A 'Semi-Serious' Farmingdale Burger at Cheeburger Cheeburger

There are plenty of fine dining options available for Farmingdale residents, but sometimes nothing fills that void in your stomach like a good old fashioned American-style hamburger. But we're not talking about hamburgers here - we're talking about "Cheeburgers," as in , a 50's- themed burger restaurant located at 228 Airport Plaza.

The Dish: The "Semi Serious" combo: a 1/3 pound burger, served on a soft Kaiser roll with a side of fries and onion rings ($5.99). Cheeburger Cheeburger also offers an "Invent your own Milkshake" option (half for $3.79, regular for $5.49) with a mind-boggling 378,000 combinations to choose from. However, in a vain attempt to counter the upcoming meal's caloric onslaught, we took a Diet Pepsi instead.

How's It Taste: It would be a cop out to say that it tastes like a hamburger, since A) it's actually a "Cheeburger" and B) it's not just your average frozen hockey puck that some guy unceremoniously plunked onto a grill. Cheeburger Cheeburger's beef patties are fresh, never frozen and cooked to order, which makes all the difference when it comes to taste. They won't give you a burger cooked really rare, but they'll come close enough. Their burgers are tender, juicy and delicious. Various size Cheeburgers are available, from "The Classic" (5.5 ounces) all the way up to the monstrous, gut-busting "Pounder" (20...yes, 20 ounces). If you actually manage to consume the Pounder and survive, the fine folks at Cheeburger Cheeburger will take your picture hang it on their "Wall of Fame."

Sides: More than you can possibly imagine. Of course, your standard burger joint side dishes are present and accounted for: fries, onion rings and so on. Also, you get your choice of numerous cheeses to adorn the top of your Cheeburger at no cost (but additional cheeses are $.50 each). But the real draw of Cheeburger Cheeburger are the toppings for your burger. The Farmingdale location offers 32 options, all free, and you can have them pile as many of them as you please on your burger, up to and including all of them. Yes, as in all 32 toppings, all at once. Not being quite that adventurous, we opted for the following:

• Bacon ($.99 extra)
• Sautéed Onions
• 2 Onion Rings
• Bar-B-Q Sauce
• Chili
• Jack/Cheddar Cheese Mix

Not too shabby, although servers have confirmed the existence of individuals who have actually gotten all 32 toppings, which include relish, guacamole, sun dried tomatoes, peanut butter, and chopped black olives. Several "specialty" toppings (such as bacon) are also available for a small extra cost.