Epicurious Louisville

I know, I know, not Louisville. But Bub’s Big Ugly Burger, in Carmel, Indiana, a swanky part of Indy, is worth the trip. Bub’s serves the giant, one pound burger (you get to choose the toppings and whatnot) on a .5 lb homeade bun. If you eat the whole thing, you get your picture on the wall of those who have conquered the “Big Ugly”. If you eat more than one, you get progressively bigger pictures, all the way up to a life size cut out if you eat four, which I think only two dudes have done.

Do not eat four big ugly burgers. Just don’t.

I went to Bub’s with my delicious fiance and some of his army buddies and their wives and children . All the men flexed their stomach muscles and ordered big uglies. The wives ordered little half pound or quarter pound burgers to preserve their girlish figures. Oh yeah, except for me. I definitely ordered the big ugly. You only live once, might as well die of a massive coronary while eating a pound of MEAT. Put that on my gravestone. I got mine with bacon, swiss and mayo.

The burger was perfectly cooked all the way through. I specifically eschewed my usual practice of ordering my meat basically raw because I was worried the size of the burger would mean the inside would actually be ice cold. Happy, it was perfectly medium rare. I was impressed. The hamburger bun was the best bun I have EVER eaten, it was squishy and soaked with meaty juices. The topping were nothing special—the burgers were great, but their specialness comes from how BIG they are, not from some weird ingredient or technique. We also had baskets of sweet potato waffle fries with marshmallow cream, a spice cake milkshake, and little soup shooters to start off the meal.

It’s a family joint so don’t come expecting 5 star service, but as a fun little weekend jaunt it was awesome. The burger was fabulous (and not cheap—$18!), the fries were delish, and the atmosphere was carnival. The “mustache mafia” (they all grew mustaches during their recent deployment to Afghanistan) finished their big uglies, and I failed miserably. I have a giant appetite, but my eyes are much bigger than my stomach. I barely got through a third of my big ugly without the bun. Maybe next time!