The burger list

Baytown takes burgers personally. There's a plaque involved.

The list. Rooster's Steakhouse, North Alexander. Best Burger in Baytown, 2016, and the town has held them to it every year since. Half-pound, griddled not grilled, a bun that survives to the last bite, lettuce and tomato that were cut this morning. Order it medium, get the onion rings, and don't be talked into the steak on a burger night — that's a different night, and a good one, but not this one. The bar side seats walk-ins; the dining room books up on Friday.

The bar burgers — The Chute on Garth and Hooky Entertainment on I-10. Built for a beer, not a review: thin patties, doubled, American cheese, pickles, a paper boat, out in eight minutes. Order at the bar. Friday after six is when they're best because the flat-top's been on all day and the cook has stopped caring about presentation, which is exactly right.

Luna's, West Cedar Bayou-Lynchburg Road. The late one. Kitchen open till eleven on Friday, past when everyone else has scraped the grill, a burger you can eat on the patio, and a bun somebody thought about. The one after the show.

The truck, and not the donut shop. Denna's, which shows up on lists as a diner, is Denna Donuts on FM 3180 — 4:30 to noon, no burger. Skip it here; it's on the breakfast list where it belongs.

The truck. Baytown's food trucks rotate, and a burger truck works the Garth corridor and the plant gates at shift change. The week's positions are on the calendar when the trucks post them. When it's the smash-burger truck, it's the best burger in town for that day and everyone in the line knows it.

What to skip. The drive-through row on Garth, which you already know. Any place that lists more than six burgers — nobody makes six burgers well. Anything called a "gourmet" burger in a town that doesn't use the word.

The rules. - Griddled beats grilled in this town; ask before you order somewhere new. - Fries are judged separately and harshly. Onion rings are the tiebreaker. - Rooster's is the answer to "where should we take them." The bars are the answer to "it's Friday." Luna's is the answer to "it's ten on a Friday and I want a plate." - A burger with a fried egg on it is breakfast and belongs on the 4 a.m. map, not here.

En español. La lista de hamburguesas de Baytown: Rooster's tiene el premio y lo merece; The Chute en Garth y Hooky en la I-10 para una hamburguesa con cerveza; Luna's para la de tarde en la noche.