Francis here again. My man Martin said the magic word – hamburgers! Wow, do we love em!

There are so many wonderful ways of showing love, but hamburgers is one of the better ones. A good burger, as Jules said, is indeed a wonderful thing, and taking Mrs. Martin’s writing prompt seriously means I must opine of my own love for that sizzly, drizzly, meaty goodness. I realize that too many of these lovable things are not good for us in the long term, but today I speak only of the good qualities of my love. With moderation comes much delight.

Everyone who loves burgers knows they are best when they are served hot and juicy. (Wendy’s was smart with that idea for sure.) While we’ve all occasionally had a bad burger I’m sure, to be fair, most fast food joints do them properly most all of the time, day in and day out. I love me a great Whopper or a Big Mac and find them to be consistently good almost all the time.

Hamburgers offer us nearly infinite diversity in infinite combinations. (Yup, that’s a Star Trek reference folks. The IDIC.) Everyone get to have theirs prepared ‘their way’ (or they should anyway) and I’d love to know who the marketing genius was in the Seventies that came up with that slogan.

I prefer lettuce, tomato and raw onion on mine, with ketchup or some similar sauce. (BBQ sauce is preferred and A-1 is the best.) Yellow mustard is about the only thing I cannot stand, and I do not care for pickles by themselves but happily include them on my Big Mac or White Castles. (The glorious slider deserves its own posting eventually, so I will not go down that rabbit hole today.)

But to the question that always arises – which ones are the best?

So many are good yes, and the principle of the IDIC requires me to respect and love them all, but of course, there are some which speak to me with the hushed, come-hither tones of a beautiful lover. (Yes, you can probably tell I’m hungry as I write this.) Fortunately burger monogamy is by no means required, so today I offer two of my favorites. One available to me locally, and the other not.

First – the local. Five Guys.

Handcrafted and made-to-order with fresh beef, melted cheese (which Martin cannot eat unfortunately) and always served hot off the grill, double pattied, the Five Guys burger is pure delicious.

Warm buns, raw onions, cool lettuce and my beloved A-1 sauce. Yes, Five guys is probably the best of all. It is a little pricey, nearly $8.00 a burger, but for true love, is any price too high?

Even Spiderman claims them to be the best folks.

There are great fries and shakes there as well, but in the end, you know what you came for.

Second – the far away. Whataburger.

Based in Texas, although now owned by folks in Chicago, Whataburger is a staple in the South, and for good reason.

Large juicy patties on a perfectly-toasted five-inch bun, with diced onions, lettuce and tomato. It normally also features mustard and pickles, but because ‘special orders don’t upset them’, I always ask for those things not to appear.

They have tons of other varieties of burgers and sandwiches on their menu besides the standard Whataburger, of course, but for me, the love I have for the original in its hot and delicious glory is always inescapable.

Mrs. Francis’ brother and family live in lower Alabama, so I have had ample opportunities to foster my long-distance love affair with Whataburger for a while now. I am pleased to note that they are constructing a new location (the first of many they say) in Nashville later this year, which is only three hours away. When the love is this good, folks, no distance is too far, and many road trips will be made in coming months. And by the way, their spicy ketchup is awesome and available to order in retail packs.

There are so many other great burger chains, but my time is limited I fear. Steak N Shake is certainly one of them, as is W. W. Cousins here locally, built from scratch since 1983 as they say.

And to end it all, how about an awesome commercial from 1974 – which I can still hear in my head today from time to time, thank you very much – here’s “Having It Your Way’ from Burger King: