Burgers Around Hartford

Fatty Melt at Max BurgerThe Hartford area has become a hot spot for hamburger restaurants. We’ve always had the fast food places, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and the like, but over the past two years there has be an explosion of more upscale places featuring the burger.

We like burgers, and have tried many of the options (though not all … yet). Each offers something a little different, and has their own strengths and weaknesses. In alphabetical order:

* Announced, but not open, as of 11/10/2011

Another Note: This is not the complete list of places to get yummy hamburgers, just a list of restaurants with a strong burger theme. And it’s not even complete in this subset. At the time of the writing, a place called Burger Baby was announced for Downtown Hartford (hopefully the website will be up by the time you read this)

For me (Kyle), there is no one place that has the best of everything. If it were possible to mix and match a meal, I would get my burger at Five Guys, onion rings at Counter Burger, and a shake from The Burger Joint. The Five Guys fries are also top notch, and the price is at the lower end (since it’s more like fast food than fine dining), so I tend to gravitate there even though milkshakes are not available.

Amy agrees that there is no one restaurant that hits the magical burger-fries/rings-shake trifecta. She is partial to the Plan B burger, the Five Guys fries, and the Counter Burger shake. She also noted that she felt like she needed to do more research into the matter since we haven’t thoroughly vetted all the options. Mmmm, sounds like delicious work…

So readers, what do you see as the best-of-the-best out there?

6 thoughts on “Burgers Around Hartford

  1. I’ve not been to any of these places. I buy a pound of ground beef from Eagle Wood Farms, form it into three fat burgers, cook in a very hot cast iron frying pan, top with some Granville extra sharp cheddar, and serve on toasted home baked bread. All local, all highest quality, totally delicious, and takes maybe 20 minutes to prepare in my own home. I have never had a burger out that really knocked my socks off.

    I do LOVE Harry’s Place in Colchester though! But that is not fancy and not really in the Hartford area…

  2. From Kimberly via Facebook:

    Very interesting blog. First let me say that I take your foodie opinion as a serious one based solely on your assessment of Blue Ribbon. There is one major player you failed to mention, the burger co in Glastonbury. I highly recommend you go there next.

    For me, plan b hands down has the tastiest burger. Though I love max burger atmosphere and the fact you can get a 5oz one. Counter burger is fun! I love a fried egg on my burger. For $1 it adds an element that needs nothing else. Finally, who can resist the Shroom burger at red robin.

    Looks like tonight might be plan b takeout. By the way, I finally figured out why it’s called Plan B- because you never can get in there and should always have a second choice restaurant. Side note- their lobster roll sliders are able average.

  3. I can’t believe they are opening two more burger places in West Hartford. Not surprising, though, given that Plan B and Max Burger are always packed!

  4. I don’t understand the appeal of Harry’s in Colchester. I never have. I lived there for over 20 years and ate there about 6 times. Never thrilled. Sometimes the burgers smelled/tasted like wet dog.

    It’s a tough call but I think that my favorite burger AND fries is at Five Guys. I first went to a Five Guys in Virginia and was elated when they branched out up here. No one beats those fries…..oh and there are so many!

    Favorite shakes are the spiked shakes at Max Burger. Yummers!

    Despite my preferences, I have to say that I tend to frequent The Counter more than either of the two establishments I mention above – they are a contender with flavor, but they are also in a great location, have lots of options to create your own burger, and have less of a ‘fast food’ feel than Five Guys.

  5. Great rundown Amy. Had no idea where were so many burger bars around the area! Just tried 5 guys about a month back up in MA and was not impressed at all. Sorry. Plan B takes the cake for burgers/fries above RR, Max, Counter 5G. Mooyah was a pretty solid mention as well. Granted Counter’s shakes are amazing. Have yet to try the other guys and Burger Baby appears to be on a tear via Yelp reviews so this is clearly next up. Esp since I hear they have a chocolate shake that is to die for!

Comments are closed.