Burger Photo Gallery (click pictures to enlarge)

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THE JOINT

Junior Colombian Burger is a local burger joint that you can only find in Orlando, FL. I was scheduled to attend a trade show at the Orlando Convention center in February and as usual, I used Twitter to scout out my burger adventures before the trip.

I’m not sure how I started following @JuliusMayoJr on Twitter, but I’m so glad I did. He gave me 2 great burger recommendations for me to check out while I was in Orlando.

On my first day of the trade show, we had a catered “happy hour” mixer to close out the day and I asked the bartender if he knew of any good burgers in the area.   He thought for a thought for a while, seemingly at a loss for words and then replied “Well, I don’t know the name of the place or even where it’s at, but my kids bring me home this burger every now and then that is the best burger I’ve ever tried. Matter of fact, it might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life. The place is called Colombian something or other I think…”

Luckily, because of the previous recommendation from Julius for Junior Columbian and the link on his Droolius food blog with a photo and address, I knew exactly what the bartender was talking about! That sealed the deal, 2 totally independent recommendations told me my first stop after the trade show would be Junior Colombian.

THE BURGER

As per the name, the Junior Colombian burger is a burger with Colombian inspired ingredients. The ingredient list looks a bit intimidating at first glance:

Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese (so far so safe), potato chips (umm, ok…crunchy is good), garlic sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, pink sauce (what’s that?), pineapple sauce (crazy talk right?)

I went to this out of the way burger joint with a friend of mine that was attending the same trade show and his wife, and they ordered first. I think they may have been hoping for something more simple.  As they ordered, they asked for certain things to be taken off the burger. It went something like this:

Friend: “Can I get it without onions and garlic sauce?”
Employee: “Have you tried our burgers before?”
Friend: “No, but I’m not sure I’d like the pineapple sauce either…can I take that off too?”
Employee (un-phased): “Trust me, you should try the burger just as it is if it’s your first time :)”
Friend: “I think I just want ketchup and cheese”
Employee (still smiling): “Tell you what. You order it just like it is up there and if you don’t like it, I’ll give you your money back…no questions asked. I’ve made the offer 100 times and nobody has ever wanted their money back :)”
Friend: “OK…do you guys have some fries I could get on the side?”
Employee: “Our burgers don’t need fries :)”

At this point I was thoroughly intrigued by the possibility of a burger so good that the employee behind the counter stood behind it with pride, just knowing that it was about to knock your socks off. I don’t think you’d get such a confident guarantee from your average fast food burger employee :)

I was pretty hungry since I was in a show booth all day, plus I was feeling the burger love from this place, so I went with the triple cheeseburger.

After the first couple of bites, I knew what the bartender (and the confident burger cashier) was talking about. This was the kind of burger that made you want to talk to it. I think I said “WOW” to mine, among other grunting food noises.

Something about that unusual combination of ingredients just all worked together. The burger patties weren’t huge, but they were super juicy. I don’t know what kind of white cheese was on on this triple cheeseburger, but it held the burger, potato chips and sauces together like a tasty burger epoxy. The pineapple flavor didn’t really stand out like a Hawaiian pizza, it was more like this sweet delicious after thought that made you long for the next bite.

Seriously, about half way through the burger I was already craving another one.

I asked my friend’s wife if she was going to ask for her money back and she quickly shook her head no as we all 3 secretly plotted how to get back here again before we had to fly back to California.

THE VERDICT

The next day I took a taxi back to Junior Columbian just to get a farewell burger in since I didn’t know the next time I’d be in Orlando.

The cab driver thought I was crazy, but he didn’t know he was talking to an official burger junkie :)  This time I just got a double because I actually had a dinner reservation for an hour later.

So yeah, this burger was good. This cheeseburger’s unique flavor plus the great value easily put it in the top 5 burgers I’ve ever tried. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend people go grab one if they are ever in Orlando visiting Disneyworld, attending a convention, or if they’re local and want to step a bit outside the norm. Go get one!

Tags: featured, pineapple, potato chips, value