Burger Tasting On Location in Tupelo, MS

Sometimes for funsies we eat burgers in other places than Oxford, Mississippi. Thanks to Susan Wang for this detailed burger adventure to Tupelo, MS for the Uptown Burger.

Location: Fairpark Grill on 2/16/2015

What google told me about this restaurant: It's "an upscale-casual tavern serving American eats in a modern space with dark woods, big bar and patio." 

Ummm... Tavern? Dark Woods? Big Bar? All I can think of is the movie Cabin in the Woods by Joss Whedon. I want to feel a little bit terrified, but it's most likely this rustic, neighborhood-atmospheric kind of bar. Minus Sigourney Weaver. PAUSE. What is upscale-casual? How do you dress for that? Are jeans too casual? Is a cocktail dress too much? WHO WEARS A COCKTAIL DRESS TO A TAVERN? So many questions...

17 Reviews on google scored this location: 4.2 / 5 stars. I mean, the beer is cold, right? I'd go there. Let's get to the burger.

Style: 4
The burger looks appetizing, and the bacon presentation is very appealing. Susan was excited to take a bite!

Taste: 3.7
The burger was cooked medium-well, when she asked for medium (there was no pink). Though the amount of beef was appreciated, as were the thick cut slices of bacon. Susan rearranged her toppings (lettuce, onions, bacon, mushroom, cheese, patty, and tomatoes) on her burger to prevent ingredient slippage. The coarsely-chopped onions were a tasting surprise, but the mushrooms might as well have not been present. 

Content: 3.6
Brioche-style bun was crumbly, disappointing, but the slightly toasted helped. The bacon was, by far, the most celebrated ingredient on this burger. Susan had Mozzarella cheese, but she feels that they probably have a wider selection in cheese toppers than that. The ratio of bun to meat is a little off kilter for Susan's liking, but the use of FRESH ingredients was ON POINT. *High five* for freshness. 

Satisfaction: 4
It's a "very juicy, enjoyable burger, mostly due to the bacon, but I probably won't be ordering it again because their Caribbean Rib-eye is just so delicious," words from Susan Wang.

Price: 4
$8.99 with fries. Their "shoestring" fries were similar to the McDonald's french fry persuasion. She washed it down with an Abita Andygator from the tap! (A solid beverage choice.)

OVERALL CUMULATIVE SCORE: 3.9 / 5 

Lastly, a special shout-out to the Panko-Crusted Fried Cheese. Special shout-out indeed.


Have you ever eaten at Fairpark Grill? Where do YOU think the best burger is in Tupelo, MS?

LB's Meat Market

The Judging Team (Beth, Greg, and myself), Guest Judge Melanie Addington, and Mystery Guest Judge decided to hit up LB's Meat Market, located on University Avenue across from Kroger, for the third installment of burger judging. Seeing as they only serve lunch, that's what we had.  LB's only does take-away, meaning no seating, so Greg and I went to pick up lunch for everyone. We ordered five filet burgers, as opposed to the house burger. I know this slightly goes against our "only get the basic burger" rule, but who can resist a burger made of FILET MIGNON? I certainly couldn't. We ordered and were told it would be about ten minutes. Ten turned into about thirty. I got restless and cranky, mostly because I was hungry, but I couldn't get too angry. The thirty minutes included freshly grinding up a steak to make my burger. We got our burgers, grabbed some chips and sweet tea, and we were off.

Menu at LB's

We took our food to a secret, undisclosed location for eating, judging, and general merriment. Upon first unwrapping our burgers, we all noticed how appetizing they looked. They were very homestyle, very beefy, and the cheese could only be described as gorgeous. They had a good variety of condiments, and all were fresh. I bit into my burger and thought it was really good, yet oddly peppery. Everyone agreed. At first it was an interesting taste, but as I finished my burger, it became a bit distracting and overwhelming. Other than that, I thought it was a great burger. Greg and Beth felt theirs were a bit dry, but mine wasn't.

My burger from LBs Meat Market

Overall, we really liked this burger. We gave it a cumulative score of 19.5 out of 25. It looked appetizing, tasted good, had a good variety of condiments, and only cost $4 plus $0.50 for cheese (which was freshly sliced, local red hoop cheddar). Here is a breakdown of the average scores:

Style: 3.7/5
Taste: 3.9/53
Content: 3.4/5
Satisfaction: 3.9/5
Price: 4.9/5

All in all, a good burger. Try it for yourself and let us know if you like it!

Nota bene: LB's does not serve burgers everyday. You can check their Facebook page to see the daily specials.

-Jillian Pecoraro

Round Table on the Square

On a hot afternoon in Oxford, MS, we decided to give one of Oxford’s newer restaurants a try. The Round Table on the Square is located, as its name suggests, on the city square. Those who have frequented the many establishments in that area might remember that spot as The Blind Pig’s old address. They have many items on the menu classified as “southern fare,” but we were interested in the burger. Since we were there at 5:00 pm for dinner, we didn’t fight a crowd to get a table. We sat on the back patio, where we sat under an umbrella and listened to classic rock, playing the “I’m Out” game with the random songs.

Now, I have tried the Palomino Burger before, and it was delicious. That is a burger cooked to order with pimento cheese and bacon in addition to the regular burger condiments. To keep with the spirit of fairness, we may only rate what is considered the normal burger at any restaurant, so that’s what we ate. It was great.

The burger is cooked to order as I mentioned before, and the cooks were pretty accurate. Mine was medium rare, and was just as juicy as I hoped for. The ingredients are fresh, as their website suggests, and it sat between two slices of toasted ciabatta bread. The patty was seared and not too large for the bun. They only had two choices for cheese, cheddar and pepper jack, but that was fine with me as I love jack cheese. Overall, these elements combined to create a pretty tasty burger.

Greg's Round Table burger on ciabatta with fries

The price of the burger is $8.00 and that came with fries, which were great as well. Washing this meal down for me was a cold Miller High Life in the can. This was actually a plus for me, because I like when you can get a beer in a can at a restaurant. Two Stick does this with PBRs, as do other places in Oxford, and it makes me think of barbecues and get-togethers with friends.

If you would like the objective view, the three judges for this date, Beth, Jill and I, scored the burger in 5 categories: style, taste, content, satisfaction, and price, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best. Here are our results:

Style:                        4

Taste:                        4

Content:                    4.5

Satisfaction:              4.8

Price:                         3.8

Overall, a score of 21.1 out of 25. This so far is a pretty high score, but this is only the second burger in Oxford that we have rated. They make a darn fine hamburger, I must say. Their vegetarian options were almost none, but they boast a nice southern “comfort food” menu. Some good burgers, good brews, and good friends made this experience a very pleasant one.

-Greg Earnest

Proud Larry's

The first restaurant to be scrutinized on our grand burger tour was Proud Larry's, located just off the Square on South Lamar. We opted to go on May 31st, a Tuesday, because Tuesday is 2-for-1 burgers and beer day. So a burger which might normally cost $7.95 (plus extra for cheese) will only cost you half the price! And it comes with fries!

I've eaten the Larry burger many times, all on Tuesdays. For the price, I've not been disappointed. But if I paid full price for the burger, I'd be a little underwhelmed, and my fellow judging panel and guest judge Melanie Addington agreed. Firstly, when asked how we would like our burgers cooked, we responded medium, medium rare, medium rare, and medium. But only the medium burgers were cooked properly; the medium rare burgers were also cooked to medium.  The size of the burgers was lovely, though. They weren't kidding around when they say it's 8 ounces of beef. I dare say it might be more. They do offer all the staple condiments (lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle on the side, mayonnaise, and ketchup) as well as creole mustard and a toasted wheat bun, though we all felt the wheat bun detracted from the burger for some reason. Additionally, they offer a selection of six cheeses: cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, provolone, bleu, and pepperjack. The ingredients, sans the lettuce, were all fresh and tasty.

Beth's Larry Burger with onion, swiss, lettuce, and fries

Overall, Greg, Beth, Melanie, and I gave the Larry burger a 17.25 out of 25. It's not a bad burger, but not the best. At the end of our meal, we were full. It was a lot of food, and for the price, it's a deal you really can't turn down. For around $10, you get two burgers and two High Lifes. 

Words from Katherine, our fry judge: The fries weren't bad. But don't dip them in mustard.

-Jillian Pecoraro