burgers

Dining Outside the Home: Hilton Garden Inn Pavilion Lounge on Wailua Bay, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Hilton Garden Inn Pavilion Lounge on Wailua Bay, Kauai. You’re always on holiday here glamorously soaking up the rays and sipping on tropical Mai Tais, garnished with mellow paper umbrellas, at the edge of turquoise seas. Is this real, you wonder? Pinch me if I’m dreaming. But don’t wake me. Please. Instead “Hang Loose” with aloha spirit. Absorb the open-air lounge that is true Hawaii. Order a side of Crispy Popcorn Shrimp garnished with seaweed furikake, for starters. The Paniola Burger topped with chipotle pineapple and applewood bacon drizzled with barbecue sauce can come later. After all, you have all the time in the world. Let the seasoned bartenders introduce you to their crafted cocktails. They have a story to tell.

Dining Outside the Home: Olympic Café in Kapaa, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Olympic Café in Kapaa, Kauai. Even on rainy days you have to venture out for a bite to eat. For starters, a slightly salty/savory-rimmed Bloody Mary with a spicy kick is in order. Perched on the second level of the Olympic Café overlooking street activity has proven to be quite entertaining as more clouds rolled in and the sky opened up. A guy on a bicycle got drenched from the pounding rain. He nestled a paper bag under his armpit while his legs pedaled full speed through potholes filling with street water. Meanwhile, a steaming hot humongous burrito lunch arrived, so the open air seating was perfect for watching passing showers at a warm and dry distance. After all, you can’t rush perfection.

Dining Outside the Home: Kickshaws Food Truck in Lawai, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Kickshaws Food Truck in Lawai, Kauai. Here’s something you don’t see everyday. It’s a gastronomic kitchen on wheels steered by owner, Seth Peterson. Like a mad scientist at home in a laboratory, Seth produces extraordinary food combinations paired with unusual techniques. The results are strangely delicious. The top-seller, hands down, speaks for itself. 100% Awesome Burger is made with 80% fresh ground chuck steak and 20% ground bacon. Then it’s topped with crispy bacon, a pineapple-black pepper-onion marmalade, cheddar cheese, fresh arugula, and garden tomato. Are you getting the picture? The finishing touch is a torta roll slathered with mayonnaise. Definitely a two-handed burger! One night recently, I ordered it while enjoying a high-quality craft brew at the Kauai Beer Company. Try not to stare.

Dining Outside the Home: Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen in Las Vegas, Nevada

Dining Outside the Home: Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen in Las Vegas, Nevada! Gigantic words hit you before ever setting foot inside the door, “Go Big or Go Home”. And this is no joke. Whether it be boasting or a warning, heed these words. We shared the Original Ringer Burger, a mountain of juicy meat, gooey cheese, crispy onion rings, and donkey sauce (you don’t want to know). It came with a generous side of quad fries. Exactly. Naturally we needed to wash it down with a 52-ounce stemmed punch bowl listed as the Kicked Up Caddy. And it was. The specialty margarita was a perfect blend of tequila, Cointreau, agave, lime, and jalapeño. It came with two straws. Being Vegas, we got a “to go” container and walked around afterwards sipping on it. Be bold, go hungry.

Dining Outside the Home: Joey’s Diner in Amherst, New Hampshire

Dining Outside the Home: Joey’s Diner in Amherst, New Hampshire! Cruise down the highway to a 1950’s-style diner where cherry cokes are the real deal, like soda fountains served in the past. Stroll by the long counter of bar stools, beyond the juke box where the atmosphere is casual and the decor is retro. Did you see the glass dessert case filled with homemade pies and cakes? Pull out a chair where the chrome is hip and the Formica tabletop is the cat’s pajamas. Joey’s Diner serves up meat loaf (like your Momma used to make), grilled burgers, crispy french fries, classic club sandwiches, and hand-blended milkshakes. Decisions, decisions. They’re open every day for three square meals. Check it out Daddy-O!

Dining Outside the Home: Olympic Café in Kapaa, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Olympic Café in Kapaa, Kauai!  No matter the time of year, no matter the weather, this open-air restaurant sitting above Main Street Kapaa in the Hee Fat Building is where it’s happening. You may opt for the unlimited Happy Hour Taco Bar or be a little choosy and select a fantastic Shrimp Salad overflowing with organic mixed greens and an abundance of grilled shrimp. It’s a meal in itself. No complaints here. Meat-lovers will appreciate the Big Burger Selection of 100% organic grass fed beef raised on the Garden Isle. Open seven days a week, there’s not a time of day this spacious eatery doesn’t fit the bill. Be hip, be casual, and always be Hawaiian. 

Dining Outside the Home: Bubba Burgers in Kapaa, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Bubba Burgers in Kapaa, Kauai!  The sign at the cash register says, “We Cheat Tourists, Drunks, and Attorneys.” Now you know there’s a story to be told. But that’s not why hoards of people stop by this burger shack in Old Kapaa Town to sit on the front porch and gape at the flurry of activity with an unbelievable ocean view. The fresh-ground “grass fed” beef, from cattle ranches on Kauai, produces the best and juiciest, chin-wiping burgers around. Perhaps that is why they’re known as the Slopper or Double Slopper, on a menu that features everything from a Big Bubba to Chili Fries. Go crazy. Add a thick Chocolate Milkshake made with real cream. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you walk away hungry, it’s your own fault.

Dining Outside the Home: Merriman’s Gourmet Pizza and Burgers in Poipu, Kauai

Dining Outside the Home: Merriman’s Gourmet Pizza & Burgers in Poipu, Kauai!  When you know the fish is caught fresh that day, it’s easy to choose the chef’s choice, especially when it comes highly recommended. There was a time I could not imagine ordering a fish taco, let alone eating one, but those days are gone. I now seem addicted to them. Perhaps it was the flaky striped marlin, or the fire roasted tomato salsa, the incredibly fresh avocado, and sliced jalapeño peppers. No matter how you serve it up, which happened to be in a crispy corn tortilla shell, the results were astounding! That’s perfection, in my opinion. I appreciate the farm-to-table concept Merriman’s Gourmet Pizza and Burgers holds true. It rules. 

Dining Outside the Home: Merriman’s Gourmet Pizza and Burgers in Poipu, Kauai 

Dining Outside the Home: Merriman’s Gourmet Pizza and Burgers in Poipu, Kauai. Sitting at a table for two on the porch of an old Hawaiian plantation sets the tone for regional “farm to table” dining. The expectation of fresh, locally grown ingredients raises the bar even higher. One look at the menu tells you this is going to be an unique dining experience. Although casual, the portion was generous in the mile-high B.K.E. Burger. The beef was medium, as requested, with shredded Kalua pork on top, layered with caramelized onions and house-made Kim Chee for a kick of spice, and lastly, crowned with an egg over easy. Oh, did I mention aged cheddar cheese and romaine lettuce? I had to walk around the shopping center afterwards just to let my stomach settle. (I finished the entire artisan gourmet burger, then wiped my mouth with the blue-striped cotton napkin.) Oink-a-doodle-moo!