Ted's Restaurant Meriden

Not sure what I can possibly add except to chime in with more superlatives. Our group of three made the trek on a grey holiday Monday afternoon - inside seating is back! - and barely had to deal with the menu. Now, you might notice the double hamburger is $8.75, and the double cheeseburger is $4 more. That's a lot to pay for cheese! But really, you're paying a penalty if you don't get cheese, because you'll regret that choice. There are other menu items, and sure, the chicken is famous too, but first trip is a burger trip. Burgers are thick wads of ground beef, and nothing but ground beef, steamed (apparently) continuously, as we ordered our three double cheeseburgers and not even five minutes later were staring down these monstrous Portuguese rolls, loaded with roughly a half ton of melted cheese and the usual lettuce and tomato. It's impossible to eat cleanly, and it requires two hands (maybe the single, on a smaller roll, will allow this), and you're going to be super greasy when it's all over, but you'll be a much better person for it. The staff were busy with constant to-go orders but everything ran smoothly. Our bacon-cheese fries came without either, but a minute later way too much of both were glopped on and we were in business. Very well fried and held up to the cheese onslaught. All in all, a worthy stop in a state filled with classic burger and dog joints.