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Burger Breakdown
The Visit
Though I would hit Tommy J's for lunch today. Tommy has a nice corner location in downtown Davis, CA. Perfect place to enjoy a pleasant Fall afternoon while noshing on a burger.
At Tommy J's, you order at the bar and then find a place to sit either inside or outside. Sitting outside is nice as you get to watch all of the excitement in Davis.
There is a server that brings your order out to your table and brings silverware.
Menu Options
There is a lot to choose from here. Plenty of appetizers to get your appetite going, tasty specialty salads for those looking for the greens, nice selection of sandwiches, and fourteen (14) burger choices. Definitely a spot for the burger lover.
On the plate today is the Aggie Jam burger.
At the Table
Since I was a little ahead of the lunch rush, my order arrived in a timely manner. The Aggie Jam Burger came to the table looking good. Served open-face with the lettuce tomato and onion on the side. Heaping portion of deep-fried tater tots.
The Bun
The bun for this cheeseburger was absolutely amazing! Tommy J's stepped away from the standard burger or brioche buns and went with a nice bun with a heavier "tooth." The bun was firm and flavorful with a nice open crumb that landed in the middle between a potato bun and a French baguette. A nice toast on the inside only enhanced the already delicious flavor of the bun.
Condiments and Toppings
This cheeseburger comes with a lot of condiments and toppings. Small piece of lettuce - not enough to add a crispy coolness to the cheeseburger. Nice tomato slice. Thin sliced red onion. All were fresh, crisp, and flavorful. Cajun mayo on the top bun. House made garlic blue cheese spread. House made bacon jam.
The toppings on this sandwich tasted great. The Cajun mayo was creamy and spicy. The bacon jam was fatty, salty, smokey, and sweet. Garlic blue cheese spread was garlicy and tangy.
The Burger
Cooking was superb, Ordered cooked to medium - arrived cooked to medium. Tommy J's certainly knows their way around a flattop.
Aroma of this cheeseburger was absolutely wonderful.
Super juicy burger. Not only was there plenty of juice in the burger, the garlic blue cheese spread was melting, dripping down over the hamburger patty and moistening the bottom bun.
Super tender cheeseburger. Nice grind on the beef. This cheeseburger could have been cooked to medium-well or better and still would have been delicious.
On the Side
If you get a cheeseburger at Tommy J's, be sure to get the Tater Tots. These things are phenomenal - and you get a huge portion. Nice and hot. Crispy. Get a side of Ranch Dressing for dipping. I couldn't stop eating them. They also have regular French fries and sweet potato fries as options when ordering a burger.
Final Words
This cheeseburger may have been a Davis Burger Battle winner, but this is certainly not one of my favorite cheeseburgers at Tommy J's. All of the flavors of this burger were over-powered by the garlic blue cheese spread.
When tasting the individual components, the Cajun mayo the bacon jam, the lettuce, tomato, and onions we're all good. The bun was absolutely delicious and complimented the burger spectacularly. The open crumb and the soft texture paired well with the other components of the burger. (I need to figure out how to make buns like this or where to find them and buy them.) But, the intense flavor and spicyness of the garlic and the intense blue cheese flavor dominated this sandwich.
Even after I removed the majority of the garlic blue cheese spread from the hamburger patty, the flavor was still too intense to taste the actual burger patty or other condiments.
I would definitely scale back the intensity of the garlic and use a mild blue cheese (Camembert or Gorgonzola) that would allow the other components and flavors to shine.