You know how when you want a juicy, meaty burger, you want it like yesterday? That's how I felt last night. I wanted a burger so badly that I could taste it in my mouth before I even knew where I was going for dinner.

If you know me, then you know I'm all about supporting both local businesses and local charities and Binghamton Restaurant Week is the perfect marriage of both. As I looked over the list of restaurants participating (restaurant week ends today!), I saw Burger Mondays on the list and knew I had to give it a try.

Burger Mondays is located at 23 Henry Street in Binghamton, sitting on the corner of State and Henry.

I don't know what it is about local restaurants decorating their businesses in red and black, but I love it! I know this is going to sound cheesy, but the red and black decor wasn't the first thing I noticed when I walked into the doors. The first thing I noticed were the glass stars hanging at the top of the windows. I'd been leafing through a catalog from my favorite store earlier this week and spotted the same glass stars and made a mental note that I wanted to buy some for my place. Look closely above the windows and you'll see what I mean:

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I was seated at a spacious booth and as I looked around the restaurant, I was struck by how big the space is. Burger Mondays is cozy but has enough room to move around without feeling like a canned sardine and I love that. The only thing missing was soft background music. I imagined that I could hear Dave Koz softly playing his sax. The first thing I ordered was coffee because it'd been a long day and I needed something to perk me up. I love coffee. I'm critical when it comes to coffee because a bad cup of coffee can take a perfectly good day and destroy it with one sip. The coffee at Burger Mondays is NOT a day destroyer. Whew!

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With so many options on the Burger Mondays restaurant week menu, I had a tough time deciding what I was going to have as my starter. My choices were a Caesar salad, spring mix salad, Guinness chili or soup du jour. I went with the Guinness chili.

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I was looking for something to warm me up a bit because by the time I got to Burger Mondays, the temperature had dropped and there was a bit of a chill in the air and warm me up, it did. The chili is filled with tender cuts of beef. It's not overwhelmingly spicy, but has a nice kick to it that warmed me from my head to my feet.

For my entree, I went with the classic burger, which is made with aged cheddar cheese, country style bacon (that in itself is a win!), lettuce, tomato, onion and house aioli sauce. The name "aioli" is pretty much a fancy way of saying "garlicky mayonnaise." Aioli sauce is traditionally made of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and egg yolks. My eyes almost exploded from my head when I saw the portion size. I had to take a picture of my burger next to my head to show you just how huge this burger is.

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How would I describe the classic burger? A well balanced burger consisting of quality ingredients. My burger was hand formed, not over cooked and when I bit into it, the juices flowed out. That my friends, is perfection. Also served with my burger were fries and a spicy pickle. My friends call me the "condiment queen." Yes, I'm one of those. A dipper. I love sauces, but didn't need anything- not even ketchup to enjoy these fries. They were light and seasoned perfectly well.

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As hungry as I was for a delectable burger, I wasn't even able to finish a quarter of this one. That's how massively huge it was. But a couple hours after leaving Burger Mondays I felt something tugging me to my fridge. I peeked into the to-go box and my mouth started salivating again. I couldn't resist and heated up half of what was left. Even reheated, it was so good that I found myself making strange noises as I ate it.

I'm not a big dessert person, but the Florentine cannoli looked too good to pass up. Besides, it came with the price of my meal. If you're not a cannoli fan, Burger Mondays also offers a mouth watering chocolate peanut butter brownie bar.

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I have no idea how the Florentine cannoli is made. I feel like maybe it was made with some sort of cheese laid out on a baking pan and cooked in the oven until moldable and then filled, rolled and popped back in the oven until crispy. But I'm probably very wrong. Either way, it was excellent.

The next time I visit Burger Mondays, I'm going to try the animal lover burger, which is made of pesto marinated portabella mushroom, roasted red pepper, cucumber, tomato, mozzarella cheese, balsamic reduction, house aioli. All things I adore.

Trust me when I tell you that if you're craving a juicy and filling burger, Burger Mondays should be where you go to satisfy that rumbling in your belly.

Don't forget that Binghamton Restaurant Week ends today, so this is the last chance for a while to take advantage of a $20 three course dinner. You can check out the other things Burger Mondays is serving for restaurant week and learn how your meal will help our community here.

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