Hugh Jass Burgers

Lexington, Kentucky is a college town and like all college towns, there are plenty of burger joints and casual eateries.  You have your old standbys like Tolly Ho's and Two Keys that have been there for years.  And you'll find a new one every month in the same place you'd eaten at another just months before.  Sometimes they come and go before you've even had a chance to try their offerings and you never know if you missed anything.  But sometimes, just sometimes, the cards fall just right and you get to try a place and you find that it is pretty darn good and it seems as if it might last for a while.  Thanks to Groupon I found Hugh Jass Burgers.  I'm always looking for  a good burger.  Too often the sandwich isn't juicy enough, the cook burns it to a crisp, some fool decides to load it up with fancy toppings, or it's just a plain Jane I could cook up using crappy frozen beef patties.  So I went into Hugh Jass with a slight smile due to the play on words (*wink*) but without high expectations.  I was going to pay half price for a burger so all I wanted was something to eat that didn't make me cry.  This is what I got:

A little breakfast with my beef.  I'd say this is about three days worth of protein!



A 10 ounce burger on a nice normal, soft bun.  A perfectly cooked egg.  So many times the egg is cooked to quickly and the edges get that crispy brown thing going on.  Some people like that, but it's always been a sign of a novice cook to me.  The tomato was one those awesome slices you get in the summertime that remind you why you keep buying them all winter long from the grocery store in hopes of finding just one with that kind of flavor.  The bacon, too, was awesome.  I don't like my bacon to have any of that uncooked fat on it, but I don't like it to be too crisp, either.  If it's cooked right, the bacon is just cooked enough to give it some firmness and just undercooked enough that you still get that mouth watering melting of pork exploding in your mouth. 

The star, though, was the burger.  Ten beautiful ounces of luscious, juicy meat that makes love to your taste buds with each bite - overloading your senses with a gnarly meatitude.  When it first came out I didn't think I'd be able to finish it.  I'm not a small girl and I've been known to polish off a pizza (20 years ago), but this thing was huge.  I finished it though.  All of it.  Before I even knew it.  I ate my last bite and looked down in chagrin and disappointment that there was no more. 

While my burger was wonderful and huge and I almost wished for more - my stomach was screaming No! while my taste buds were attempting to smother it - the burger that was brought out to a young man at an outside table made me feel like a newbie, a wanna be burger connoisseur.

This monster is 50 ounces of beautiful beef.  Of course, there is a challenge associated with this beast.  Eat the burger and fries in 25 minutes and the meal is free, your name is placed upon the wall of fame, and you receive a t-shirt.  I'm not sure if it's worth it.  After eating this thing, I would be spoiled on hamburgers for years.  Nah, I'll stick with my 10 ounce beauty.

My aunt, who accompanied me at lunch, was daunted by the size of the normal 10 ouncer.  So instead she chose the minis.  Only, there were three at 2 1/2 ounces each.  All of 7 1/2 ounces of beef on three sweet and soft hawaiian rolls.  Little morsels of goodness.

Here' to hoping I get to enjoy some more Hugh Jass Burgers in the future and for years to come.