DEARBORN, Mich. – After trying countless hamburgers in our lives, we are on the hunt for the very best burger Metro Detroit has to offer.
Carmichael Cruz and I, Cassidy Johncox, are putting our arteries at risk as we taste our way through the burgers of Southeast Michigan. Like you, we’re sick of these “top 10 burgers” lists put out by every news organization and their mother. I mean, who’s even deciding those rankings?
We’re taking things a step further. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be sitting down at restaurants around town to try these so-called best burgers first hand and to report our findings. We’ll list our favorites at the end of the journey, but we’re first going to put in the work to taste everything and narrow down the best of the best.
In short, we’re on the hunt for the moment when we can say: “Now, that’s the best burger I’ve ever had.” And we’re taking you along for the ride.
First stop: Miller’s Bar, Dearborn
We asked our viewers where the best burger could be found in Metro Detroit. Naturally, we received almost 600 responses.
While we can’t try 600 burgers (I don’t think we’d survive), we’re going to get through as many as we can. One of the most repeated responses among you all was Miller’s Bar in west Dearborn.
As a native Metro Detroiter from the east side, I’d only been there one time, and Carmichael the Californian had never been. We arrived hungry and ready to go.
We got the spiel right as we sat down: The bar has been open for decades, its grill is 85 years old, and “that’s why the burgers are so good.” The menu is simple, and you pay with cash using the honor system -- they don’t keep track of your order.
I ordered a cheeseburger cooked medium-well. Carmichael got a cheeseburger cooked medium. We also ordered fries and onion rings, just to see. The waitress called it “frings.” We laughed.
The cheeseburgers cost $11 each and came with onions and pickles on the side.
We didn’t tell anyone where we were from (and we don’t plan to), but we did attach little microphones to our shirts so we could record our reactions while eating. To spare you from the gross chewing sounds, we’ve written out the conversation for you to read, instead.
Here’s how it went.
Chewing the fat
Cassidy: First impression immediately?
Carmichael: I love the thickness. It’s a great size. Look how thick the patty is! And it’s got melty cheese.
Cassidy: And the cheese is on the bottom, which is different.
Carmichael: Did you put toppings on yours? Are you going to? Because I love onions.
Cassidy: Oh, yeah. You have to do onions. I love adding pickles, too.
Carmichael: These are very thinly-sliced pickles. And I like how it comes in a little plastic bag. You can just take these home after!
Cassidy: It’s very much a no-frills situation -- they don’t even give you a plate. They just served this burger on a piece of paper.
Carmichael: Yeah. I kind of like that there are no baskets. OK, I’m gonna bite into it before adding ketchup and mustard.
We both make “hmm” and “mmm” sounds.
Cassidy: The cheese is nicely melted. And my burger’s still pretty pink for being medium-well, which is good.
Carmichael: Yeah, mine’s perfectly pink.
Cassidy: For the cheese, I’d rate it at maybe a 7 or 8. The flavor’s really good, but I think it could be more melty. The burger itself is cooked perfectly. It’s very, very greasy, but that’s also part of the experience eating here. But sometimes, for me, that grease can be a little too much.
Carmichael: I don’t think it’s too greasy. The grease isn’t pooling, I mean, look at the paper -- which is the ultimate test. You could easily tell if it was too much.
Carmichael adds more onions. Chewing continues.
Cassidy: I think the beef on its own is good. It’s definitely relying on the fact that it’s a beef burger and hasn’t really been seasoned much. I feel like it could use more spice, and definitely more salt.
Carmichael: I do wish it was saltier. Especially because it’s a bigger patty. I’ve had skinny patties that are just so salty, and that’s more of what I like.
Cassidy: Too much salt is never good, but you want a burger to be salty. The quality of the beef is great, but the flavor on its own is like a 6 for me.
Cassidy: The toppings are great and simple. They’re not adjusted in any way; they’re not specialty. They’re just raw unions cut up, but they are perfectly cut for you to grab and place on the burger.
Carmichael: Also, nothing has fallen apart yet. It’s pretty structurally sound.
His timing was beautiful: A glass shattered behind the bar just as he said that.
Carmichael: I do like the bun. It’s not too soft, which is good. Too soft is when everything starts falling apart.
Cassidy: I do too. Mine’s falling apart a little bit because it’s getting soggy from soaking up the grease. Laughs. If I wasn’t strategically holding this, it would be falling apart way more. There’s definitely a strategy to holding burgers.
Carmichael: The greasiness is good -- I’ve had it where it literally pools, and this is a pretty clean piece of paper. Laughs.
Cassidy: Mine’s more messy. But, since there’s no sauce, the grease does help the burger stay moist.
Carmichael: Yeah, the moisture level is perfect.
More chewing.
Cassidy: Right. Well. Since we’re just starting this journey, I feel like it would be hard to assign a final score to Miller’s since we’re still establishing a baseline.
Carmichael: Agreed. Maybe we can give it a preliminary grade but adjust it after trying a few more places? I will say, the shining star here is the beef. You can tell it’s good beef and not frozen. I just wish it was saltier.
Cassidy: I agree. Everything is very simple, but the quality is good. It’s simple and good -- and intentionally simple can be great.
Carmichael: Yes. I’m noticing the fries and the onion rings are not salty, either. Overall, it just seems everything is under-salted. Granted, you can add your own, but I don’t like to add. It’s either it is or it’s not.
Cassidy: I’m the same way. I never like to add salt. l want everything to be seasoned well already.
Carmichael: It’s all really good, but it would’ve been better if it was saltier. But I thought everything was solid -- the bun, the bread, the beef.
Cassidy: Yes. Everything about it was good, but it wasn’t a mind-blowing experience by any means. Which is what we’re on the hunt for!
Carmichael: Laughs. Yep.
Cassidy: The fries and onion rings were nice little add-ons, but they definitely didn’t alter the experience in any way.
Carmichael: The star is still the burger.
Cassidy: If the onion rings were saltier, they’d be actually great, because they’ve been perfectly fried and you can actually bite into them and they break apart properly.
Carmichael: Yes! Yes. Sometimes you take a bite and the entire onion comes out.
Cassidy: Right. You can actually bite this one, and that’s what you want. Like, who’s eating one whole onion ring at once?
Carmichael: I mean, that’s why I like the small ones because it’s just one bite and you don’t have to worry about that.
Cassidy: But here at Miller’s Bar, you don’t have to worry about anything!
Carmichael: Laughs. Right.
Overall rating
We think it’s a little too early in our journey to assign an official rating to Miller’s Bar.
While we enjoyed our experience and our burgers, we’re still establishing a baseline of what “good” and “bad” burgers look like to us. We’re actually using a whole grading rubric that breaks down the quality and flavor of the bun, the burger, the toppings, the cheese, and more. We’ll share that soon.
For now, we’ll say we found the burgers at Miller’s Bar to be satisfactory, but not really noteworthy. The food was of good quality and it tasted good, but it left more to be desired. The itch was not quite scratched.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, we both put the burger in the middle:
- Cassidy’s rating: 5
- Carmichael’s rating: 5.5
Once we have a few more reviews under our belt, we’ll share our full rubric grading for Miller’s Bar (and the restaurants/burgers that follow).
Why do our opinions matter?
Well, they matter a lot to us! Joking. But seriously: If there is anyone in this newsroom who loves food, it’s Carmichael Cruz, and I’m a close second.
If there is ever food at the station -- which sometimes we’re graced with due to food-related segments -- Carmichael is the first to know about it, and the first to let me know about it so we can do our own taste tests.
We both love food and cooking, enjoy the social scene and connections that restaurants can foster, and particularly enjoy getting out in the community and trying new places and things we’ve never tried before (which we do often). We hope you’ll follow us on our burger hunt!
Have a spot you think we absolutely have to try? Let us know in an email or in the comments below, and we may add it to our list! We’re avoiding chains, unless they’re local.