Your burger is beautiful and a feast for the eyes, but you've touched on a subject that has troubled me for ages.

Why must restaurants pile food up vertically-- especially sandwiches and burgers -- for a visual aesthetic which sacrifices the ability to easily eat or manipulate? It puts me off my feed, as the saying goes, to see a tower of meat placed before me, even though it would likely be delicious.

The primary problem is not getting that perfect bite-to-bun-to-topping-to-condiment ratio, but it's also the roadkill effect. I'd much rather eat a plate of wonderful, small, perfectly proportioned sliders of the same entree, to get that ratio I like, and to be able to more easily stop when I'm full, than eat a several bites of a mound of meat, which looks like I've slayed something after taking those bites.

I feel the same with panini -- the thin, crispy, delicately proportioned sandwiches are so much more appealing than the "get all over your face" variety. In fact, I found the commercials for Carl's, Jr., where the slop and goo is all over the place, completely unappetizing.

The only exception are knife and fork sandwiches which are intended to be served and eaten that way. An open-face, retro diner style beef or turkey "sandwich" with potatoes and gravy, or one of those meatloaf babies, but even then, they don't tower so much as spread out and take up the entire plate. That, I can handle more easily.

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I'm with Kate.

In the picture the burger is far too thick for easy consumption. This is the way for many 'gourmet' burgers. The grillers I know don't think that meat cooked rare is a requirement - medium is fine.

I would rather add ingredients on the sandwich rather than add them as sides - even if I end up eating the sandwich with utensils. The old chili-burger (a chili-dog will warm your soul as well) comes to mind, but I have nothing against tons of vegetables (we get great tomatos, bell peppers, and cucumbers here in Florida).

The old phrase "everything in moderation" seems to have lost its meaning.

Kate's reference to "open-face" sandwiches may be lost on many. When potatos and/or bread were cheap my mother would make "gravy bread" with some left over meat. I certainly appreciate the meals I have today because of that experience. Still, the meals were flavorful - just inexpensive. Nothing hones your taste skills like starting with the basics.

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Which looks 'bigger', a towering burger, or one that's enormously wide? Which looks more like you can eat it?

I would say that the towering one probably looks more consumable.

Also, towering lets you see the layers. A dinner-plate burger with just a patty and some tomatoes? It's all bun!

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THANK YOU!!! I thought I was in the minority when it came to high, towering burgers that one must MASH DOWN in order to take a small chunk out of (and squeezing condiments into one's hand in the process), or be forced into some sort of imbalanced open face sandwich in which both pieces of bread aren't covered in the same toppings.

Me? OCD? Only with my hamburgers...

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It's definitely for visual appeal. As they say we eat with our eyes.

But, that being said, it has no bearing on taste. The perfect burger should have the perfect balance of meat and bun + fixings. It should have a nice bit of messiness, and you should be able to take bites without dislocating your jaw.

It's not rocket science, but the simplest things are the hardest to perfect.

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