Amtrak Burger – Sidetrack – Ypsilanti, MI

Food Reviews, Ypsilanti

Jessica French recently shot me an e-mail containing an invite to come and try their new Amtrak Double Decker Cheeseburger.  This excited me, of course, because Sidetrack has easily the best burger in the area.  They meet all the criteria needed to produce a delicious burger:  fresh, quality beef, a large selection of toppings, and an almost ancient grill top.  If that doesn’t get you excited, the fact that the burger made an appearance on Oprah should.  If you’re not an Oprah fan, it was also featured in GQ as one of the 20 hamburgers you must try before you die.  Still not excited?  Something must be wrong with you.

Instead of creating some enormous monstrosity, Sidetrack simply replaced Jesse’s Burger, an 8 oz. version of their standard 4 oz. burger, with the Amtrack Double Decker Burger.  The Amtrak Burger consists of two 4 oz. patties, so the size of Jesse’s Burger is maintained.  Don’t get me wrong, this burger is huge.  It may not be eating challenge material, but you’ll definitely be full after eating it.  In my case, this burger and a side of sweet potato fries is almost the perfect sized meal.  Especially with a Darkhorse Raspberry Ale or a Huma-Lupa-Licious to wash it down.  Most do not possess similar obese eating abilities, but honestly, I would recommend ordering this over the regular burger.

Even if the thought of a half pound burger doesn’t get you going, the amount of toppings, which are also doubled, should.  I topped my Amtrak Burger with goat cheese and caramelized onions, which are my sidekicks on every Sidetrack burger I order.  I should mention that I got it medium rare but there really shouldn’t be any other way to cook a burger.  That’s a dig at you, well done burger eaters.  You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Kudos to Sidetrack for making their already amazing burger even better.  I’m always impressed that my favorites remain on the menu but new items appear regularly.  Now if I could get the spinach, artichoke and crab dip back on the menu I just might be in food heaven.