From pickled peaches to poutine: the wackiest burgers in Washtenaw County

Posted on Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 11:30 a.m.

From pickled peaches to poutine: the wackiest burgers in Washtenaw County

By Melanie Maxwell

The Wurst Bar's "Mr. Peanut" burger. The Wurst Bar's 1/3 pound hamburger with cheddar, bacon and crunchy peanut butter. The Wurst Bar is located at 705 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti.
Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

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The Wurst Bar's "Mr. Peanut" burger. The Wurst Bar's 1/3 pound hamburger with cheddar, bacon and crunchy peanut butter. The Wurst Bar is located at 705 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

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The Wurst Bar's "Mr. Peanut" burger. The Wurst Bar's 1/3 pound hamburger with cheddar, bacon and crunchy peanut butter. The Wurst Bar is located at 705 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/_1_/cache/052913_Wurst_bar_Mr._Peanut_burger_CS (2 of 4)_fullsize.JPG
Tower Inn Cafe's "The Gyro Burger" a beef patty topped with thick gyro meat, feta cheese, cool Tzatziki sauce, lettuce and tomato, served with a side of and cut chips. Tower Inn Cafe is located at 701 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/_1_/cache/052913_Tower_Inn_Gyro_Burger_CS (1 of 3)_fullsize.JPG
Sidetrack's "Billy Burton Mac Attack Burger" starts with a handcrafted burger topped with mac & cheese, Boars Head bacon and a dab of BBQ sauce. Sidetrack is located at 56 East Cross Street in Ypsilanti. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/_1_/cache/052913_Sidetrack_Mac_&_Cheese_burger_CS (2 of 4)_fullsize.JPG
This Vinology Burger patty is made in-house with a grind of short rib, hanger steak and brisket and is topped with seared foie gras and pickled peaches. This burger is served "low-carb" without the bun and includes a Thai salad. Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/cache/053013_ENT_Vinology_MRM_01A_fullsize.JPG
The Poutine Burger at Grange piled with local grass-fed beef, duck confit poutine gravy, goat cheese curd, made on an avalon brioche bun on Thursday, May 30. Grange is located at 118 West Liberty St. Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/_Grange Burger/cache/0530013_ENT_GrangeBurger_DJB_0070__fullsize.JPG
The Chorizo Burger at Frita Batidos piled with chorizo beef, a sunny-side-up egg, shoestring fries, and sweet chili mayo on Thursday, May 30. Frita Batidos is located at 117 West Washington St. Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/_Fritas Burger/cache/05302013_ENT_FritasBurger_DJB_0042_fullsize.JPG
The Argentine Burger at Lena is a grilled beef patty on a bakery roll with drunken goat cheese, pork belly, onion marmalade, soft garlic plantains, chimichurri and a fried egg. Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/cache/053113_ENT_LenaBurger_MRM_01A_fullsize.JPG
Cleary's Pub's "Guinness Burger" is a 1/2 lb. burger mixed with Guinness, onions, herbs and spices topped with sauteed mushrooms, bacon and a soy wasabi mayonnaise all served on a grilled pretzel roll. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.con /calendar/photologue/photos/_1_/cache/053113_Cleary's_Guinness_Burger_CS (2 of 5)_fullsize.JPG
Blue Tractor's Carnivore burger starts with a beef patty and is topped with pulled pork, bacon, smoked cheddar cheese and deep fired jalopeno chips and is served with house-made BBQ chips and bread and butter pickles. Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/cache/060313_ENT_BlueTractorBurger_MRM_02A_fullsize.JPG

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As voting continues on the best burger in Washtenaw County, AnnArbor.com photographers set out on a mission to photograph the most interesting and unusual burger creations we could find.

Gone are the days when ketchup, mustard and a pickle were the sassy staples of a burger. Enter: duck confit poutine gravy, soy wasabi mayonnaise and crunchy peanut butter. Did we say crunchy peanut butter? Yes, we said peanut butter.

Check out what we found and let us know about your favorite unusual burger recipe in the comments below.

Melanie Maxwell is a photographer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at melaniemaxwell@annarbor.com.

Comments

Doug

Wed, Jun 5, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.

What happened to the good old fashioned bar burger?

The Picker

Wed, Jun 5, 2013 : 12:48 p.m.

Those are some wacky burgers !

Bubba43

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 9:56 p.m.

Looks pretty good & different.

Hugh Giariola

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 9:03 p.m.

I have to make it to the Wurst Bar. I keep hearing good things and that burger pictured with the peanut butter looks great!

live-learn-love

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 8:59 p.m.

When are you doing the best coffee shop?

Melanie Maxwell

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 9:03 p.m.

@live-learn-love, Best coffee shop is one that the MIBest committee has discussed and will hopefully be on the agenda in the future. I know I'm looking forward to that one!

rm1

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 8:08 p.m.

There's also the turducken burger that featured in last night's installment of Longmire (on AETV, to be repeated Sunday). This culinary curiosity, as identified by the rural Wyoming coroner, helped the authorities identify where the deceased had had his last meal.

Vivienne Armentrout

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 7:03 p.m.

Thanks to hints from an earlier burger story, we tried Bridgewater Bank Tavern's burger yesterday. Not only did we have a good lunch, but a wonderful drive through the Lodi township countryside (took the back way). Now that was a fine burger. It was a hand-formed patty, juicy but not squishy, served simply on a Kaiser bun with pickle, lettuce and onion (I don't eat the tomato). It was the essence of burgerness. Less is more.

Bubba43

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 9:57 p.m.

Yes their burgers are great & NOT pricey.

you can't handle the truth

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 6:49 p.m.

These pictures almost make me want to become a vegetarian.

Melanie Maxwell

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.

There are a lot of tasty veggie burgers around town, too! One of my favorites is at Bagger Dave's. But that's probably because I can load it with lots of olives...:)

treetowncartel

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:33 p.m.

Uhm, the Vinology picture doesn't belong here, it is a chopped steak, not a burger. Need some kind of bread or bun to classify as a burger. that being said, it is a good looking chopped steak. I do miss the "Glorified Steakburger" that you used to get at William Sleep's.

Urban Sombrero

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:13 p.m.

I've had peanut butter on a hamburger before and, as odd or yucky as it sounds, it's actually very tasty! But, pickled peaches? Ewwww. (I'll admit that I'm not a peach fan, though. Maybe they are good? I don't know.)

Larry Stylinson

Wed, Jun 5, 2013 : 1:31 p.m.

you gotta go to Roger Monks! They do a peanut butter and mayo burger! Its to die for!!!

Ann Dwyer

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 6:04 p.m.

My husband requests peanut butter on his bacon sandwiches. But he just eats weird things in general.

Urban Sombrero

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.

@Jessica Webster, I can't wait to see that recipe. I'll definitely try it. I loooooooove bacon. I'll try any recipe that involves bacon.

Jessica Webster

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:56 p.m.

Yep - I've got a burger recipe coming Thursday that calls for peanut butter. When I was researching it, I discovered the prevalence of peanut butter-bacon burgers. Who knew?

Urban Sombrero

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:13 p.m.

Oh, and that gyro burger looks amazing. I want to try it.

Jessica Webster

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:06 p.m.

Clearly I need to get out more. I've only tried 3 of these. Great photos!

Urban Sombrero

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 4:19 p.m.

I totally agree. Some of those look absolutely scrumptious.

dsponini

Tue, Jun 4, 2013 : 3:53 p.m.

While the food at Wurst is pretty good. The service is absolutely disconnected and terrible. We had to actually ask for someone to wait on us. After sitting at table for 20 minutes.