It’s amazing just how personalized MSN can get. Late at night it knows my willpower and sensibilities are at an all time low, and lies in wait for me to open a browser before flashing pictures of gooey, rich foods all over the screen. I’m hungry, and a gigantic burger floats as a link on the homepage. On closer inspection, the article is about best burgers in the nation. As in, far far far away. Relieved, I click without fear, knowing there’s no way I’ll be tempted to take a late night drive to go get one. Wrong.
Number two on the list is the White Spot. MSN’s Bret Stetka says:
“As with any food, burger enjoyment is heavily contextual. And every burger list should include at least one hometown favorite; a patty that may not be made of grass-fed, organic, antibiotic-free freshly ground sirloin, but in the moment is pretty much the best thing in the world.
For me it’s the Gus Burger, the house specialty at Charlottesville’s favorite greasy spoon, The White Spot, which incidentally was started by a friend’s grandfather. This notorious slab of beef (OK, so it comes frozen) is topped with American cheese and a fried egg, and has sustained University of Virginia students through over 60 years of final exams–while soaking up plenty of cheap, late-night beer in the process. ”
My first thought is WOO HOO! Jinx, Beer Run, and now White Spot all recognized nationally in just the last few months. I’m damn proud to call this city my home – one where small business owners get recognized for doing what they do, and doing it well.
Where are my keys?
p.s… the writer of this article also has a blog about doughnuts called Blognut.
[photo from Tim Jarrett on Flickr]
Related posts:
- Horse and Hound Round Two
- What’s your new late night hangout in Charlottesville?
- Oy’s Top 10 Meals in C’Ville
Having sung their praise here for the Spot’s doughnuts with ice cream (the grillswith) the gus burger or one eyed bacon cheeseburger are why you come here. Of course some insist that a bowl of beans is the way to go but I’m a fries guy from way back. As to blognut check it out and take a gander at the Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheeseburgers on the front page. It’s safe to say I’d try one but some drinking would have to precede it.
love the grills-with!
There’s an ongoing vegan/vegetarian argument running through the site.
i was ‘reading a book this morning’ (Wahoos, see UVA kidnapping thread for explanation of this phenomenon) and wonder if anyone has given real thought to: cows eat only veggies and excrete a gazillion-whatever tons of methane gases a year.
If everyone goes vegetarian, aren’t we just replacing one ozone-destroying evil with another?
Shen, how are your greenhouse-gas emissions? IS this a real threat?
/more burgers fewer killing UV-rays
The late, great Big Jim’s burger exceeds the Gus, IMO. Plus, Big Jim’s always had the long-neck Bud, Marlboro Reds crowd at the bar, which lent an air of hayseediness to the festivities.
I’m a fries guy
A-HA!
@5 Really after that post, could I have been anything else.
Because messing with you would be wrong, so very wrong.
you are evil enough to have a vajayjay…
@7 whatever
sorry, but Shen at @3?
@4 Agreed. RIP, Big Jim’s.
@3 Don’t drag me into your nasty burger thread. I do not support the Gusburger. But since you insist on dragging me into your ludicrous argument, here I am.
1) Cows don’t eat veggies. They eat grass and hay. They burp methane, yes. There are a lot of cows because you jerks want hamburgers, so it’s your fault hamburglars, that there are so many cows releasing so much methane.
2) Ruminants release methane. Humans are not ruminants. We’re not going to burp methane. When you get four stomachs and only eat grass, let me know.
thank you for clarification, sorry to drag you over here.
i wondered why no anti-veg idiot had ever raised that objection.
good to know it’s not valid.
and you wasted a perfectly good straight-man joke setup.
I was vegetarian for three years, vegan for six months. didn’t realize that the Gusburger was a political candidate – this post is supporting the local business.
Love the gus, but it is outclassed by the Riverside.
@15 would you then agree;
riverside= best sober burger gus= best post drinking burger?
Cows don’t eat veggies. They eat grass and hay.
Ideally, yes. Cows bound for burgers, however, are fed largely corn. Which, it turns out, cows are not so good at digesting. Leading to a panoply of medicines to keep the cows standing long enough to fatten ‘em up.
/never had a gus burger
//when i moved to town i honestly thought the white spot was a relic, held over from segregation times; my bad, guys!
i like the burger at Marten’s Grill better than the Riverside (original location) these days. Riverside North is also better than Old Skool Riverside lately, as someone mentioned that the owner is focusing more on the FL location and battling with Marten’s (apparently they have some history?).
the Gus Burger is a great post-drinking or post-tattoo shot of protein (took my brother for one after a long session at Ben Around), and i’ve been known to consume one in the middle of the day, completely, regrettably, sober. they’re yummy.
@17: I was referring to what they normally eat before humans came along and decided to fuck with nature. Did you know e.coli is our fault? Giving cows corn, which is not what their stomach was made to digest disrupted their stomach’s pH and e. coli was able to thrive there as a result. People get e.coli poisoning now because of people screwing with shit to save a few bucks on feeding their cows. So you can buy a fucking $1 menu double cheeseburger.
Martin’s in Forest Lakes is my favorite NoAbl. burger joint. Now there is “Coach’s Grill” in Ruckersville. Might give the FL establishments a run for their money.
apparently they have some history?
Yeah, I can never keep straight who pissed of whom first. Can someone neatly and (relatively) objectively sum up the dust-up between Martin’s and Riverside?
i tried boylan heights(old orbit) last week and their burgers makes gusburgers look like dick sandwiches. i was also told they get their beef from the organic butcher, so that’s an extra incentive. it might be my only excuse to go to the corner now that the bistro is gone
makes gusburgers look like dick sandwiches
I can personally attest to dijonbray’s expertise on the subject of dick sandwiches. Seriously, people. Take heed of this man’s word.
@21 From UNCUS: http://www.readthehook.com/Stories/2005/02/03/foodtheDishDuelingBurgersF.html
If I’m all the way up there, I’m eating at Timberwood anyway.
did i miss it—anyone know what year White Spot opened?
does it pre-date The Virginian?
@24…i’ve eaten at Timberwood a few times, both lunch and dinner, and haven’t ever been overly impressed. it’s chain-restaurant food at the higher-end of local prices. the service is always fair-to-decent, however, and it’s never so busy that you wait a long time. definitely better than going across the road to TGIFriday’s, but i don’t know that it’s special trip worthy.
@24 thanks Stormy, i’ve been a little confused about the story (thought it was a former owner) and i’m glad to be straightened out!
@21 The guy who opened Martin’s (and I think that is, in fact, his last name) used to be the grill cook at the original Riverside Lunch (and was for quite some time, I believe). He left and opened Martin’s relatively shortly before the Forest Lakes Riverside was to open and his restaurant looked rather a lot (as in virtually identical to) like the original Riverside. The menu also bore a striking resemblance right down to the 8oz bottles of coke. All of the cooking procedures were the same (which is less ire inspiring I would think as he basically learned to cook at Riverside). The Riverside Lunch folks were pissed because they felt he was poaching their business by using their own successful formula without their permission.
Back when I still gorged on beef, my favorite place to eat artery-clogging, grease-dripping, ohmigod-i-just-got-mayonnaise-all-over-my-face burgers was 5 Guys. I tried a Gus Burger, and it was good, and I liked it, but 5 Guys always won me back with the fries. Mmm. Fries…. and baconbaconbaconbacon on top of my burgerrrr….
Now that I’m a chunky vegetarian who just swore off poultry (I am not kidding when I say this: food is just boring now.. but I think it’s because I’m new at this), I tend to shy away from fast food completely. I’ve been living off the salad bar at Whole Foods and Kohr Bro’s frozen custard. Almost completely.
the best burger i ever had was in a little town in idaho, cour d’lane (sp?), but the best burger in the hook is most def not 5 guys – greaseburger, y’all! – to this day, the original riverside still totes the best burgers, if you’re in the mood for a traditional burger/ not “fast food” dung. I really can’t abide burgers, so I stick with BBQ, whenever I can get it. Hands down, the best BBQ is either the Korner Restaurant on the corner of Cherry and the now named Roosevelt, or the Blue Ridge Pig in Nellysford. Gotta be accompanied by the unbelievable potato salad with dill….
there’s nothing to choose between riverside and 5 guys, they’re both awesome, and I’ve had both a zillion times. 5 guy edges out for the burger toppings and wins hands down for fries
Beer run Bison Burger. Your juicyness makes me quiver, thou shall be my last meal before the chair.
@33 when do you have to be at Beer Run to get a bison burger? i’ve only eaten dinner there once or twice and one of the things that really gets me is their strict lunch/dinner separation of menu items. if they have a genuine bison burger, i might just have to go one night.
@34 It was lunch I think. I almost cried a little
i’m there. gotta love some bison burger (it’s gotta be mid-rare at worst though, otherwise too dry).
I got my bison burger for dinner. everything that 2o4 says about the juicy and the good and the crying is true. so good.
LOLZ @37 & @35.
I have eaten bison once. It was when I lived in Denver and my family went to eat at this restaurant that was waaaay up in the western suburbs (something really famous and kitschy, where they have their own bison herd). Oh. It’s called El Rancho. It had big fireplaces and antlers all over, and you could look out and see the whole city spread out thousands of feet below you. And the “chocolate moose” was mousse with chocolate antlers in it. Hot shit.
Anyways, I just remember it tasting kind of… almost peppery. Like, kind of like beef but with that “something else” that makes it taste like… well, like bison.
Not to detract from the bison frenzy, but.. Ostrich? Yum or no? Ostrich burgers were always good, IMHO. Phoenix, AZ had some spankin’ local eateries where you could get ‘em. Haven’t seen them anywhere out East, except FuddRuckers. Then again, I haven’t looked very hard.
didn’t know fuddruckers had ostrich. the upstairs does.
we’re talking about REAL burgers here, not ostrich… I love the original riverside burgers, etc., but if you want a real treat, try venison burgers – it’s like salad with some tangy asiago cheese and exotic lettuce.. Yum!
we’re talking about REAL burgers here, not venison.
/wtf?
mmm, ostrich. i’ve only ever had it in arizona, but damn was it tasty!
When the old Riverside was known either as the “Yacht Club” or more popularly “Boar`s Head East” the place looked very unwholesome – which I think contrbuted to the wonderful tase of their burgers. I love to be called “Baby Doll” (as is everybody I think) at the new Riverside on High – although I am not.
@42 – ostrich burgers are fo shizzle, my nizzle.
what, venison is not pc?? burgers are meat-of-some-kind in a patty on a bun. WTF is wrong with venison burgers… Dang, I’d totally slurp up on some venison burgers made from our locally grown damn long legged rats in my neighborhood…
come on, i know some of ya’ll are still up, Saturday Night Live isn’t even on yet, and it’s not 3:30, so I’m thinking your not that busy, unless ya’ll are all out drinkin’
@ 45 not that venison isn’t pc – at least on my end it’s that i haven’t yet tried it. (can’t comment on that which i don’t know!) i’d love to, someday.
/only up because i was busy getting my heart broken. you’d think i know this by now, but jeebus, some people suck, and not in the good way.
//my TMI, let me show you it!
sorry to hear that, buster.
and the only time i ever had a bite of buffalo i immediately felt the presence of some large furry living creature next to me.
/not for me.
@47 That sucks (sorry hon), a few remedies for a broken heart from Dr 2: Tequila, Palmtrees, a good bellylaugh (merely a symptom treatement alas), Direct sunlight (unless you are a vampire), happy ending massage, whole cream in or on anything, new shoes, your best friend, THINGS to avoid: lists of things, his/her stuff (burn it on your grill) romantic music, tequila, your computer/email, your cell phone…..
anyone else thrilled that TwoOFour is officially back from the longest mcquit ever? i am.
mcloves mc
Heh. mclovin’.
mclovin was almost my tag name at the villain escafe party, but I decided to keep it more anonymous because I maintain the delusion that people don’t know who I am.
Anybody else see that the White Spot got a mention in Maxim recently for their Grillswith? ‘Cause it did.
@55 any link because I’m a big fan of that donut delight!