Chimiburger

ChimiBurger is the burger joint located in the multi-restaurant food mall in Juárez called Comedor Lucerna.

To briefly recap the concept, there is one large dining patio, where diners sit surrounded by a variety of casual dining restaurants offering hand held foods, beer and cocktails. And ChimiBurger is the sole restaurant offering burgers in this “comedor”.

The usual complaint we have about burgers in Latin America is that the meat patty is way too short on fat. The restaurants think that by buying higher-priced and leaner meat and piling on exotic ingredients they can create a gourmet burger that will be better than the competitors’ rendition. In fact, the opposite is true. The best burgers are dripping with juicy flavor that comes from a fat content somewhere around 25% to 30%. This is universally accepted among burger connoisseurs.

Well I’m glad to report that the lean to fat ratio was ideal in the burgers at Chimiburger. And we also like that they were grilled over an open flame. They have a good number of unique ingredients to pile on top. My favorite is the Chila Burger, with quesillo cheese and chilaquiles verdes piled on top. (That’s the one you see in the slider images.)

You have a choice of regular fries or sweet potato fries. The sweet potato fries are among the best we’ve tried in all of Latin America. They were creamy and sweet on the inside and they’ve got a bit of crispy exterior which is difficult to do on a sweet potato.

This is a great burger. Good enough to put it high in the running for the best burger in Mexico City, maybe in all of Latin America. And we like the high vibe that’s always going on in Comedor Lucerna, almost any time of the day.

You can enjoy it with one of the artisanal beers offered by the patio bar and beer vendor, including beers by craft-brewers Buena Suerte, Bocanegra and a full range of beers from Cerveza Minerva. Juice and soft drinks are also available for the less adventurous. The availability to all of these high-quality drinks (and cocktails as well) contributed to the high score for ambiance.