Trip Reports

The Best Burger in the "World"

3/18/98 - 3/30/98

Bottom Line: There was no really GREAT burger that rated tops in every category, but some came close.

Whew! With that out of the way, let's begin. Are you all ready? Ah, c'mon you can do better than that, Are you all ready?????!! (Ooops. I'll calm down now. Don't you hate it when they do that?)

As a followup to a recent series of threads (on rec.arts.disney.parks) on where to find the best hamburgers in WDW, we recently spent a big part of our recent 11-day stay finding the best burger. We tested a dozen different places mentioned in recent threads. We also added a couple that were either not on the list or were outside WDW. And for balance, we added a couple of fast food places outside WDW (Burger King and Krystal, a local "small burger" place similar to White Castle or Little Tavern). We also took breaks from burgers so we wouldn't burn out; some of our favorite "other" places included Sonny's Barbeque on 192, Ponderosa on 536, barbequed shishkebobs at our Ft. Wilderness home, and Disney parks.

Raters included: Dad, Mom, K & B (two boys, 11 and 8). We rated burgers in a variety of categories, including: Overall Taste, Meat Taste, Bun Appearance and Taste, Toppings, Sides (french fries and "stuff"), Presentation, Service, Efficiency, Restaurant Context/Theme and Decor, and Price/Value (note that a higher price is ok if the burger's good, the restaurant is special, or some other factor makes value more important than price).

We won't list all the places and results, only the highlights. Some comments are unanimous or consensus; others were majority. An occaisional dissent will be shown:

The Award for the WORST Burger anywhere goes to: (the envelope, please): Krystal. These were steamed burgers, tasted like they were microwaved, came in little cardboard tubes, and had just a splash of ketchup and mustard with a tasteless pickle (Dad says pickles can be a very important part of overall taste, but the boys won't eat them - which means I get them all - so if there's no taste with ALL those pickles, you know something's wrong). The drive-through people messed up our order and gave us a chili dog instead of a corn dog (yes, we know, bad for the kids - you think it was for the kids?). The only redeeming feature was that they were cheap, and we ate them at a spring baseball game in the sunshine.
Worst Burger on WDW property: Got to be Beaches and Cream. I know lots of people seem to like it, but we must have hit it on a bad day. The place was jammed, noisy, and no real decor/context. Because there was no table, we got the burgers to go and the presentation was consequently awful. The meat had no taste; like eating the styrofoam carton. The service was slow and not friendly ("outta my way" - ok, perhaps this is part of the "shore" mentality of the resort, but that's more like an authentic boardwalk). They messed up our order. The food was barely warm, while the No Way Jose sundae we got was delivered so early it had melted to liquid before the burgers arrived. The choice of toppings was limited and the cheeses all tasted the same. And the hot dog was literally inedible, with a sour, spoiled taste (yes, our 8 yo ate more hotdogs in one week than the entire country of India - this was the only one he wouldn't eat more than one bite, and after trying it, I agreed). The price was high, The redeeming factors were that the drinks were excellent, and it was nice to sit by Stormalong Bay. Altogether, way below regular Disney burger standards, and that's pretty low.
Five Best Burgers on WDW Property (Including Crossroads):

In reverse order: #5) Whispering Canyon: Bun, service and restaurant context were good points here. We had Jim Dandy as our waiter, and he reacted well when we started singing "It's a Small World." When I ordered the Chili, he brought an enormous tub of birch beer. The bun was well-baked, stood up under hand pressure, and had a nice "brand" on it to carry though the wilderness theme. The meat was less good, price was high (even at lunch, but ok in the context of the "event"), presentation was nice, but limited. Limited selection of toppings. Sides were not memorable; we asked for ketchup several times, but just got a bottle.
#4) Jungle Jim's at the Crossroads Shopping Center (this is Disney property). The restaurant is decorated with lots of plants and animal "statues" as well as a large helicopter hanging from the ceiling. Each drink came with a small plastic giraffe. The menu lists LOTS of different kinds of burgers, with a wide variety of toppings. The burger meat itself was the best tasting here of any of the restaurants (although Shades of Green came close). (The 11 yo complained that his "plainest" burger (au jus), however, was not very good, but that's because he didn't dip it into the "jus".) Service, however, was not very good; just going through the motions. The Jungle Jim (alcoholic) drink was on special and was actually pretty good. Price/value was ok, but not great. Same with sides.
#3) Sand Trap Bar & Grill at the Bonnet Creek Golf Course (just beyond Ft. Wilderness). Disney Sports Bars do very well with burgers. Here the bun was freshly-made, with a swirl on the top. The burger was cooked just right. The toppings were fresh and flavorful. Overall flavor was very good. Sides were very good, fresh (although the 8 yo didn't like the homemade potato chips because they were "overcooked" - Dad sacrificed and ate them). The only thing that was a bit lacking was the context and decor, but, c'mon, it's a golf course bar. It had a great view of greens, if you ignored the jolly golfers clacking in on spikes. Big drinks and plentiful - great on a hot day. Relatively low cost (given that it's a golf course). Altogether the best Disney-owned and run resort (not parks) burger.
#2) Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand in the Animal Kingdom. I know, all you McDonald's haters will be shocked, but here the burgers are Disney. The only McD's things are the chicken nuggets and the fries (which are still the best, and far better than Disney regular). The taste of the meat was excellent, and the toppings were fresh, flavorful, plentiful and varied. The bun actually held up under pressure (unusual for a Disney bun). The restaurant theme and context were spectacular. The theme here is that an old rundown mining camp had been revived when dino fossils were discovered, and now everything has been dino-fied to attract tourists. Mom kept wandering around saying "you mean they put that here just for decoration?". Even the canned tomato sauce in the "supplies" up at the top of the "tent" had been changed to read "tomatoasaurus". The boys particularly liked the pictures of dinos made by peoples' handprints. The only bad things were the service and efficiency. Perhaps in keeping with the new McDonald's tradition, the front counter staff couldn't understand English, and the poor fellow in the line next to us couldn't get his two lemonades. Bad show, especially in a place with only four main entrees and a few drinks. And whoever decided that the assembly line should be one single window at right angles to the service counter (so a "suit" was trying to help by assembling and reaching over the front person)? Why not more windows to pass food through to the counter? We had to wait for a long time for our relatively simple order. I put down most of these problems to preview "jitters," and assume they'll be fixed. But still, a great burger in great surroundings. The best of the Disney Burgers.
And the number one best burger in the "World" (I hate to say I told you so, but I did):

#1) Evergreens Sports Bar in Shades of Green (the military hotel across from the Polynesian - the old Disney Inn). You have to go through a guard post to get there, just like at any military base. We rolled down the window and said, "We're here to check the burgers." No smile. "No, really." "Yes, sir." Silence. "Ok, we're here for lunch." "Ok, sir. Place this on your dashboard, take the first right and park anywhere in the first two rows." "Um, ok. Thanks." "Yes, sir." Evergreens is at the very back of the hotel complex, which is not run by Disney, but by the Dept. of Defense. It doubles as the pool bar, and was quite busy outside, but quiet and empty inside when we were there. The waiter was military professional, efficient, quiet, and respectful. (It helped that Mom runs military bases for a big private company/defense contractor, so we were used to this.) Ah, but the burger. Served in traditional sports bar style in a plastic basket, it was flavorful, cooked to perfection, topped just as ordered, with great sides in abundance. The lettuce was a little wilted, but that was because the burger was very hot. The bun was well-made and tasty. The service was efficient and friendly (under the circumstances "how you'all doin', sir, ma'am?"). The decor was dark and filled with golf memorabilia (it's on a golf course), but the sports tv's were thankfully set up so they didn't intrude on our particular space. The only problem was that the bathrooms were outside, and also served the pool, so the floors were wet. Value was good. Altogether, the number one on our list of the best burgers.
We're sorry if we didn't list your favorite, but these were ours.

B, J, K & B Zall

BZall@aol.com

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