Entries tagged with 'Winstead's'
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 22, 2007 at 5:22 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to be a little self-indulgent. This week's Grilled features Honey P., one of A Hamburger Today's founding editors. While we're a little averse to the sound of our own keyboards tapping, we thought you might want to know more about the folks who had a hand in making this site what it is. And so, without further ado, let's get Grillin'! —The Mgmt.
Name: Honey P.
Location: New York City
Occupation: Journalist
How often do you eat burgers?
Used to be about two times a week but too much Oprah and Dr. Mehmet Oz has me paranoid about heart disease so I’m averaging about one patty every one to two weeks. Regardless, I usually can’t resist.
Where did you eat your most recent one?
At an old school drive-in called the Charcoaler in El Paso, Texas. I had the area’s classic green chile burger. It was fantastic, no grease, fresh ingredients, perfectly palm size, and it tasted like you grilled it yourself in the backyard.
American, cheddar, other?
Cheddar, blue, gruyère or jalapeño Jack. I reserve American for summertime grill-outs and the Fourth, when you can’t seem to escape it. But it really does melt so well onto the burger. I just can’t renounce my expensive tastes. Well, not yet.
Ketchup or mustard?
Depends what else is on the burger for me. For example, ketchup and cheddar make a perfect pair, but if the burger has bacon and blue cheese, then I like a Dijon mustard. With American, Heinz and French’s is a classic combo. And for a really wild time, a mayo-ketchup mix is usually super tasty.
Sesame-seed or plain?
I don’t really care. The makeup of the bun is more important—soft, so it soaks up the juices but hearty enough that it holds the thing together and doesn’t fall apart. I like the taste sesame adds but it’s not deciding factor.
Grilled, griddled, or broiled?
Grilled. ‘Cause an open flame does a burger right. Despite some of the haters around here, I love the Corner Bistro burger, and I know that’s broiled, so perhaps broiled is my second choice.
And how would you like that done, miss?
Medium is my rule of thumb, but if your meat can hold its own, then medium-rare.
Continue reading »
Posted by Hamburglar Hadley, June 20, 2005 at 3:00 PM
KANSAS CITY
There's very little the intrepid reporters at A Hamburger Today wouldn't do for our readers, just as there's very little I wouldn't do just to spend a minute or two with the gorgeous though notoriously less photogenic AHT editrix Honey P. When I caught wind that Honey P. was spending her Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City, I immediately set out to the shoulder of the 101 freeway with my thumb out in hopes of meeting her there for just one burger.
After a cross-country hitchhike filled with trials, tribulations, and increasingly anti-evolutionary zealots, I finally arrived on Honey P's second-to-last day in The K.C. to catch her working her way to Winstead's, one of Kansas City's oldest and most famous burger spots.
Winstead's is as classic a burger joint as Kansas City has. An albino diner complete with jukebox, counter, and leather-clad booths, it's in the '50s style, evoking that treasured golden age of burgers, though the chain dates back to the '40's.
I liked what Winstead's was cookin'. To start off, Honey P. recommended a cherry limeade, her beautiful light-brown eyes catching the Midwest sunlight like the fields of wheat that surrounded us. Skyscraper shakes that can satisfy 5 or 6 people were also available, but alas, two is the second loneliest number that there ever was. After placing our order for burgers, the limeades arrived like nothing I've ever seen before; an unnatural
light-green elixir topped with sherbet and a bright-red maraschino cherry (right). Delish, I must proclaim, but not too soon, as it was quickly burgertime. Our burgers were slid in front of our eager mouths along with the kick-butt option of half-fries, half-onion rings. The rings were excellent, but the fries just ho-hum, Kansas speak for sucked.
But those burgers—what a trip! Emerging with a look like that of any other burger, closer inspection revealed that the Winstead burger's all-steak patty was paper-thin. It was lightly crisp and spread itself over the generic bun. Almost resembling some sort of hash brown, this coarsely ground patty looked like a sandwich with thinly sliced meat resting between the breaded sheets.
Stunningly lovely Honey P. wondered if Earth's original burgers wer more akin to Winstead's than the huge greasy meat sponges we've come to expect, and I surely felt the unique blend of jive she was talkin'. Biting into the thin burger, I was pleasantly surprised that the taste was not affected by these dimensions. My razor-thin cheeseburger, with grilled onions, pickles, lettuce (though, yes, we have no tomaters), and the usual condiments, was as delicious as any regular burger I've had, leaving me without the typical guilt of having eaten half a heifer for lunch. The beef was crisp on the outside, but soft in the middle, with a great grilled flavor permeating its slightly juicy being. I could have gone for another even, so light and delicious was Winstead's offering.
After hitting the solid movie Crash (featuring several star-studded, intertwining vignettes on Angeleno race relations) in the afternoon to bridge our two disparate (and in my case desperate) worlds of New Yorker and Californian, Desi and Irish-Pollock, we celebrated our common bond of burger lovin'. Though the incomparable good looking lass that is Honey P did not approve of my loudly calling out that Toby Keith is a redneck to the packed theater as his ignorant brand of hate-tunes played overhead, I am hopeful that my dedication to the burger cause, as embodied by my long haul to Kansas, has burrowed a small place in what I know is her perfectly shaped heart. Hitting the flat Kansas highway with my thumb out for multiple rides back to the West Coast, I had a heart full of honey and a belly full of the heartland.
WINSTEAD'S
Location reviewed: 103rd and Metcalf; locations throughout the KC Metro region.
Short Order: Exceptionally thin, coarsely ground sirloin burgers. Some patrons may want to make theirs a double.
Topmost photograph by B. Baltimore Brown
Posted by Honey P., June 20, 2005 at 1:15 PM
KANSAS CITY
Welcome to the The K.C., bitch! Now slide those sliders over, and join us for some super-thin, perfect-in-your-palm burgers whose size and taste would make Wimpy weak in the knees. Slice fans will remember Adam K.'s pizza expedition through the Heartland earlier this year, but that just wasn't enough. After getting punched in the face by bad pizza, the same way Ryan did when Luke famously welcomed him to that other initialled town, I knew justice had to be served. Maybe they can't get that New York–style slice right, but if there's one thing the Kansas City knows, it's beef.
And they've got a local chain there that's refreshingly simple, sweet, and so damn special that I just had to get me a burger from Winstead's over this past Memorial Day weekend.
On learning of my indulgent plan, our resident Hamburglar, Hadley, who, despite his fabulous taste in burgers has off-putting stalkerlike tendencies, decided to show up for my date with a "single Winstead" and medium cherry limeade. (You'll get his take on Winstead's when his entry posts later today.) Being the polite and generous soul that I am and knowing that H.H. just loves a partner in crime, even during the most sinless act of eating hamburgers, I kindly welcomed him to my little slice of burger heaven. Silently, I lamented the private moment me and my Winstead might have shared.
Now don't get it twisted (as my lil' sis, "Money P.," would say), I am not proclaiming this the best burger in the K.C. metro area. Although, you should know that K.C. Citysearch readers have voted this the best burger countless years in a row. I'm just sharing a burger treat with y'all that I find delicious and worth the trip. And, Winstead's has been operating since 1940, when the chain issued its simple mission statement, which still rings true today: "We grind U.S. Choice Steak daily for the sandwich." Hence the name "Steakburger," which you'll see all over the mellow green menu.
This is not your thick-cut, juices-dripping-down-your-hands, char-grilled giant of a burger. Like I said before, think Wimpy—a cartoonish version that he could polish off in a few giant bites. This is the fresh and flavorful direction McDonald's should have taken. The composition, a soft golden bun and meat so thin that its outer edges cook to a nearly deep-fried crispness, is a winning combo.
I chose mine with "everything," which includes mustard, ketchup, raw onion slices, and pickles of the Vlasic kind rather than Klausen brand, sliced lengthwise to cover the span of the patty. However, Winstead's aims to please, which is why it also offers cheese, lettuce, tomato, and bacon for a few extra cents and mayo or grilled onion at no extra charge. Make it a "double" or "triple" and you're still under $4.
I'll let H.H. get into the sides and soda fountain drinks, but before I leave you with a craving, you should also know that no burger here is complete without an order of onion rings. No signs of grease, just crispy morsels of crunch surrounding a mere shave of onion. I'm still dreaming about them. Joined by such creative frozen concoctions as banana split or mint-chocolate-chip milkshakes, you'd be hard pressed to find a more balanced meal.
My satiated self and an overwhelmed H.H. marveled at the lip-smacking lunch we had just shared. In the end I didn't regret his intrusion. After all, what kind of person would I be if I kept such treasures to myself?
WINSTEAD'S
Location reviewed: 103rd and Metcalf; locations throughout the KC Metro region.
Short Order: Exceptionally thin, coarsely ground sirloin burgers. Some patrons may want to make theirs a double.
