Ellen Collier is a senior journalism graphics and telecommunications major and writes ‘Ellen’s Eats’ for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Ellen at elcollier@bsu.edu.
I’ve been eating burgers and drinking beer at Scotty’s Brewhouse for years now, so when another high-caliber restaurant opened in The Village, I felt a bit territorial. Sure, I’m well-versed in Brothers Bar and Grill after spending my fair share of nights in Broad Ripple, but I was hesitant how it would stack up to a place Muncie has known for so long.
So here it is: my head-to-head burger showdown between the fair weathered Shewman Special of Scotty’s and the new kid on the block Stuffed Smokehouse Burger of Brothers.
Burgers were chosen based on a combination of server recommendation of popularity and menu “specialty” recommendations.
Brothers
DN PHOTO ELLEN COLLIER
Burger: The Stuffed Smokehouse Burger
Price: $10.99
Description: The menu describes the burger as “stuffed with bacon and covered with honey BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese and tumbleweed onions,” and “served with fresh spring mix and tomato on a toasted bun.” My first thought: What the hell is an onion tumbleweed?
The components
Buns: The two buns are fluffy but pretty greasy. There are charred parts that add some crunch.
Honey BBQ sauce: The tangy sauce isn’t overpowering or messy like most burgers smothered in sauce. If you’ve ever seen me eat BBQ, you know 80 percent of it ends up on my hands and face. But the only time I taste the BBQ flavor on this burger is when I lick my lips after a bite.
Spring mix and tomato: The vegetables are by far my favorite part of the burger, which is never the case for me. Usually lettuce and tomato are afterthoughts, but using spring mix instead of romaine or iceberg lettuce allows the greens to absorb the sauce. It acts like a small dressed salad below the burger.
Patty: The fat, round patty is cooked with a light brown center with some spots of pink, but I am never asked how I’d like my burger cooked.
Bacon stuffing: It takes me five big bites to actually find the bacon stuffing. To an outsider, I must look like a crazy person digging through the burger trying to find the bacon. But once I do, it pretty much rocks my world. There’s chewy bacon folded up in the middle, with a slightly smoky flavor. It tastes like a bacon-wrapped appetizer you’d get at a fancy restaurant.
Onion tumbleweeds: The crispy shoelace onions take up a large portion of the burger’s size, and a few fall off here and there. They aren’t too over powering in flavor but add a nice crunch.
Overall conclusions
The stuffing seems like a novelty. The bacon could have done the same job outside of the burger. But I love the veggies combined with the sweet sauce, and the charred bun was unexpected. I ate the whole thing — I had to stop myself from ordering a second.
| Price | Flavor | Convenience | Total Average |
| 6 | 7 | 9 | 7.3 |
Scotty’s
DN PHOTO ELLEN COLLIER
Burger: The Shewman Special
Price: $10.99
Description: The menu describes it as “award-winning” with “peanut butter, jalapeños, cheddar cheese and bacon.” No, that isn’t a typo, it’s just a strange combination.
The components
Buns: The buns are slightly smaller than the wide burger, so it’s a little hard to hold. The bread is toasted to a light brown around the edges, and there’s barely any grease.
Peanut butter: My first bite tastes almost exclusively like peanut butter. It’s overpowering. For a brief moment, I feel like a dog lapping up peanut butter from the roof of my mouth, which I’m sure was fun for anyone watching. Because it’s on the bottom of the hot sandwich, it melts as the burger sits. Still, I can’t think of any other flavor strong enough to compete with the spice of the jalapeños. Peanut butter pretty much covers my hands during the entire meal, which is a nice alternative to grease.
Patty: I order a patty cooked medium, but the center of the burger is brown. The patty itself is pretty wide, making it hard to get a good bite with all the toppings included. But it’s a good, meaty burger. I’ll never complain about that.
Jalapeños: The little green pepper slices are on top of the patty, blanketed by melted cheese. I down an entire glass of water while I eat them, but I’m glad Scotty’s isn't stingy with the peppers. If you claim you have spice on your burger, you better deliver. This burger delivers.
Bacon: Two slices of surprisingly thick, crispy bacon are on top of the cheese, but the jalapeños and peanut butter totally mask any bacon-tastic flavor.
Lettuce, onion, tomato: In comparison to the patty and amount of jalapeños, the other vegetables are almost entirely masked. The lettuce adds a nice crunch, but I don’t taste the tomato or onions unless I get a bite without the peanut butter or spicy peppers.
Overall conclusions
Pretty much all I’ll remember from this burger is peanut butter and spice. Don’t get me wrong, I love both more than most, but the other components are lost. But if you love a kick to your meat, you’ll definitely devour this burger.
| Price | Flavor | Convenience | Total Average |
| 6 | 6 | 7 | 6.3 |
The winner
The Stuffed Smokehouse wins my vote. It’s three meals on one burger: a salad on the bottom, mounds of meat in the middle and an onion ring side on top. While these two burgers are completely different in toppings and flavors, they have the same price and nearly the same size. If I’m going to pay $10.99 for a burger, I’d like one that has depth of flavor and leaves me wanting more. While I’ll always have fond memories of Scotty’s burgers, the overpowering flavors of spice and peanut made me feel bad for everything else forgotten between the buns.
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