Bachelor on the Cheap

A mix of 80/20 ground beef, pork sausage, pre-cooked bacon bits, cheddar cheddar cheese & other ingredients.

By Mike Thayer

Last month, I told restaurant owners and entrepreneurs that America needs breakfast pizza.  Seriously, for all the love of pizza, why hasn't one of the major pizza chains ventured into breakfast?

Related: America needs breakfast pizza

So here's my latest Thinking Out Loud Moment:  America needs more burger meat options!

For the most part, restaurants that specialize in burgers, focus only on beef burgers.  Why the restriction?  Sure, some places do buffalo burgers, others do other exotics like elk or ostrich.  But those are few and far between and more expensive to boot.  About the only real variant with burger joints is a battle of better beef...  Common ground beef/chuck/sirloin vs. Angus beef vs. American Wagyu (which is a hybrid of Black Angus and Japanese Wagyu). 

We deserve better and I'm not talking exotics either.  Keep prices reasonable with meats already commonly known and consumed, cheaper in price than beef and yes, DELICIOUS in burger form!

Have you ever had a pork sausage burger?  They're fantastic!  Think hamburger, but using sausage instead.  Two all pork sausage patties, a toasted brioche bun dressed with mayo and mustard, lettuce, cheese, onion, pickles (optional)... It's another dose of YUM!  But unless you make one at home, you won't find that in any restaurant - and you SHOULD, it's that GOOD!

I'm talking offering folks a true menu of burger options, not just variations of how to dress beef burgers, i.e., Bacon Cheeseburger, Mushroom Swiss, Bleu Burger...  But a menu that includes pork, chicken, turkey, veal, goat and lamb options!

I would love to bite into a Bacon Sausage Burger at a restaurant!  I do it at home, because I can't get what I'd like eating out.  In fact, anymore when I grill burgers at home on my Weber Kettle, if it's not a straight optional ground meat like sausage or lamb, it's usually at the very least a 50/50 mix of beef and another ground meat.

Burger Concepts (hmmm, a possible name for a restaurant):

The Cajun Burger:  This burger takes everything that is classic Cajun and delivers it in a big flavor fashion!   It's a pork sausage and Andouille sausage patty kissed with some Cajun spice, there's a slice of melted muenster cheese and it's served on a garlic toasted bun dressed with a Cajun spice remoulade.   It's another dose of YUM!

The Mediterranean Burger:  It's lunch in the Mediterranean! This burger features ground lamb and melds together all the classic flavors of the Mediterranean. There's feta cheese, hummus, Kalamata olives and more in this great burger. 

The Garlic Chicken Curry Burger:  The taste of India featuring a mixture of ground chicken, garlic and curry. Add in a garlic/curry/ginger aioli, lettuce, tomato, red onion and cucumbers (nope, not pickles) and this burger delivers some excellent international flare!  

The Mexican Burger:  This burger features a mixture of ground beef and Mexican chorizo, which provides for a little heat. Topped with a little salsa and guacamole, this takes taco flavors up to a whole new level! 

Talk about easily expanding a menu to burger loving customers whose appetite and demand for more than just an ordinary cheeseburger is ever-growing!

Burger Concepts, a new burger joint opening near you, serving beef, pork, chicken, turkey, veal, lamb burgers and more!

You heard it here first.