The Lebanese “Classic Burger Joint” now has a copycat in Jeddah called “Classic Burger” with a similar logo and very focused menu as well. The major difference however is that the Saudi restaurants apparently makes giant burgers like the one below!
You can find out more about the Saudi Classic burger on their Facebook page.
via @shmoops_
Earlier last week I was invited to the opening of Hotdog & Beyond‘s new branch in Hamra. For those of you who don’t know about it yet, Hotdog & Beyond is a new restaurant that opened back in August 2012 at Le Mall Dbayeh, obviously specialized in serving frankfurters as well as burgers. They opened second branch in Hamra just last week, and I was informed a third branch is set to open in Zalka sometime soon.
When I first heard about it, I personally thought Hotdog & Beyond’s items will be close to what we’re used to eat at places like Charlie’s or Freddy’s, but I was wrong, Hotdog & Beyond offers a totally different taste and experience.
The restaurant interior is catchy and makes you feel like you’re walking into one of New York’s small restaurants. Seats are comfy, and there’s enough space between the tables. And what grabs your attention at first is probably the complimentary bucket of peanuts offered to you before making your order.
Hotdog & Beyond’s menu has around 20 selections of frankfurters ranging between 9,750L.L and 16,000L.L, along with 10 selections of burgers starting 13,000L.L and up to 18,750L.L. The owners were generous enough and served us an item from each category including the appetizers and desserts!
The appetizers are mainly platters of fries with different topping on them. We tried the Four Cheese Fries and Con Carne Fries, I personally preferred the latter which has spicy minced meat (tastes a bit like Soujouk) with cheddar cheese on top.
For the hotdog, I decided to try their signature sandwich, the HD&B, wich is made of fried hotdog, red pepper, mushrooms, onions, 4cheese & pesto mayo sauce. To my surprise, the hotdog was cut into pieces, unlike the other varieties that had the hotdog in one piece. Anyway, the sandwich tasted really good and seriously different than any other frankfurter I had elsewhere. Every bite I had was full of taste, and the bread was just perfect, fresh and soft.
As for the burger, I tried what I usually order at other places, the Swiss Mushroom Burger, which was mouthwatering and great as well! It can easily make Hotdog & Beyond one of the restaurant you will be considering when you want to have a good burger.
Finally, and although I was full, the owners still insisted that I try 2 selections of their desserts, the strawberry cheescake, and a waffle with chocolate sauce, Nestle condensed milk, and scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Both tasted good too, but I personally would have preffered the soft waffle to be crispier on the outside.
My overall experience was great, and I’m not saying that just because I got invited, but because Hotdog & Beyond are really bringing something new to town, and therefore it is totally recommended. Moreover, if they succeed at maintaining their good taste and service, I believe they will be serious competitors to big names in the market, especially that their prices are quite affordable when compared to other diners in Beirut.
I was quite surprised to read about BRGR Co. opening its first outlet outside Lebanon in London, since we’re basically used to burger restaurants from the US and Europe coming to our region and not the other way around.
A new burger restaurant is set to open in London’s Soho next month, with the launch of BRGR.CO as the first site for the Beirut-based company.
BRGR.CO will use 28-day-aged beef from the Duke of Buccleuch Estate in south-west Scotland. Focusing on simplicity, the restaurant will serve a menu of three classic choices of burger: the 4oz, 6oz or 8oz with optional toppings of cheese or chilli-con-carne. A selection of traditional American-inspired sides, milkshakes and desserts will complete the menu offering.
The 55-seat restaurant will feature floor-to-ceiling windows as well as dark oak tables and chairs. A selection of character cow heads will be featured throughout the restaurant, which will be regularly auctioned with proceeds going to local London charities.
Located on Wardour Street, BRGR.CO Soho will be the first UK venue for the brand that operates two sites in Beirut. Source
It would be cool by the way if they also offered the Lebanese burger (the one that has the salad and fries inside it) on their menu there in London!!
I just learned Al-Shayaa is soon bringing Shack Shack to Lebanon! In case you’re not familiar with it, Shake Shack is a pretty famous burger joint in New York and several other cities in the states, and has expanded to the Middle East over the last couple of years with restaurants opening in Dubai and Kuwait.
From what I read online by people who have tried the burgers at Shake Shack, it seems like they taste really good! So I really can’t wait for them to open here.
Now of course the question is where will Shake Shack be located and when is the opening taking place?
photo via GadgetLam
Update:
According to Raja, Shake Shack will be opening at Beirut City Centre.
I was passing by Beirut Souks last night and noticed BRGR Co will soon be opening there.
It will will be accessible from Patriarche Hoyek street, close to where Bershka, Stradivarius, and Pull & Bear are located.
I was passing by Hamra yesterday and noticed that Leil Nhar and Classic Burger Joint will soon be opening at the end of the main street next to Pastai.
Leil Nhar is by the way replacing Burger Nation who’s service has deteriorated drastically in the last few months!
Have you ever tasted this Big Burger at Abou Sako?
It’s about the size of a small pizza (20 cm) and full of your typical Lebanese burger ingredients, loads of mayo and ketchup with coleslaw salad and fries. It does a great job when you’re starving, and tastes good for a Lebanese burger, really!
Abou Sako has a variety of other sandwiches, just like any other food joint in the city, but is known to be very generous with his portions and ingredients, and yes they’re good too.
If you’re curious to check it out, it’s located at the Hayek roundabout in Sin El-Fil.
What’s more agonizing than listening to McDonald’s new ad on radio is probably just watching it on TV!!
Burger Bar is a relatively new burger joint located in Sodeco, across the street from Classic Burger Joint. Before getting to how good their burgers are, it’s worth mentioning that The Burger Bar logo is nothing but a copy of the one Johnny Rockets’ has.
So I’ve tried their Mushroom Swiss Burger a while ago, and unfortunately it turned out delivering almost nothing new or special, and I said almost because the bun was fresh and tasty. The patty on the other hand was quite average, while the sauce had too much mayo in it. It isn’t like you’ll hate it, but there’s definitely much improvement that can be done.
For the time being, CBJ seems like a better option if you’re craving a burger in the area. Though I personally would prefer going all the way to Hamra for Burger Nation!
If you’re like me waiting for Fuddruckers to finally open its doors in Dbayeh, then the wait is almost over. I just saw their latest announcements on facebook claiming the grand opening is going to take place on August 26th!
Too bad for me it’s going to be Ramadan and I usually avoid heavy meals on Iftar, so I won’t be trying it out until Eid comes.
