Gorging and Gathering: the Merits of Local Burger

Despite the endless array of foreign food and fancy-pants bistro on offer in Northampton, my favorite reprieve from dining hall food downtown is Local Burger.

The menu is typical of a burger joint - fries, hot dogs, burgers - but with local beef, cleverly combined flavors (mayonnaise and buffalo sauce; Teriyaki and pineapple), Local elevates cheese-slathered, artery clogging American fare to the gourmet.

Last Saturday was my most recent Local Burger outing, in celebration of performing in The Vagina Monologues with a fellow cast member, one of my dearest college friends. Throughout an arduous day of final rehearsals, my friend and I were frequently eager to remind the other, “At least there’s Local tonight.” We both brought our off-campus boyfriends along with us, allowing our respective boyfriends to breach the crucial best-friend’s-boyfriend introduction. And there’s no better accompaniment for such a melding of beloved company than with greasy comfort food.

I ordered an old stand-by - a grass-fed with pickles, mayo, lettuce, and cheddar, well done. I’m hysterically fearful of bleeding red meat, yet a madwoman for burgers, so finding a burger that is brown throughout while simultaneously maintaining its tenderness and moisture is a daunting task. Local’s no-pink burgers provide this exact middle-ground, though, melting in your mouth and offering a delicious charcoal aftertaste. I particularly commend Local for offering a grass fed option, which only adds to the tenderness and lack-of-gaminess rare at burger joints. I don’t like to be too dogmatic about my food choices, but grass fed beef simply does not compare to Angus.

I was feeling pretty ravenous, so my burger was also accompanied by Mac ‘N Cheese bites, which are breaded clumps of macaroni and cheese served with a buffalo mayo. Never mind the magic worked with a deep fryer - merely the inception of the Mac ‘N Cheese bite process is clearly exceptional, because the internal cheese sauce tastes expertly crafted with the sharpest, softest, most indulgent cheeses possible. The sauce adds a perfect buffalo punch to the dish, and the combination of crispy bread crumbs with gooey Mac ‘N Cheese provides a perfect pair.

My friend got the sweet potato fries which come with a maple mayo and I was lucky enough to sample those, too. Normally, sweet potato fries totally gross me out - I’m a big fan of white potatoes, and make no mistake that Local’s regular hand cut potato fries are not to be missed - but these are more heavenly than the marshmallow-topped yams your grandmother makes for Thanksgiving. Maybe the concept of maple mayo sounds sacrilegious to you but the thick, egg-y spread combined with real-maple syrup transforms the two into a decadent glaze. The sauce is an excellent pairing with the fries, playing up the sweetness of sweet potatoes and providing a dessert-like side to accompany one’s savory burger.

For the vegetarian, Local also features a portabello burger (as in, the mushroom cap is the burger) and a veggie burger. If burgers aren't really your fancy, they also serve Captain Crunch-coated chicken fingers and hot dogs (all beef of course) - an ingenious exploitation of the popular cereals crunch and sweetness.

I sat atop of a cloud of utter delight during my whole meal. Even when I get so full that my jeans feel about to burst, I can’t resist any component comprising my little red-basket. My meal could only have improved had I ordered a Maple Valley milkshake.