Until, that is, we arrived at Fred's, the defending Battle of the Burgers champion, and with just one single bite, the underdog went down. Figuring that we are overly partial to Fred's own fiery concoction, the Diablo burger, we instead tried the Bacon Mushroom burger. Ah, those sliced portabella mushrooms, perfectly smoky and buttery; the grilled onions, caramelized to sweet perfection; the bacon, salty and not too crunchy; the thick slice of Swiss, creamy and elegant; and, of course, the 1/2-pound patty, impossibly juicy and flavorful. All of it came together with such flavorful force -- a champion always makes things look so easy. Lesser burgers survive in this bracket, Johnny B's. No, it's not fair. But in the Battle of the Burgers, that's the way the bacon crumbles
