Delux Burger - Phoenix, Arizona [Group Stop]

As we approached the entrance to Delux Burger at 32nd Street & Camelback, I feared that we might be waiting for awhile to get a table; the place was busy! (Delux Burger, by the way, is nestled in a small corner of the Safeway shopping center and can be easily missed if you're not looking for it.) We stepped through the glass doors, into the tastefully modern interior and were greeted by a hostess who assuaged my fears when she asked if we would prefer a seat inside or on the patio. Since it was another beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun, we decided on a table outside.

In spite of the heavy crowd, our server (who introduced himself as Dave) appeared very shortly with ice water and we placed our order of a round of “classic standard burgers”, a delux burger (see Signature Spotlight below) and two baskets of “delux combination” fries.

It seems that the manager found out that we were there and she came out to introduce herself to us and very pleasantly and politely attempted to milk every detail about the Arizona Burger Tour from us. We, of course, were not very forthcoming with our top secret approach to burger-touring and kept the details pretty close to the chest. We explained our quest for the best burgers in the state and … but I digress …

The classic standard burger at Delux was a beauty to behold when Dave set the plates on the table. Served with all the fixin's on the side so you can put it together exactly how you like it, this burger caused us to salivate the moment we laid eyes on it.

The rather large-looking bun is (and I quote from the menu) a “toasted hand-crafted brioche bun” that is buttered and grilled to perfection. There was a bit of disagreement amongst us about the bun. Some felt it was a little to large, while others would have liked to have it a little thicker to accommodate the very juicy patty. This comes down to personal preference, of course. Nevertheless, it was very soft and extremely tasty.

The meat is a 9 oz. patty that is hand-formed and cooked to order; no frozen patties here! The menu states that it consists of “fresh ground, all natural, grain-fed, certified premium beef”, which is quite a mouthful; literally and figuratively. The beef had the flavor of good quality meat and even though it sort of looked small on the large bun, the slightly over ½ lb. patty was quite filling and very juicy.

At Delux you have your choice of cheese; American, cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Swiss. The classic standard burger also comes with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and pickles, all of which were very fresh and had great flavor. They also have quite an impressive assortment of condiments available upon request, including several types of mustard. Each table is served with a small dish of ketchup and their own special aioli sauce. The special sauce, Dave told us, is supposed to be for the fries, but many people enjoy it on their burgers. Never ones to back down from a challenge (especially one involving food), we tried it and had to agree that it was quite good.

As the plates were cleared away, we realized that we had just sampled one of the best burgers that we had ever had. Some of the words that were tossed around were, Fantastic! Excellent! Amazing! and Spectacular! In short, we heartily recommend this burger to anyone, anywhere! It is worth a long drive to experience this burger; unless of course, you live in Miami or New York City or Anchorage. That might be pushing it a bit.

Final Score: 9.17

Side Notes

We ordered the combo fries, which is a nice mix of french fries and sweet potato fries. They are served in a miniature shopping cart that really rolls and is emblazoned with the Delux logo. While the french fries were good, there were not extraordinary. None of us did any back-flips over the sweet potato fries either. The aioli sauce was very good on the fries.

Signature Spotlight

The delux burger was very, very good as well, and marks the first specialty burger thus far on the tour that we have actually enjoyed. It sports a bleu and gruyere cheese blend, caramelized onions, baby arugula, and applewood smoked bacon “mixture” on a toasted demi-baguette roll. It was extremely flavorful and we recommend trying this burger.



This is not the entire burger pictured here. This is just one section after it had been divided for us all to sample.

Note: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger. (See our 411 page for details.)

Lenny's Burgers - Glendale, Arizona [Group Stop]

NOTE: This Lenny's location has since closed and is now Moe's Burger.

The sky was spitting a little drizzle (not enough to call it rain) as we walked into Lenny's in downtown Glendale. We were all a little excited about this stop for the simple fact that this tiny burger joint happens to be a favorite of several of the members of the tour; a place to grab a good burger. The small interior was packed with patrons (as usual) as we stepped up to the counter and placed our orders. The walls are adorned with the numerous awards that Lenny's has received over the years, Best Milkshake, Best French Fries, Best Burger. The ABT is about to see if they can live up to their previous accolades.

In keeping with our guidelines of trying each establishment's version of a standard/traditional burger, we each ordered one of Lenny's ¼ lb. burgers with our preference of toppings. Lenny's menu has a few suggestions for quick, easy ordering, but they are willing to let you order yours exactly how you want it. This is a good thing considering the fact that some of our members would rather die than have a pickle on their burger. Cheese is not standard on Lenny's burgers, but it was offered as an option for an extra charge.

The burgers arrived and each famished member of the team dove into their burgers with gusto. The burgers are served in a manner traditional of many burger joints, in those red, plastic baskets that have the appearance of a woven basket. The burgers are wrapped in plain white paper wrappers to either keep them warm or to hold it all together when you chow down.

The bun was a standard sesame seed hamburger bun. Nothing remarkable about it and we felt it would have helped to have grilled it. We did feel that it was just a little too much bread for the thin ¼ lb. patty.

The meat is a very thin patty that was grilled nicely, but certainly not a hand formed patty. While we can't say for certain, it did not appear to be fresh ground beef, but looked like a frozen patty. It didn't seem to have any seasoning on it either. Lenny's has the option to make your burger a single, double, triple or quadruple, with each patty being a ¼ lb. We all agreed that it probably would have been better to order at least a double. While some members felt the patty's juiciness was perfect, others would have liked it to be a bit juicier, although this was just a matter of personal preference.

You can order the condiments and produce that you want at Lenny's and everyone was very satisfied with both. The cheese was pretty good, but also unremarkable. We later found out that it was American, but we couldn't tell from the taste.

The overall flavor of a Lenny's Burger is very good. It is a consistent burger that may not be the absolute best, but is definitely a good burger.

But don't take our word as the final say on the matter, stop in and see for yourself.

Final Score: 7.10

Side Notes

Lenny's french fries are very tasty and become phenomenal when dipped in their ranch (available for an extra charge). Their milkshakes are fabulous. Everyone agreed that they are superb. We sampled the Peanut Butter & Chocolate variety. This is a must-have if you love shakes.

Signature Spotlight

We opted for the Teriyaki Burger for our sampling of a Lenny's specialty. We were disappointed when we opened the wrapper and discovered a burger that looked identical to the one we had just devoured. Upon closer examination, we saw that the distinguishing characteristic of this burger was a small dab of teriyaki sauce on the top and bottom buns. That was it. And while it did give the burger a nice flavor (the teriyaki sauce was the only condiment on the burger) we all thought it was lacking something. One thing we thought would improve the burger, was if the patty were actually marinated in teriyaki sauce rather than just having a little of it squirted on the bun. But again, this was just our opinion.


NOTE: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger. (See our 411 page for details.)

Burger Studio - Phoenix, Arizona [Group Stop]

It was about 12:25 in the afternoon when we rolled into the strip mall on the northwest corner of Mountain View & 7th Street. The strip mall houses (among other things) a tax preparer, a tanning salon, an animal clinic as well as our destination; Burger Studio. We stepped through the door and were greeted by a very modern interior; stainless steel, bright orange and purple walls, an over-sized lava lamp and a wonderful aroma.

After perusing the large menu board that is mounted on the wall; which is oddly enough, not directly in front of you, but on the wall to your left as you enter, we ordered a round of Studio Burgers. Upon the recommendation of the cashier, we also ordered one of their signature burgers, the Studio Caprese Burger. The menu proclaimed to us that these are 1/2 pound 100% Steer beef burgers, which sounded very promising.

The burgers arrived very quickly and were served on large, paper-lined, white platters along with a pickle spear. The bun was not your standard hamburger bun. The buttered and grilled bun looked sort of like a kaiser roll, but was very soft and light, despite its very thick appearance. (We later spoke to the chef who described it as a kind of "cross between a regular hamburger bun and a ciabatta roll".) As mentioned, the bun looked very thick, but was soft enough to be pressed down and turned out to be the perfect amount of bread for this burger.

The patty, which was neither too thick or too thin, had a really great flavor and was large enough to fit on the bun perfectly. If there were any seasonings used on the meat, they were not detectable. This was not a greasy patty at all and the beef seemed to be a bit leaner than most burgers, which caused some members to say that they would have liked it to be just little bit juicier.

You can choose your own cheese at the Burger Studio, which we liked and the burgers are served without condiments so you get to, or have to (depending on how you look at it) put those on yourself. They have the standards like ketchup, mayo and mustard as well as a selection of hot sauces. The produce was very fresh; the tomatoes were bright red and firm, not mushy.

The overall taste was very good; the Studio Burger's different components compliment one another very well, which gives one unified flavor. We found the 1/2 pound patty to be very sufficient and filling and while we all finished the burger, not all of us were able to finish the fries.

If you are ever in the area, you would do yourself a favor by stopping in at Burger Studio for one their standard burgers.

Final Score: 7.75

Side Notes

Burger Studio offers a variety of sides, including fried zucchini, sweet potato fries and nachos. We all opted for the wedge fries and we heartily enjoyed them. The very liberal portion is served with a generous side of ranch.

Signature Spotlight

As we plan to do at each stop, we also ordered one of Burger Studio's signature burgers to share. The Studio Caprese Burger comes with mozzarella, basil, tomato, pesto, a balsamic reduction sauce and "spring mix". This burger is more of a trendy, gourmet type of sandwich and was not met with much enthusiasm from the team. While the bun and patty were the same as the Studio Burger, the Caprese was (in our opinion) a barrage of different flavors that just didn't seem to fit together; although you may feel differently.

NOTE: The signature burger is not "scored" by the team and therefore has no effect on the total score for this stop. Our total score is based solely on the standard burger.