Burger Buzz: Elevation and Sonic Boom

Big news this week for burger lovers, in a state where building a better burger and bun is a life mission for homo carnivorous.

Joining the fabled ranks of  Red Robin in Clifton and Burger Deluxe in Wayne, is the Jersey newcomer Elevation Burger (www.elevationburger.com) which opened yesterday in the Phoenix Building on Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair.

The nationwide franchise uses organic beef from grass fed, free range cattle for burgers. The chain also uses non-processed cheese, and no-trans-fat olive oil to cook hand cut fries.

The Montclair location is the first Elevation Burger franchise to open in the state. As you’d expect, the company also uses environmentally friendly materials for construction of restaurants.

Here’s a foodie blog from Philly that gives the chain a once over: 
http://www.foodaphilia.com/2009/07/elevation-burger.html.

More meaty mania; we hear burger buffs are buzzing about 25 Burgers in Bound Brook (www.25gourmetburgers.com), which opened this past spring.

There’s a creative selection on the menu including a barbeque burger,  a blue cheese and A-1 steak sauce combo, and the Maui burger with grilled pineapple and teriyaki sauce. The restaurant also offers turkey, chicken, bison and crab burgers.

And for atmosphere, there’s the new Sonic (www.sonicdrivein.com) on Rt. 17 in Hasbrouck Heights—the first of these popular franchises in North Jersey. It’s so busy they’ve got to assign a local traffic cop to manage the overflow cars entering this drive-in served by roller skating carhops.

The deluxe burger is doublewide like a flying saucer. Our resident 14-year-old cheeseburger gourmet gave the huge greasy patty two sonic booms for taste—the fries had potential, and he chased it all with a chocolate shake that rivaled a Wendy’s Frosty.

But it’s fun and nostalgic to get curbside service and eat in your car. An inexpensive night out, to sample the Sonic experience and the food that stops traffic.