A month of lunching on burgers and fries provides some perspective on how Morgan Spurlock felt after the first week of sacrificing health and girth in the name of art and investigation for  “Super Size Me”, his documentary on fast food and what it can do to you.

And what is faster, better tasting or more satisfying than a patty of lean ground beef grilled to perfection, stacked on a fresh bun lubed with mayo, mustard, catsup, garnished with a tomato slice, lettuce leaf and sour pickle, and flanked by hot, crisp fries?  If the ingredients are fresh and it’s done right, not much.

There are many variations on the basic theme that some romantic food historians trace to slices of raw meat that Tatar warriors tenderized beneath their saddles. A New York restaurant offers patties of minced Kobe beef, topped with foie gras and truffles at $175 a burger.

My personal favorite was a patty ground from a half-wild, desert-hardened cow, grilled over a bed of mesquite coals, painted with chipotle salsa, and topped with bacon, avocado and tomato. Alas, it is no more. The stand run by three sisters on a side street in La Paz lost its customers to a new Burger King on the malecon. Go figure.

Several Jasper bars and restaurants offer burgers that fall into the exotic category, with patties ground from farmed game animals – bison, venison, or elk. The flavour is somewhat different, but the patties have the uniformly dense texture of their factory-formed, frozen and packaged beef cousins.

Packaged patties are convenient, cheap and safe – important considerations in a commercial kitchen.  The best are pure lean beef – no filler of breadcrumbs, oatmeal, liver or lips, with just enough added fat to keep them moist. But they’ve been frozen; they can’t compete with a fresh, all-beef, hand-made burger – the key factors in cutting the best from Jasper’s large herd.

A burger and fries is still a modestly-priced lunch in most franchise eateries, but there seems to be a consensus among Jasper dining establishments that it should cost around $10. Add a beer and tip, and lunch rings in at  a not-so-modest $20. 

Notable exceptions to the price rule are the Whistlestop and the Astoria Hotel’s De’d Dog. Both offer burgers and fries for around $6, although the latter recently expanded its offerings to include a game burger for $15. The beef patties are smaller than the restaurant competition, but large enough to satisfy most appetites. 

But let’s cut to the chase. Who has the best hand-built all-beef burger? Jasper cognoscenti will point immediately to the Downstream, where big, juicy burgers are cooked on a grill behind the bar. But if you’re looking for lunch, the Downstream Bar doesn’t open its doors until 4:30 p.m.

No need to wait. Something Else, on Patricia Street, is a close second.  Hand-formed from AAA Angus, the burger had visible grill marks; it was juicy, and full of flavour. What set the top two apart was the fries. The Downstream’s were crisp and hand-cut; at Something Else, somewhat less so.

Karouzos Steak House on Connaught also serves AAA Angus,  but my burger came over-done and may have been waiting too long on the warming rack. Earl’s would have scored higher; their burger is built for diners who have grown up on franchise fast food, and it is good – and more expensive than the competition.  The Jasper store, as Earl’s owners refer to the outlets, has outside seating with great views, but they were out of fries!