Feasting Friday: Teddy's Bigger Burgers

Our vacation to Eastern Washington was amazing. We went to Walla Walla for three nights, drove through the Palouse for a one-night stop in Spokane to visit some friends and then lounged around Lake Chelan for the last three nights. I have lots of good reports to share...from wine tasting, to Washington's second best bartender, touring the Dry Fly Distillery and our quest for the best drive-in burger. More on all of that later because today is Feasting Friday.

A big construction project is underway at our house. The roof has been torn off and it's fucking mayhem over here. Therefore...our meals for a few days will be eaten out, where there is no dust and no sawing or hammering taking place. Our first meal away from the chaos - I am happy to report - was perfect.

Teddy's Bigger Burgers is a chain from Hawaii that recently arrived on the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Before our vacation, I spent a lot of time on Chowhound researching restaurants. I found a thread titled Looking for the best burger in WA where I found lots of tips for the trip but ALSO saw mention of Teddy's, which is closer to home.

Teddy's has been voted best burger in Hawaii every year since 2004...according to their website at least. They opened their first mainland location in Woodinville, about 15 miles from our house. It isn't the most convenient option for burgers, but ended up being worth the drive.

They offer burgers in three sizes: Big (5 oz), Bigger (7 oz) and Biggest (9oz). All the burgers come with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions and special sauce. More on the special sauce in a minute, but first can I just say that I LOVE a place that doesn't make onions optional?! I love onions on a burger (thankfully so does Gavin) and Teddy's slices theirs ultra-thin.

OK, so about that sauce. It is mayonnaise-based and a little bit sweet with just the tiniest bit of smoked flavor. I likened it to grilled pineapple, but that might have been because I had Hawaii on the brain. They slather on loads of it and it is a nice compliment to the "flame-broiled" beef.

Teddy's uses 100% ground chuck for their patties. They serve them medium and, as the menu states, that means they may be a little pink in the middle. It was cooked perfectly in my mind. A little drier than I expected out of ground chuck, but maybe they use leaner meat than I do. Or maybe some dimwit in the kitchen that day was pressing the heck out the patties with a spatula. Don't get me wrong...it was juicy, just not oozing juice. Eeew. That sounded kind of gross. Anyways...

The fries were in top form. Thick-cut potatoes, double fried and not over salted. Perfection. This was a relief given our most recent experiences with french fries in the north end.

All in all, Teddy's was tops. I have a running list of my favorite burgers in the greater Seattle area and Teddy's is definitely in the top 5. Maybe even the top 2. It's THAT good.