Reviews
The best biscuits and gravy in Palm Beach!!!-Steve Diffenbacher
I love the Shrimp and grits -Tessy Rogers
Just wanted to say that I love your family
and everyone at the Nook- Jennifer Wheeler
Best Pizza ever !!! and you can drive right up
to the window and pick it up - Ashley Shafer
Palm Beach Post
ByLiz Balmaseda | Dining | August 31, 2010
The Hawaii 5-0 hamburger, available at the Center Street Nook in Jupiter. (Libby Volgyes / Palm Beach Post)
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More: Liz Balmaseda’s top burger picks for Palm Beach County
In the universe of burger lovers, there are burger gourmands and there are burger gluttons. Lori Kohler caters to both at her quaint and bustling Jupiter diner, the Center Street Nook.
She knows the great American burger belongs to everyone. And she knows that, despite its utter simplicity, the burger’s possibilities can be staggering.
So Kohler, who commands the family crew behind The Nook’s counter, serves a fun, far-flung and filling burger menu, with burgers named for her kids as well as some with a pop ring (like the Bruce Lee and the Hawaii 5-0). And, of course, there’s the beer-batter-fried, aptly named Gravedigger for burger extremists.
- No doubt, this is the era of the glorified burger, when just about every celebrity chef has weighed in with his or her own burger inspiration, when “do you want fries with that” doesn’t begin to describe the permutation of burger accessories.
But no matter how extravagant the rendition, a good beef burger always comes down to the quality of its basics: It is not overly lean. It is not overly worked. It is not disturbed, pressed or poked on the grill.
“It’s all about the quality of the meat. For the right amount of juiciness we use Angus beef, an 80/20 combo,” says Kohler, referring to the ratio of lean beef (80 percent) to that of fatty meat (20 percent).
At the Abbey Road Grill in nearby Palm Beach Gardens, a similar attention to beef ratio and freshness has given its cheeseburger a “good, quiet reputation” among pub regulars, says co-owner Tim Gwinnell.
“We keep our fresh edge because we sell a lot of burgers. In season, we’ll sell in excess of 500 to 700 burgers,” says Gwinnell, whose kitchen uses fresh, never frozen Angus beef.
There’s a burger for every taste here, from elaborate to elementary, from the 1,000 possible burgers at Relish in Northwood to the Three-Napkin burger with cave-aged cheddar, smoked bacon, grilled onions and fried egg at RACKS Downtown Eatery in Boca Raton.
There are mushroom burgers, shrimp burgers, buffalo burgers, two-handed burgers, petite bar-bite burgers, frivolously named burgers, fancy-schmancy cheeseburgers, bargain-basement burgers and way overpriced burgers.
We sampled a few of Palm Beach County’s finest burgers and we share our findings in the reviews below, as well as a list of local spots serving notable burgers.
CENTER STREET NOOK, Jupiter
The joint: Literally a nook, probably known more for its breakfasts. It has little signs and tchotchkes all over its walls and even games and crossword puzzles on the tables.
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- The burger: It’s quite good — a tasty, good-sized piece of beef. The great thing about this place is that they dive headlong into variety with their burgers — there’s the Buffalo Bill (with sweet Buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese), the Krystal (with coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing), the Boss Hogg (topped with pulled pork!), and the Double-Dare and Triple-Dare, the extreme-eating cousins. Then there’s The Gravedigger, artery-hardening heaven, a beer-batter fried patty topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and Thousand Island dressing.
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- The rave: I tried the Hawaii 5-0 ($8.25) and was thrilled. It’s topped with sliced pineapple, bacon, cheddar cheese and homemade barbecue sauce. The pineapple’s sweetness cuts the savory bacon and BBQ, creating a wonderful mix.
The fixins: Each comes with either French fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings, coleslaw or soup. The sweet potato fries might be the best I’ve had. The Nook’s cheeseburger soup has drawn raves as well.
- The rave: I tried the Hawaii 5-0 ($8.25) and was thrilled. It’s topped with sliced pineapple, bacon, cheddar cheese and homemade barbecue sauce. The pineapple’s sweetness cuts the savory bacon and BBQ, creating a wonderful mix.
- The dish: The wait staff is very friendly, and though it’s a small staff both on the floor and in the kitchen, you get your food pretty quickly. You might find it difficult to get a table right away during peak times, but it’s worth the wait. Plus, there are always the games and puzzles.
Info: Located at 223 Center St., Jupiter; (561) 745-7477 (561) 745-7477
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Open Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
- — Jonathan Tully
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