Dunn/Hartford Courant

NYDAILYNEWS.com- Talk about a heart-stopper. The donut burger – a bacon cheeseburger with a buttered Krispy Kreme glazed donut standing in for a bun – is becoming a hit on the fair circuit and among some far-out foodies.

Amusingly, the heart-stopping sandwich was sold just outside the West Springfield agricultural fair’s “Better Living Center.”

Pioneered in the South and popularized by Food Network host Paula Deen, it was a big hit at this year’s Big E fair in Massachusetts. Fairgoers bought about 1,000 “Craz-E Burgers” each day of the fair’s 17-day run, which ended Sunday, organizers said.

At 1,500 calories per, that adds up to 2.5 million calories worth of sugary, cheesy, bacon-dressed beef – or the creation of an additional 730 pounds of waistline jiggle.

Oh look, two more things that I love…donuts and cheeseburgers.  Bring it on with the calories…don’t be scuuured.  This comes as no big suprise that Paula Deen is the brains behind this creation.  That woman figures how to add butter on everything.  I think she may even put butter in her coffee, under her pillow and a little under her armpits??? This heart attack looks pretty delicious but I am going to go out on a limb and say you might want to join New York Sports Club or invest in a treadmill if you are going to make this a habit.  Looks delicious…you only live once, right?

KYPOST.com- -The Red Robin commercial for a cheeseburger with mozzarella sticks on it. Do you really need THAT much cheese? I’ve never eaten a cheeseburger an thought – gee, if only there were more cheese on top… and it were fried.  Then it would quench my thirst for all things dairy.

Too much cheese? I am not even going to answer that.  Come on, did you evenlook at the picture…

Photo by Konstantin Sergeyev/nymag.com

NYMAG.com – Named after the parking lot it replaced, this greenhouse of a building resembles a food court once you get inside. The blonde park benches? Not actually wood. Those garden chairs? Actually plastic. That fireplace? An electronic screen. Who knows whether the ivy is climbing the walls or glued on? At least a very real breeze is coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The best way to escape the Playmobil décor is to sit outside at one of the picnic tables on the small patio. Though it’s no beer garden, Soho Park is as good a place as any to pair a 16 oz. stein of Schneider Weiss with Belgian fries. With half of the six beers on tap from Brooklyn’s Sixpoint brewery, local pride comes into play. Neighborhood nods include fried pickles from Guss’s and sauerkraut from the Essex Street Market.

— Daniel Maurer

A colleague of mine tells me they have a sick burger with a great sauce that is messy to get down and dirty with (He says it better in his southern drawl and a few 4 letter words but you catch my drift).  Soho is littered with small hole-in-walls and hidden gems and I think this could be one.  Check it out and let us know what you think.  I’ll be sure to send my Carolinian work buddy after you if you don’t like it…kidding!  However, don’t be surprised if you see him here mowing down the burger, double-fisting Bud Heavies with his fly down…Kidding again! (not really)

-Thanks for the info Barnes

HEARTATTACKGRILL.com- The Heart Attack Grill^® is a hospital themed restaurant in Chandler Arizona, which has become internationally famous for embracing and promoting an unhealthy diet of incredibly large hamburgers. Customers are referred to as “patients,” orders as “prescriptions,” and the waitresses as “nurses.”

The menu includes the Single Bypass Burger^®, Double Bypass Burger^®, Triple Bypass Burger^®, and the Quadruple Bypass Burger^®, ranging from half a pound to two pounds of beef. Also on the menu are “Flatliner Fries” (cooked in pure lard), no filter cigarettes, hard liquor, beer, and full sugar coke.

CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO/ cbsnew.com

One of the restaurants most celebrated (and widely publicized) gimmicks is the free wheelchair service provided to those “patients” who successfully finish the Quadruple Bypass Burger^®. Amidst a flurry of photography from tourist bystanders the “patients” are pushed in a wheelchair out to their cars by the nurse of their choice.

This place is out of control.  If you didn’t watch the short video, scroll back up and do it NOW!  I Can’t believe what I just saw between the size of the burgers (especially the Quadruple Bypass Burger, nurses with more cleavage than Pam Anderson, Luck Strike’s, 8,000 calories and a wheel chair.  They have really found their niche here.  Oprah must be a regular while she is in between diets.
-Thanks M. Mckenna for the video

LOUISLUNCH.com- One day in the year 1900 a man dashed into a small New Haven luncheonette and asked for a quick meal that he could eat on the run. Louis Lassen, the establishment’s owner, hurriedly sandwiched a broiled beef patty between two slices of bread and sent the customer on his way, so the story goes, with America’s first hamburger.

CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO

If you want to visit Louis’ for the first time, yet not appear to be a novice, you may want to learn a little of Louis’ Lingo. For example, a Louis’ regular might walk up to the counter and say “gimme two cheese works, a californian, a salad, and a birch”. This translates (roughly) to “May I please have two original hamburgers with cheese, tomato and onion, cooked medium rare and served on toast, a hot dog with cheese, relish and onion, an order of potato salad, and an icy-cold birch beer. Thank you.”

Shhhhh…Keep it down.  I am practicing my lingo!

-Thanks Mr. Cook for the info

WASHINGTONPOST.com- The 30-year-old contracting consultant had boarded the New York-bound bus at Dupont Circle last Friday afternoon. She had been looking forward to the trip for weeks. She had just lost some weight and had planned a weekend of shopping to “celebrate a new figure” at stores around Broadway and SoHo.

At a New Jersey travel plaza, the driver was late getting back to the bus. Dungan noticed that he had a bag full of energy drinks and a cheeseburger. “Which he proceeded to eat with both hands while driving with an elbow,” she recalled. “You could only see one of his hands. I was scared. I had seen stuff on TV about banning texting. I thought, ‘What about eating cheeseburgers with both hands?’ “

Fed up, Dungan booked a seat on a train for the return trip to Washington on Sunday.

“When I saw the driver giving us the finger, I wasn’t sure,” she said. “When I saw [the bus driver] throwing wrappers out the window when I knew he had a trash bag, I was mad. Then, when I saw him driving with his elbows eating a cheeseburger, I was freaked out.”

Someone give this dude a promotion.  Big deal, he ate a cheeseburger while driving and threw some garbage out the window.  No offense, but this woman needs to relax.  Settle down, sit back and enjoy the ride lady!  You should be grateful this nice gentleman is driving you from DC to NY.  Let the man eat enjiy his burger…baby’s gotta eat!!!

CLEVELAND.com- Ohio has a proud hamburger heritage.

It’s the birthplace of Wendy’s, White Castle, and Max and Erma’s, and the National Hamburger Festival held each July in Akron goes so far as to make the claim that America’s favorite sandwich was invented by Ohioans. True, their first burger was served in New York in 1885, but the men who came up with the idea hailed from the Rubber City. It’s like Wilbur and Orville Wright making the first flight in North Carolina instead of Dayton.

Motz crisscrossed the nation in the quest for the country’s best burger, and Ohioans can be proud that six of those 100 are in the Buckeye State. Burger aficionados could plan a road trip around this book.

In his book, Motz focuses on Thurman’s “head honcho,” the Thurman Burger, a towering 7-inch stack of beef (¾ pound), overloaded with a half-pound of sliced ham, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, onions, jalapeno peppers, mayonnaise and an oozing overlayer of mozzarella and American cheeses. It’s $9.49. Motz’s advice: The bottom bun is already disintegrated by all the juice, so it’s best to squeeze the burger tight and turn it upside down.

Ohio makes its case for a legitamate burger landscape.  There are some hidden gems out there that few outside the Ohio state borders know about.  Ohio known for its pedigree in high school & college football, one of the greatest sports films of all time; Major League and the back drops for the legendary comdey; Tommy Boy.  This book by Mr. Motz takes us inside the Buckeye State for the juicy inside scoop of what very few tag as one of Ohio’s finest, the cheeseburger.

Week 5- Another week of shake-up in the polls this week and some serious question marks around BCS contenders.  Can Oklahoma win on the road in Miami without Sam Bradford? Who will win the SEC shooutout between the LSU Tigers and the fiesty Georgia Bulldogs? Is LSU a National Championship contender? What California team will show up against the unpredicatble USC Trojans?

The National Football League is also due for some surprises.  Favre’s Revenge- A MNF showcase that everyone is talking about.  Can red hot Joe Flacco lead the 3-0 Ravens to victory in Foxboro? And can Rex Ryan’s D hold up against Mr. Offense, Drew Brees, and the New Orleans Saints.  BurgerBets makes his picks for you!

BURGER BETS (2-4)

BurgerBets here,

I am back after a disastrous 2-4 week last week which cut my burger intake to only one a day (had to cut out the standard lunch burger).  But luckily I am starving this week so I am looking to kill it.  I am guaranteeing 4-2 minimum this week.  As always, home team in caps.  Lines according to Sportsbook.com (give me a free bonus for that plug!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

NCAA:

Penn State (-7.5) @ ILLINOIS -  I know, I picked the Lions last week to avoid their now annual flop against Iowa.  I know, the Lions are on the road here.  But State was embarassed on national TV last week and they are looking for redemption.  PSU rolls here.  Should win by 2 TDs.

MICH ST (-3.5) vs Michigan-  Man the Burger Boy may kill me for this one.  For those of you who don’t know, the Burger Boy has a passionate hatred for the Spartans.  But that is NOT why I am taking Michigan State here.  This line just doesn’t make sense to BurgerBets.  Michigan is undefeated and looks great, so why would this line be here?  My guess is that everyone and their mother will be betting their burger money on the Wolverines, so don’t mind me if I go ahead and take MSU.  Its gunna be a SPARTY PARTY in East Lansing!!!!!!!!!

BYU (-23.5) vs Utah St -  I mean BYU is just a much better football team in this equation.  They are still reeling from getting smoked by the Seminoles and I would imagine they are looking to turn Utah St into burger meat.  Lay the points and watch the Cougars roll 45-10.  I don’t care how you bring ‘em, just Brigham Young!!!!!!!!!!!!

NFL:

INDY (-10.5) vs Seattle-   Peyton Manning at home vs Seneca Wallace and a injury depleted Seahawks team.  Do I even need to say anything else?  I mean I know Vegas probably couldn’t go any higher with this line, but come on.  I think I would take it at 13.5.  This is a joke.  I can’t believe my whole weekend is going to be free.  I might start lighting money on fire.

Dallas (-3) @ DENVER-   This line screams “Take Dallas” and I don’t care.  I don’t care if Denver ends up 16-0, I don’t believe in that team.  I don’t care if Tractor Traylor comes out of retirement and beats Kobayashi (BB’s hero) in a burger eating contest.  They are a fraudulent 3-0 if I have ever seen one.I mean Tony Romo is a complete zero and probably the 31st coolest starting QB in the league, but Kyle Orton is the 32nd.    The Cowgirls will control this game from the start and win 23-17.

NEW ORLEANS (-7) vs NY Jets- The Jets burned me last week.  They played solid at home, got a couple lucky bounces and beat a desperate Titans team.  This is where their luck runs out.  The Saints offense is simply too good.  I am well aware of how good the Jets D is, but the simple fact is, the Saints would put up 27 on the ‘85 Bears.  The Jets cannot score with them.  Saints 31, Jets 21.  Straight cash homey.

Stick with me and your burgers will be free!

BurgerBets

Photo by Kate Attardo/nymag.com

NYMAG.com- With some help from close friend and consigliere Mario Batali, a chef recommended by Jamie Oliver, and a cadre of high-profile music-business investors, A&R executive Ken Friedman opened The Spotted Pig in the 100-seat West Village premises formerly occupied by Le Zoo. But don’t call it a restaurant: The Pig, despite an Italian-accented menu crafted by English expat April Bloomfield, late of London’s esteemed River Cafe and fresh on the heels of a stint last summer at Chez Panisse, belongs to that British subgenre called the “gastro-pub,” a bar serving simple, straightforward food. Bloomfield’s interpretation transcends the steak-and-kidney-pie norm with char-grilled calf’s liver with onions, crispy pancetta and argula, or slow-roasted king salmon with organic Italian zucchini, basil and mint. Friedman, a Los Angeles native who says he’s enthralled by atmospheric New York taverns, justifies the “pub” part of the equation with a 100-bottle wine list, two cask-conditioned beers, and the compulsory Irish stout—an offering, no doubt, for bands that prefer to drink their dinner. — Robin Raisfeld

This place is dynamite…maybe the best Roquefort Burger in the city, hands down.  The fried pig ear is a good compliment to the LARGE and juicy burger (yea you heard me…pig ear).  Living in Manhattan I never see celebs…like never. My old roommate use to see an A list celebrity once per week.  However, my “biggest star-struck” moment was here seeing Brooklyn’s finest, Jay Z.  He is a regular but couldn’t find a table tonight.  On my way out of the restaurant I found a Maybach and an Escalade with he and his entourage mowing down their burgers.  The main attraction here is not Jay Z but the blue cheese burger.  Check it out!

wwtdd.com

BEAT.BODOGLIFE.com- If you want to be really, really angry today – let me help you. Audrina Patridge – yes, the one who looks like her brain is filled with rocks, makes $100K per episode on that terrible show, The Hills.

Celebslam articulates how we all feel about this travesty perfectly: “Audrina Patridge, master of the blank stare and phrase ‘um,’ is making $2 million this year. I will now roll my college degree up and beat myself to death with it. I think that’s really the only proper response here.”

Basically, Audrina has it all: cheeseburgers (pictured above), a spread in Maxim, a reality show, plastic surgery (allegedly), a lot of money and a stalker. How come she gets everything? Want to get revenge? Make your own money by betting on reality TV. That will show her. Don’t have an account?