Elizabeth Keyser photo

An order from Burgers Shakes & Fries

Editor's note: Longtime readers may remember Deluxe, authored by former editor and Weekly hall-of-famer Lorraine Gengo. Well, for a few weeks, we're reviving it with Elizabeth Keyser writing on summer dining. First up: burger joints.

Come summertime, the burger shack exerts its roadside allure. You know the place — an old-time joint with little or no seating inside, and a bunch of people standing, waiting and listening to the sizzle of burgers and fries. The fixings meld into the burger. It's easily held in the hand and eaten outside on a bench or picnic table.

Burgers Shakes & Fries (302 Delavan Ave., Greenwich, (203) 531-7433, www.burgersshakesnfries.com) is a newcomer, but lines are already snaking out the door at this small storefront. Customers have come from as far as Florida to try the burgers served on buttered-and-grilled toasting bread.

Owner Kory Wollins has firm feelings about his burgers. "I don't think lettuce does anything for it," he says. "It's flavorless." No lettuce?

"People hate me for it," Wollins says.

Choose from an array of fixings — raw or sautéed onion, tomato, hot peppers, mushrooms, bacon, chili, fried eggs. But you can't have lettuce.

The thin meat patty is lean (Wollins won't give the fat/meat ratio), and not, when I tried it, devoid of gristle. It's griddled pink unless you want it cooked longer. The crunch of the toast gives way to a well-proportioned burger — meat and toppings balanced evenly. You won't miss the lettuce.

You can eat on one of the two benches outside, or get it to go (or, if there's room, perch at one of the 15 seats on the counter inside). Fudgy brownies are baked every day. They sell out early. Saturday afternoons the place gets pretty crazy. If you want to avoid the crowds, come mid afternoon. It cost us $23 for two burgers, shakes and fries.

In business since 1935, Danny's Drive In (940 Ferry Blvd., Stratford, (203) 378-6728, www.dannysdrive-in.com) draws old-timers and road food aficionados. Housed not in the original stand but in a 1947 building, it's still roadside — the roads have just gotten busier.

"It can't be duplicated," says Missy Targowski, who fell in love with the burgers when she was 10, went to work at the place as a teen in the '80s and now is a co-owner with her husband, Joe. "It was always my favorite burger and it still is."

Order the "Hamburger Works" ($3.45). Sit at the picnic bench topped with a red-checked plastic tablecloth. You'll forget the roar of traffic (from the confluence of Ferry Boulevard, I-95, Route 110 and Route 1) once you bite into the burger.

It's dressed the way it's always been — tomato, lettuce, raw onion and green pepper on the bottom of the bun. It's all about how your tongue tastes the vegetables first, Missy says.

The green pepper is Danny's original touch and adds a fresh crunch to the burger. Missy says the meat is 80/20 (80 percent lean beef and 10 percent fat). I found the patty well-seasoned and gristle-less. It's served on a fresh soft bun from Chaves Bakery in Bridgeport.

Missy and Joe opened a second Danny's recently in Shelton (480 Howe St.). Its grand opening will coincide with National Hot Dog Month.