Yesterday we told you about the newest menu item at the Red Porch bar and restaurant inside Nationals Park: The Strasburger, an eight-pound behemoth of ground beef, melted cheese and other toppings.
But we were later reminded that even though the Nationals own the rights to Stephen Strasburg’s arm, they are hardly the first to come up with the “Strasburger.” The Huffington Post’s Jason Linkins, a former DCist contributor, pointed out that BGR The Burger Joint in Dupont Circle had a burger named after the Nats’ would-be savior-on-the-mount well before the team thought of its own flame-broiled marketing ploy.
Turns out, however, that BGR is just one of several entities to use the “Strasburger” moniker. So in anticipation of the Nationals’ new monstrosity—which comes with a basket of fries and a pitcher of soda—let’s take a quick tour of previous Strasburgers, starting with the one Linkins mentioned.
BGR The Burger Joint: When Strasburg first arrived in D.C. in June 2010 after being raced through the Nationals’ farm system, the beer-and-burger shop was ready with the offering above. This Strasburger attempted to honor some of the cities Strasburg where Strasburg honed his lighting-quick arm with various toppings. There was a hot dog for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, where he played in 2009, orange cheddar cheese for his Triple-A stint with the Syracuse (N.Y.) Chiefs (although the cheese, in a glaring slight to the Empire State, was from Vermont), and as many pickles as batters who struck out in Strasburg’s debut start. With Strasburg notching 14 strikeouts in his first game, that’s how many pickles then-DCist editor Sommer Mathis encountered when she tasted BGR’s Strasburger:
The burger patty itself was juicy and cooked to a nice medium pink, but between the insane number of pickles and the hot dog, I could barely taste the beef. The Strasburger also suffers from structural integrity issues thanks to that tall stack of toppings. I was unable to finish before it started to fall apart, and, ultimately, queasiness began to set in, leaving approximately 6.5 out of 14 pickles left on the tray. That’s not to suggest that those with more gastrointestinal fortitude might not have better luck than I.
Glory Days: Also in 2010, the chain of suburban sports bars introduced a Strasburger of its own. It wasn’t quite as towering as BGR’s but still managed a few savory homages to the pitcher. It came topped with guacamole to represent Strasburg’s California origins.
Strasburger & Price LLP: This Dallas-based law firm has seven offices across the country, including a four-attorney outpost on K Street NW. While the legal-industry website Vault.com notes the firm features a “friendly, small-firm vibe,” it is unclear if this includes baseball or hamburgers.
Eduard Strasburger: A highly accomplished 19th- and 20th-century botanist, this Strasburger was born in Poland but lived most of his life in Germany, where he was an acclaimed researcher at the University of Bonn. Strasburger founded the Textbook of Botany, which became one of the keystone volumes for the study of plant life. He also coined the terms cytoplasm and nucleoplasm in his cellular research, which led to a fundamental law of cytology stating that “New cell nuclei can only arise from the division of other nuclei.”
When the Nationals open their 2012 season, gluttonous fans will be able to determine how the new Strasburger stacks up against its forebears. But already its been met with disapproval from local dietitians that NBC4 contacted. Colleen Gerg, a diet expert in Chevy Chase, Md., determined that the new, eight-pound Strasburger likely contains “somewhere between 8,000-10,000 calories, packs 600-700 grams of fat, 200-300 grams of saturated fat and 2,500-3,000 milligrams of sodium.”
And Gerg also suggested that Strasburg’s own family might not approve of the new menu item:
“The guy’s own mother is a dietitian after all!”
