An Enormous Juicy Build Your Own Burger in Gulfport

Gulfport has quickly become one of my favorite places to enjoy the Florida life... without so many tourists. I wish the Gulfport Casino was a casino. But nonetheless, there are enough bars, restaurants and nice water views to keep me coming back. The burger in Gulfport I tried this weekend will definitely keep me coming back. And it was at a Mexican restaurant of all places.

Yeah you read that right. This monstrous huge burger in Gulfport I tried was at The Drunken Taco on Beach Boulevard. By the name, they're more known for their tequila, tacos, burritos and fajitas. But a burger just sounded good and I didn't leave disappointed. Or remotely hungry.

I like finding great burgers at places that aren't KNOWN for their burgers. And this burger in Gulfport can be added to that list. I'll give their tacos a try next time. But let's look at this burger.

The burger is juicy and ridiculously big... but manageable. The Swiss cheese had some good flavor too - they definitely don't use the cheap stuff to save money at The Drunken Taco. And there was enough cheese... something that's rare these days. The sauteed onions had a nice kick too. I even like that they give you bottles of ketchup that don't have all the preservatives and words you can't pronounce in the ingredients. It costs more. So it's rare.

My only complaint if I had one was that I ordered mine medium and it was cooked well done. It wasn't much of a problem though - the burger tasted great. Service was decent. The vibe of the place is laid back and beachy. I dug it.

What's your go-to place in Gulfport? Let me know. I think Pia's Trattoria will be my next spot to hit on my next visit. We don't have enough top-level Italian restaurants in the Tampa Bay area, so seeing the reviews being so good for Pia's definitely piqued my curiosity.

Happy National Cheeseburger Day. There are lots of burger bargains out there to celebrate this important holiday. In the fast food drive thru world, you can get a double cheeseburger at McDonald's for 50 cents. Burger King will give you a free cheeseburger with a $1 purchase. Wendy's is doing a buy one, get one free Big Bacon Cheddar cheeseburger deal. All of those require you to put their mobile app on your phone though.

If you want to step up your burger game (plus support local businesses), here are my 10 best picks for juicy, flavorful burgers here in the Tampa area.

This is one of the things I miss about living over on the Hillsborough side. I only got to visit once or twice, but their take on the Juicy Lucy with the cheese in the middle was fantastic. (This burger in the photo is a different one, but it looks solid.)

We FINALLY have our own Shake Shack in Tampa.  Hopefully there are more to come.  As great as the burgers are, the real star of the show is their Christmas Cookie milkshake... offered only seasonally unfortunately.

Sure sure it's a chain.  But those burgers are always done right.  Whenever anyone complains that Florida doesn't have In-N-Out, I say you have Five Guys - which is way better.  I lived in California for 5 or 6 years and had plenty of In-N-Out.  And I'll still drop in whenever I visit the west coast, but Five Guys burgers are far better.  But you could argue it's comparing apples to oranges because In-N-Out is far cheaper.

My only complaint is it's a pretty pricy burger.  Once you add tots, drink and a tip, you're spending around $20-$30.  That said, that burger in the pic... I snapped that shot.  It's my go to every time.  So good.

I'm going to get a lot of grief about this pick and I get it. It's a chain. And Portillo's is known for their Italian Beef and Chicago style hot dogs.  I've had both.  But the winner for me on the menu is their burger.  (Although the cheese fries and chocolate cake shake are close behind.)