagle