I Tried The Best Cheeseburger Ina Garten Ever Had And I Think She Needs To Eat A Few More

Long before she opened the signature gourmet store that would launch her Barefoot Contessa brand, Ina Garten lived in Washington D.C. It's a semi-well-known fact despite her far more common association with New York. Sure, it was a Hamptons-based shop that grew into her series of cookbooks, limited products, and television show, but back in the '70s, Garten and her husband once lived, worked, and probably even learned a bit about cooking in the District. In October 2024, Garten returned to Washington D.C. and brought with her heaping praise for our food scene.

The Kennedy Center had hosted Garten for the kickoff of a book tour supporting her new memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens." She often gives D.C. a wink and nod through her media — so naturally, when Garten took the stage, it was a fair expectation that she might share an interesting nugget or two. As her recipes do, Garten provided in abundance. An audience member asked where she had eaten her best-ever cheeseburger, to which Garten replied: "I had it this afternoon. It was in the Four Seasons. Is it called Bourbon Steak? Oh my god." 

Undoubtedly, the glowing review comes from someone who knows good food. But Garten's comments invite scrutiny. I am a D.C. local, a ridiculously picky burger fan, and someone who believes that the greatest versions are an everyman's food more likely to be found from a hole-in-the-wall than a five-star steakhouse. Plus, Washington D.C. isn't necessarily a burger city, but the possibility of a world-class burger being here (and slept on) felt worth a look. 

Bourbon Steak is located in the Four Seasons in Georgetown. Despite a byline noting that he's cooked for three U.S. presidents, restauranteur-chef Michael Mina isn't a local to the D.C. area. His chain, however, is. Bourbon Steak has locations in Scottsdale, Nashville, Vegas, and Los Angeles, among other cities, but it opened its first location in Washington. Since pushing open the doors at the Four Seasons in 2008, Bourbon Steak has given Georgetowners a luxurious option for an American steakhouse experience. Bourbon Steak's flagship D.C. location is currently headed by executive chef Quentin Welch.

Under Mina and Welch's program, beef quality is paramount, and the steaks are cooked over a wood-fired grill to prove it. Mina is known specifically for this, having collected numerous nominations, awards, and accolades relating to his focus on grilling mastery. During Bourbon Steak's dinner service, Prime black Angus is served in eight varying cuts, including both barrel and petite filets. The menu's second section is "Worldwide Wagyu," a lists of meats sourced from Queensland, Australia, Colorado, and Miyazaki and Hokkaido, Japan. 

The two burgers that Bourbon Steak options are a mirror for either section: one sandwich is made from Prime beef and another from an unspecified Wagyu. Each one is only available for lunch, however, because dinner is really for trying A5 Hokkaido snow beef from Château Uenae.

The Barefoot Contessa is known for cooking a lot of different things, but mostly they're themed around high-minded comfort. You'd think burgers would be a big part of that, but not especially. Her prior published takes on burgers aren't exactly trailblazing.

Of course, between her show, website, and cookbooks, Ina Garten has offered quite a few valuable tips for making burgers, and some recipes to boot. She's been clear about not overworking your chuck meat; an underrated suggestion. Plus, her bleu cheeseburger recipe has capital-F Flavor. 

That said, many of her burger recipes or tips result in bulbous patties or feature tall buns a la Red Robin. They miss the svelte, sexy greasiness of what makes eating a burger cool. In that sense, you could actually say that Garten is relatively out of touch with where the burger-minds among us are at these days. 

An example: In 2021, Food Network shared a technique YouTube video of Garten making what she called "smashed burgers." That sounds almost ... just about ... nearly ... exactly like a current and dominate burger trend. But, the recipe is definitely not a smash burger. Instead, it's a thick patty. Still delicious, but not true to the brittle, friable form of morish smash burgers. In my opinion, smash burgers aren't just of the moment, they are the pinnacle of burger craft. To cook one incorrectly shows that maybe Garten's passion doesn't lie with burgers.  

Although the Food Network comment section made noise about the error, they also made a fair point: If you're going to get involved in burger dialogue, come correct.

Bourbon Steak has two beef cheeseburgers on its menus: One is a burger made from Prime black Angus beef and topped with aged white cheddar, shallot and red wine compote, and crisp little gem lettuce. The other is a Wagyu burger that takes the fashion of a smash burger, with American cheese, caramelized onions, and a "secret sauce." Both burgers are served on fresh baked sesame seed buns and served alongside a pickle. Beyond the burgers I sampled, there a few other sandwiches to choose from, including a quinoa and veggie burger, a fried chicken sandwich, and a turkey burger, as well.

As mentioned earlier, you won't be able to saddle up to Bourbon Steak for an evening burger, even if you wanted to. The restaurant only offers its sandwich menu for lunch. You can order them from any section, whether you're sitting in the quaint courtyard, in the spacious dining room, or at the bar. That said, the price (and value) of ordering a Bourbon Steak burger can vary depending on where you're seated. Order from the dining room and you'll pay $26 for the Prime burger, and $28 for the Wagyu one. Steep!

If you sit in the bar section, you have the option to order from a special burger menu that offers either burger for $34. Included in this deal are your choice of fries or side salad, a house-made nonalcoholic beverage, and a delicious ice cream sandwich for dessert. When all is said and done, it's a high-value offer for an otherwise high-ticket burger.

Determining whether or not the best burger Ina Garten has ever had is really that good, I had to eat it. Unfortunately, both Garten and the folks at Bourbon Steak have been awfully stingy about a key detail: which burger it was that she actually ordered. So, I took a seat at one of the bar booths and tried both sandwiches. (No complaints.) I made sure to get them with varying sides (one order of fries, one of order of salad) and different beverages (a West Indian limeade and a grapefruit tiki mocktail). They come with pickles, and though I appreciate the extras, the burgers were my main focus. I did not allow the value of the meal to factor into my verdict on them.

At this point, I should clarify what makes me the right person to taste these burgers. It's more than just being in Washington D.C. at the right time. At several points of my service industry career, I worked in restaurants where burgers were either the main focus of the concept, or at least a proud and distinct part of the menu. 

In addition, I've traveled the world in search of its best cheeseburgers. I've eaten at the California upstart-turned-staple Burgers Never Say Die, and traveled to Lima, Peru to test if the acclaimed Burgerboy is really that good. I'm well acquainted with the patties at Au Cheval, and even once sprung for the Black Label burger at Minetta Tavern in NYC. When I tried each Bourbon Steak burger, I was comparing them to the greatest burgers that I've ever had, too.

I started off with the Prime black Angus burger. The beef patty, which looked roughly six to eight ounces in size, is covered by a shallot and red wine compote, gem lettuce, and aged white cheddar cheese, as previously mentioned. It all sits between a house-baked sesame seed bun. I like a restaurant that takes the temperature of your burger, because it immediately tells you to expect a burger thick enough to even have a temperature. I ordered mine medium so that the juices wouldn't entirely soak the bottom bun and was rewarded with a perfectly executed cook.

I'll say flat out that from bottom to top, this burger slaps. The bun highlights the importance of a great bake — it was just dense enough to give me something to hold on to, and airy enough that it could trap a lot of the bite-released juices. Yet, it did not get soggy throughout the entire meal. The heavy inclusion of sesame seeds added a grounding aspect. Under the hood was a range of taste. Shallots are the delicate and subtle cousin to what can be a vulgar taste of onions, and this sandwich featured them the right way: the compote was intensely savory and full of fragrance. The gem lettuce, known for being buttery, was a bit wilted.

As for the burger, this is high-quality beef we're talking. It did not have the best crust, but so it goes. The patty was well-seasoned, if it was at all, and that "if" is a big point. A few bites of just-the-burger allowed me to get a taste for the quality of the meat. It was robust. Earthy, hardy, and packed with umami, this burger is one that any chef should be proud to serve.

Next came the Wagyu sandwich, which took on the form of a smash burger. Again, I wasn't convinced that the style was truly nailed; even though Bourbon Steak does not technically advertise this as a smash, it's close enough to draw comparisons. Rather than a single patty, diners get two pieces of Wagyu burger split by melted American cheese. The top is dressed with caramelized onions and a "secret" dressing clearly a riffing on fry sauce. My dining companion insisted that there was some Mambo sauce quality to it, but I failed to get any of the sweet-spicy barbecue notes that the D.C. signature is known for. 

This thing that people love about Wagyu beef is the thing that made this sandwich so good: fat. I couldn't see any internal marbling, but every other bite released tiny globules of delicious grease across my tongue, and with a sturdy bun to soak it up, it was easy to become woo'd by this luxurious take. Unfortunately, the onions hit a bit too salty, especially when combined with the sodium-forward flavor of classic American-style cheese.

In my opinion, the fat which makes the burger so soft, supple, and flavorful, worked against its implied style. Neither patty featured a particularly crispy edge. In the end, the sandwich was hot, it was dripping, but the ingredients felt like a stack of teenagers in a trench coat trying to pass for an adult.

No one can dispute that Ina Garten knows good food. It's clear from her recipes, as well as her personal tastes. If she stands by either of these burgers being the best she's ever had, then it is very tall and fine hill to dine on. Given the quality of ingredients, they are objectively one of the best burgers in Washington D.C. at the least

With that in mind, these are not the best burgers I have ever had, and I think Garten might benefit from getting out to try a few more. If she's in the District, I say start at Swizzlers, or even consider hitting the road to New Orleans for a bite at Bub's Burgers. Overall, the sandwiches at Bourbon Steak were really close to Garten's own style of burgers, which speaks a lot to her fondness for them.  

In comments to Eater DC, executive chef Quentin Welch said that, "As a long-time admirer of [Garten's] work, it's truly humbling to know we made such a lasting impression on her." Welch's comments somewhat support part of my opinion, which is that Garten declaring this spot as her favorite is on brand. It just feels a bit too gussied up for what I want from a burger. 

As big, beefy patties go, the lofty buns at Bourbon Steak are studded by a thousand sesame seed homages to other burger greats. The style of Bourbon Steak's burgers take the tact of someone who has followed a few Ina Garten recipes in their lifetime, with the luxury dialed to 10. But would it have been so hard to point out a burger spot that we can all afford?