It's the cheese that does it. . .

It's pretty much a guarantee that a burger from a chain place will be pretty good, but not as good as one from a small place. With that in mind, we headed out to Paradise City Tavern in Northampton in a quest for burgers. And beer. I mean, come on, it's got tavern right in the title!

Those were some quality burgers. I went for the Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger since I have a strong tendency to prefer burgers with bacon. And that was a good choice. There was some kind of super thick bacon (possibly Applewood smoked bacon if that's a brand name?) which you really can't go wrong with. Plus it had lettuce, tomato and red onion (vastly superior to boring old white onions) so I could pretend it was healthy. However, the best idea was using cheddar cheese, which is highly underrated in the cheese department due to the monopoly that American cheese has in people's minds. The fries were also pretty good, even though we seemed to get the dregs and I had to eat them with a fork, like a Frenchman*.

Melissa and Nicole also opted for the Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger even though they both compromised it with what I can only assume is female silliness. Perhaps Melissa can be forgiven for taking the tomatoes off, but there is no excuse for switching to a whole wheat bun. The original bun was their signature bun! It even said so on the menu!! How can you argue with that? Nicole, on the other hand, got a turkey burger instead. Really? A turkey burger? Did I pull a Rip Van Winkle and sleep until Thanksgiving? I expect better things of her in the future.

In other news, Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale and Troeggs Nugget Nectar are both beers I would try again. Especially the Rogue, since I seem to have a strange affinity for brown ales.

-Jon

*I actually have no idea how French people eat fries. I just thought it sounded funny.