Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I am shocked--SHOCKED-- to see anything Utah-related on SE. Hooray!
My vote for best all-around burger would be Crown Burger. Haven't been there in 15 years, however, not since my young & skinny days.
I did just have a garlic burger at Bakers de Normandie in Holladay which was very tasty.
@beanalicious-- you should try the bbq fry sauce served with sweet potato fries from the Blue Lemon. It's not a burger joint, however, but you should give it a try!

My most memorable Home Ec. teacher was named Mrs. Lemon. She was a perfectly-coiffed 1950's housewife who wore a flared skirt and high heels every day. This was in 1982, however. Even though we were all upper-middle class kids, it was very evident that she thought we were all destined for the gutter. Her most frequent advice to us was "When your husband leaves you and your kids are hungry, you can mix flour and water which will form gluten. Gluten is high in protein and will keep you from starving." She said this many times to us, it was only years later that it occurred to me how insulting this was---and it was not even IF our husbands abandoned us, it was WHEN. LOL!

On the plus side, we did learn a lot about the role each ingredient plays in baking-- leavening, oil, sugar, etc. And food safety.

When I was little I was "deprived" of things like soda and Wonder Bread. I am soooo thankful now that I don't struggle with a soda habit! Thanks Mom! It's kinda nice to read that there are so many non-soda drinkers out there. I always felt like I was alone in this...

Every time I visited NYC my friend and I would go to a wonderful old cinema (Bleeker Street?) where there was NO overwhelming popcorn & fake butter smell. We would always get a chocolate egg cream and a slice of the bundt cake that was under a glass dome.

Back home, the same friend and I would go to the best local ice cream parlor and have them create huge hot fudge sundaes for us in styrofoam containers and we'd smuggle them in our backpacks. Smuggled ice cream tastes even better!! Now that I'm an adult, I never eat anything at movies. I guess I'm a grumpy old curmudgeon, but I refuse to pay the armed-robbery prices.

My mom's pot roast almost every Sunday after church. Divinely stringy and fall-apart tender.

My grandma's fried chicken. And especially her green salads which she served in seasoned wood bowls, sprinkled with some kind of magical red seasoning. Mac & cheese with crispy breadcrumbs on top. *sigh*

I was visiting a friend in Boston and she took me to all the tourist sites. That evening we walked through Faneuil Hall and I, being full of joie de vivre, ordered a big cup o fried clams. We were going to stay the night with some other friends in Cambridge. When the friends opened their front door I rushed right past them and into the bathroom...where I stayed for the next 5 hours, wishing to die.

Those clams were the gift that kept on giving-- I had severe migraines daily for the next 6 weeks. I don't know what possessed me to order a cup of deep-fried anything, it's not at all what I like to eat..... NEVER order food on a lark.

My kitchen aid only sees the light of day a few times a year-- can't stand having appliances out, junking up the countertops! I use my cheap, lightweight hand mixer constantly.

Last year I bought a movie called "Tortilla Soup" starring Hector Elizondo (love him!). The cooking sequence during the opening credits is to die for. I watched it over & over. The rest of the show is an inoffensive romantic comedy.
Like Water for Chocolate--love the cooking, hate the story.
Chocolat -- candymaking and Alfred Molina!

I had two experiences on a trek I made through Europe in the 80's. The first was in London and I was admittedly jet-lagged. The waiter at a fairly prosperous-looking restaurant plunked down a hideous plate of food complete with a pile of pale canned peas. He knew it was hideous but he stood there by the table, defiantly waiting to see my American reaction. I tried unsuccessfully to hide the tears in my eyes...did I mention I was very jet-lagged? He turned on his heel and marched off, cursing me under his breath. Every time I visit London now I thank the lord for the influx of ethnic food that occurred AFTER 1983.
Secondly, I was in Munich and had a tremendous meal...until "dessert" arrived. It was a big scoop of what appeared to be pale green sherbet. As I brought the spoon to my mouth I caught a whiff of it and instantly thought, "Hey! Ace bandage!" And yes, the flavor--very strong--was that of an Ace bandage also. The brown, stretchy bandage that you wrap around a sprained ankle.... I don't even want to think about how that ice cream came to be.

Without a doubt my favorite post was about eating at the house of a very bad cook -- I think it focused on the in-laws. I sat and read every single entry. Disgusting and hilarious!

Pizza--have tried this at home many times, the dough recipes are always terrible.
Curry--haven't found a good recipe yet!
Dim Sum-- my sister and I once made potstickers and we finally got to eat them after midnight. Now I just leave it all to the experts :)

My first tast of Indian food was, strangely enough, in Dublin Ireland. I flew there from Texas to meet my fiancee who was there on business. We went to a restaurant with some of his coworkers and we ate a tremendous meal that night! I've tried many curry recipes since then but none come even close....