101 replies to this topic

[Pat]

Via The Hill:

(Not sure why they have it located in Alexandria...)

Mark Knoller has it correct in his tweeting, so I'm not sure where the misinformation orignated.

ETA: He also says: "Lunch play-by-play. Press Pool reports Obama ordered a swiss mushroom burger with chili and cheese cooked medium. Paid cash."

I don't know why I find this level of detail appealing but I do.

The President also bought burgers for some in the press corps (apparently the ones who wanted them).

Apologies for the edits. I didn't want to make new posts for every comment and then managed to make a bunch of typos...

[u-bet!]

Press Pool reports Obama ordered a swiss mushroom burger with chili and cheese cooked medium. Paid cash."

chili?

[Pat]

chili?

Perhaps it was chiles as in the peppers. I know there used to be jalapenos, at least, but I haven't been there in a while. Chile and chili could easily be conflated.

[Pat]

HA. Knoller now says: "Pool got it wrong: Obama really ordered a basic cheddar cheese burger, medium well with spicy mustard. also order cheesy tater puffs...."

[hm212]

Made it to national news - Obama has lunch and pays for the entire news corp at Hell Burger.

Left $5 in the tip jar - as reported by MSNBC - 5 Full minutes on national news feed.

[dcs]

The Secret Service must really love this Twitter stuff.

[DonRocks]

Made it to national news - Obama has lunch and pays for the entire news corp at Hell Burger.

Left $5 in the tip jar - as reported by MSNBC - 5 Full minutes on national news feed.

Click here for the MSNBC article.

Mr. President or Mr. Vice President, would you please weigh in with your opinion of the cheesy tater puffs? If you post just once you can access the dining guide.

[TheMatt]

Good Lord, what is Ray's going to be like *now*?

And what is Michael going to be like?

[JPW]

Michael, what were you saying on that other thread about publicity?

[sheldman]

I am thinking, based on all this recent activity, that maybe the President is an obsessive but slightly incompetent or underinformed Mark Slater groupie, desperately trying to find him but not quite up to speed on when/where to go.

[Adam23]

From a friend... "He needs to stay at the office and eat at his desk and get some work done. Jeb Bush, Eric Cantor and Mitt Romney were at Pietanza on Saturday. Arlington is the new gastro-political hotspot."

[monavano]

Mr. Landrum serves at the pleasure of the President-from DCist:
http://dcist.com/200...t_rays_hell.php

edited to fix link, thanks Pat.

[hungry prof]

Video here.

Note the president's resigned acceptance of tater tots in the absence of french fries.

[mxyzptlk]

My office mate and I went to Pho 75 for lunch and were caught up in this whole craziness. It was mass chaos outside the entire time they were there. President Obama and entourage were in and out in 30 minutes.

[Pat]

Mr. Landrum serves at the pleasure of the President-from DCist:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30582391/

This is the dcist link:
http://dcist.com/200...t_rays_hell.php
I sent it to my husband, and he immediately recognized the poster behind the VP in the photo. We've sat at that table .

[Michael Landrum]

You should have seen the argument between me and the Secret Service guys when they tried to hold a table before the President had ordered and gotten his number.

[MelGold]

Now it's going to be impossible to get a table!

[DanCole42]

This is the dcist link:
http://dcist.com/200...t_rays_hell.php
I sent it to my husband, and he immediately recognized the poster behind the VP in the photo. We've sat at that table .

"The last time Obama stopped by a casual lunch spot, there was a line around the building to get into Ben's Chili Bowl for six weeks."

Clearly Michael needs to establish super secret "open hours"... like 3:13AM to 3:23AM, when those of us from before Obama "raised hell" can still get a burger.

---------------------------------------

And sheldman... LITERALLY loling at your Slater groupie post...

---------------------------------------

From my wife: i hope Spike is cursing and jumping up and down on his hat

[Demetrius]

Congrats to Mr. Landrum for being recognized by our president and vice president as the go to spot for the best burger.

Now my wife will finally believe me that this is the best and agree to go with me.

[zoramargolis]

Ha! I had just PM'd Mark yesterday about how it was too bad he hadn't been able to pull a cork for Michelle and Barack the other night, and that we should start applying some pressure for them to visit "the people's steakhouse" across the river. No wine at Ray's Hell, but it's only a matter of time now. You go, Michael!

[susanmab]

Now it's going to be impossible to get a table!

Indeed!

I can't even be too sore about that though, because it's just so wicked cool. Oh, and now I look good to the friends that I've been trying to cajole to go out for a burger.

[DameEdna]

Landrum passes Secret Service background check? Bad boy? no, pussycat.

[ruslev]

Now it's going to be impossible to get a table!

Thank god he did not go to RTS!

[lion]

Great, now everyone will be going there! Lines out the door! The owner will get a swelled head!

Congratulations Michael.

[Scott Johnston]

Funny how the P and VP were htere at the same time... I thought they tried to avoid public appearences together.

[ppsailor01]

He ordered his burger medium well!!!! wtf

[Waitman]

A more amusing take. Plus video.

[tentimesodds]

He ordered his burger medium well!!!! wtf

I would have thought he'd order it with a red, warm center. Shows what I know.

Saw the report on CNN while I stopped in to Jason's Deli in Falls Church. Good-bye, delicious Hell-Burger, we hardly knew ye. See you in a few months when the crowds die down.

[Halloween]

Landrum passes Secret Service background check? Bad boy? no, pussycat.

Right?! No wonder Michael was so pleasant, upbeat, and well-behaved during that crazy Arlington interview.

[dmwine]

I am thinking, based on all this recent activity, that maybe the President is an obsessive but slightly incompetent or underinformed Mark Slater groupie, desperately trying to find him but not quite up to speed on when/where to go.

He'll know after tomorrow's Food section.

[dmwine]

He ordered his burger medium well!!!! wtf

From the video in Waitman's link, he said "medium", not medium-well, because he was ordering extras and didn't know how people would want them.

ETA: Oops! Heard a radio clip on the way home - he did indeed order his own medium-well.

Sigh. Nobody's perfect.

[Joe H]

The Drudge Report, near the top of the front page with a photo: http://www.drudgereport.com/
CNN video (with an Appleby's hamburger commercial first!): http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
USA Today, front page of website: http://content.usato...s/theoval/index
Brinks Truck: http://www.worldofst...ups/BIN2054.php

[ol_ironstomach]

From the video in Waitman's link, he said "medium", not medium-well, because he was ordering extras and didn't know how people would want them.

Check the CNN video. He orders his own medium well, and then later appears to order more mediums for the press corps.

[silentbob]

He ordered his burger medium well!!!! wtf

Disappointing, but not a surprise.

His first meal on Air Force One back in January was a burger medium well.

It would've been great if he had ordered Moorenko's today as well.

[TheMatt]

Perhaps he is just dutifully following the USDA recommendation that ground beef be cooked to an internal temperature that, I believe, corresponds to medium well to well-done.

That is how a President should behave, no?

[Tim Carman]

Well, of course, we had to do our own obligatory Obama visits Hell Burger story. Real quotes included. Landrum may even recognize his honeyed words this time around...

[levjn]

I'm impressed they could find parking for the whole entourage... without "special treatment"!

[B.A.R.]

Hopefully Michael will have time to post his recollections of the day. I'd like to know if they really did just "show-up" or was there some advance notice.

[u-bet!]

Hopefully Michael will have time to post his recollections of the day. I'd like to know if they really did just "show-up" or was there some advance notice.

From the sight of the traffic cones blocking off all of the street parking as the motorcade pulled away, I would say there was advance notice.

[ulysses]

michael...years of fine dining training down the tube. Never reach across. Elbow away, not against. I'm guessin' your going to lose a shift for that one.

[Halloween]

So you guys are criticizing the President for ordering his burger medium-well? Well, I take my steak tartare, well, raw; my steak, medium-rare; and, my burgers medium to medium-well. Sue me; bring it on!

[mdt]

Hell-burgers spotted on the CBS Morning Show!

[Heather]

So you guys are criticizing the President for ordering his burger medium-well? Well, I take my steak tartare, well, raw; my steak, medium-rare; and, my burgers medium to medium-well. Sue me; bring it on!

I've tried meduim-rare, medium, and medium-well Hell-burgers, and prefer the medium & medium-well versions. Melting the fat a little more makes them more flavorful. The trick is not to press them so that they lose said fat during cooking, and the grill-masters there know what they are doing.

I'd love to know why The Hill name checks Spike but not Michael in this:
The Hill.

[mdt]

I've tried meduim-rare, medium, and medium-well Hell-burgers, and prefer the medium & medium-well versions. Melting the fat a little more makes them more flavorful. The trick is not to press them so that they lose said fat during cooking, and the grill-masters there know what they are doing.

I'd love to know why The Hill name checks Spike but not Michael in this:
The Hill.

Reality tv star.

[JPW]

Seriously, Michael, you need a new PR agent. You haven't gotten nearly enough publicity the first three days of this week.

[FunnyJohn]

Did you get any TARP funds?

[Hannah]

I've tried meduim-rare, medium, and medium-well Hell-burgers, and prefer the medium & medium-well versions. Melting the fat a little more makes them more flavorful. The trick is not to press them so that they lose said fat during cooking, and the grill-masters there know what they are doing.

I'd love to know why The Hill name checks Spike but not Michael in this:
The Hill.

Clearly they're not very bright, because it still says Ray's is in Alexandria.

[Michael Landrum]

Actual true moment, and the most beautiful moment in my life--something that will never make it into the press--when the President sat down to eat, this was what was playing: click Harvest for the World. Can you believe that shit?

Me to the President: "I don't know what's on your I-Pod, but check out our soundtrack. Here we play the Isleys"

President to me: "Right on."

No lie.

[Michael Landrum]

Now, those of you who don't know me might not believe me, but what I set out to do do ten years ago when I first set out to have a business, I had one thing, and one thing only, in mind.

To see my plan come to fruition, and to have a national stage to do so, blows my mind in a way that is incomprehensible even to me.

Now that I have a direct ear to the White House and have finally established a foundation for my plan, I can now reveal just exactly what I have been about for the past ten years: To achieve a Presidential Pardon for Gil Scott-Heron.

Once this is done, I can rest.

Anyone from the national press who links to this site must link to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch? to find out what America is all about.
Or this: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related
Or this:

[Anna Blume]

Gotta add the story as reported by the Obama Foodorama's Ag Policy Wonk* (does anyone here know this guy?); note the link to Marler's food safety blog with photos of hamburgers in various states of doneness: click.

*Since the focus is on issues related to my own obsessions, the Hell's Burger story appeared rather late. Greater interest expressed during the day about Sam Kass and the Chicago high school students who won a trip to the White House to cook w the personal chef.