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Breaking down the Indianapolis burger scene
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Like most major metropolitan areas, Indianapolis has a wide arena of restaurants and food available to the genre aficionados. This holds especially true for fans of the classic American food: the hamburger. With restaurants running the gamut from high end fast food like Five Guys, to chains with excellent burgers like Cheeseburger in Paradise, all the way to certain "high end" steakhouses offering burgers as part of their regular fare, Indianapolis and the surrounding areas such as Carmel, Fishers, etc have everything a fan of the burger could want.
The burger spectrum ranges from "fast food" all the way up to gourmet burgers, with a lot of variation in between. Here's a breakdown of the different classifications of burgers. Think of it as a "quick reference guide" for the Indianapolis burger eater.
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Fast Food Burgers - This is probably what most people think of when they think "hamburger/cheeseburger". Heading out to the local McDonald's or Hardees (Carl's Jr. on the west coast) for a quick bite. Fast food is generally reliable in terms of consistency; you probably aren't going to get a top flight burger, but you're going to get a good product with a minimal amount of variation from store to store. In the Indy/Metro area, there are two "standout" fast food joints though. The aforementioned Five Guys is a chain that originated in the DC/Metro area and has expanded west to reach us in Indy. With a very simple menu (burger, cheeseburger, bacon burger, bacon cheeseburger, all in single or double patty) with a lot of options in the condiment area, the customer can literally "build" their own burger to suit their particular taste. The other area standout is a place called 96th St. Steakburgers, which takes the "everything fresh" concept from the west coast chain In-N-Out and brings it to Indianapolis, adding a twist and some great milkshakes on the way.
Casual Dining Burgers - Here's where you find your typical casual dining restaurants, places like Chili's, Applebees, etc. The burgers in this tier have the most fluctuation in quality, as some places like Cheeseburger in Paradise will actually cook your burger to order, while at other places like Applebees "medium rare" somehow turns into "medium well" on the grill. A lot of that is the fault of the corporate restaurant environment. If you're looking for a good burger from a casual restaurant chain in the Indianapolis area, try Cheeseburger in Paradise or Cheesecake Factory. There are few other solid ones as well, but the two specifically mentioned are definitely going to cook your burger to order...and get it right.
Pub Burgers - This is where the burger shines. The small chains, locally owned shops, places like PJ O'Keefes, the Broad Ripple Brewpub, and Mo's Irish Pub in Noblesville are excellent examples of this genre. While Mo's is part of a larger chain of restaurants, their burgers are cooked to order, and excellent. The great thing about the pub burger is that there's almost an infinite amount of variation, and each restaurant has their own specialties. You can find bison burgers, Irish burgers, patty melts, you name it in this category; if I could only eat burgers from one genre, it would be pub burgers.
The Outliers - There are some restaurants that don't "fit" in a specific category. For example, the Midwestern classic Steak & Shake serves you like a casual dining restaurant, but trends more toward "fast food" in their presentation. On the flip side, Bub's Burgers in Carmel also serves you like casual dining, but the burger quality and variation is much closer to the pub burger in execution. Not all restaurants that serve the American classic are going to be neatly defined into categories - which is what makes the search for the best burgers so much fun.
You can literally eat your way from Bloomington to West Lafayete dining on nothing but quality burgers in Indiana. The Indy Metro area is fortunate to have such a wide variety of burgers - from the top of the fast food pile all the way to a delicious cooked to order Kobe Beef burger.
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