The shortest entry on a restaurant or bar I may have on my blog is the one regarding Louie M's Burger Lust that I wrote over two years ago. Granted, that was written when I first started my blog and I didn't know how I wanted my blog to be.
I decided that I just couldn't sit and write about a place that I hadn't been into for a long time because I couldn't quite capture the spirit of the place just on memories. So, I began to only write about places that I had been in recently. And I'd been wanting to do a full entry on Louie M's for quite some time. Well, coming back from Lincoln, NE recently, I stopped into Louie M's for a burger.
Louie M's is located along Vinton Street south of the Omaha downtown area (see map). There are a number of restaurants and shops in the area, most of them kind of funky and hip in nature.
Louie M's is named after the owner Lou Marcuzzo who has been running the place for over 25 years. Lou started out as a caterer, but then opened up his burger place along Vinton St. a couple years later. In my opinion, they are simply the best burgers in the Omaha area.
Louie M's offers over 20 specialty burgers on their menu including what is called the "Trish Burger" - a burger named after Lou's wife with roasted peppers, grilled onions and topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It's very similar to a burger I used to get at Bob Gibson's back in the 80's when it was open in Omaha.
You can get the guacamole bacon burger topped with cheddar cheese. Or the chili burger that is the messiest burger I've ever had. And if you just want a plain ol' burger, they've got that, too. But my favorite is Louie M's jalapeno cheddar burger - hot jalapeno slices on top of their half-pound burger covered with cheddar cheese. But all of their burgers are the type where you need multiple napkins to help keep yourself clean - the sign of a great burger. (Photo courtesy Urbanspoon)
Being that it was around the noon hour, I sat at the bar as all the booths and many of the smaller tables were taken. Louie M's does a brisk take-out business, as well. There were people coming and going with take-out orders the whole time I was in there.
I ordered up my favorite with fries. And I got a beer to wash it all back. I hadn't been into Louie M's for quite some time and I forgot at how funky the place really is - both in decor and the people who work there. They have younger guys working the counter and older women working the tables and booths. A couple people who worked there I recognized from my first visits to Louie M's a number of years ago.
I got my jalapeno cheddar burger and took a bite into. Now I know why they call the place "Burger Lust". It was just as good as I remember it from before. The cheddar wasn't overpowering as it can be with some cheddar cheese burgers. The jalapenos were hot and flavorful. God, I love jalapenos on a good burger.
But the burger, itself, is the star. I've always said that a good bun is the key to a good burger and Louie M's burger buns are excellent. The meat was cooked perfectly and it was moist and juicy with each bite. Man, my stomach is growling as I write about the burger at Louie M's.
With a couple beers and a tip, my tab came to just around 16 bucks. Not bad for a good burger, a basket of above average fries and a couple beers. But just going in to see the hustle and bustle of the place and to observe the characters both working in Louie M's and coming into the place is worth it.
Breakfast at Louie M's is available from the time they open at 6 a.m. (7 a.m. on Sundays) until they close at 3 p.m. (Photo courtesy of Omaha Driver.com)
I put Louie M's burger as Number 8 on my all-time favorite list of burgers a few months ago. After this last visit, Louie M's Burger Lust may have risen into the top five. If you ever have the chance to stop in when you're in Omaha, just do it.
For maximum flavor and juiciness, Landrum swears by grinding your own burger meat. Any Cuisinart food processor or simple hand-grinder does the trick.
Posted by: Gluten Free Chocolate | December 12, 2012 at 12:42 PM