FAQ & POLICIES

FAQ | Links Policy | Comments Policy | Advertising and Affiliates Statement | Review Policy

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is A Hamburger Today?
Who are you people?
What qualifies you to judge the nation's hamburgers?
Why hamburgers?
How often do you eat them?
Do cheeseburgers count? What about toppings?
How did this site get started? What inspired you?
Can I submit a review or post for publication on AHT?
What's with that strip of photos in the left-hand sidebar?
Does AHT support trackback links? Will you link to my site?
Would you explain the semiotics of the site's color scheme?

Will you review my burger joint?

What is A Hamburger Today?
It's a weblog. A group weblog about hamburgers. Hamburgers and cheeseburgers and anything that has to do with our favorite ground-beef treat. Like most blogs, we link to and summarize news items and reviews from other sources while offering our two cents on said items—as long as they're burger-related. We also offer original content in the form of restaurant reviews and musings about all things hamburger. (New to blogs? Here's a primer: Understanding and Reading a Blog (for Newcomers) by John C. Dvorak.) [Back to questions]

Who are you people?
A Hamburger Today is published by Hatchback Media, the publishers of Slice, America's Favorite Pizza Weblog. Our core editorial staff comprises three NYC–based editors—senior editors Honey P. and Matty Jacobs and editor in chief Adam Kuban—and our west coast editor, L.A.–based Hamburglar Hadley. While bicoastal for now, we promise to give the digest treatment to burger news and reviews from the Heartland, as well. In the future, when things are running smoothly, we aim to add correspondents from other regions and expand our original burger content. For now, you can read the bios here of our current staff members. [Back to questions]

What qualifies you to judge the nation's hamburgers?
Nothing, really, beyond an abiding love of the burger, some bandwidth, and a little free time to blog. We're not food critics by any means, but we do know our way around a table, and we know a great burger. If you don't agree with us, fine. That's what the Comments feature is for. Almost every entry we post on this site has room for reader feedback, so feel free to argue with us or to state your opinion there. [Back to questions]

Why hamburgers?
If you have to ask, maybe you shouldn't be reading AHT. [Back to questions]

How often do you eat them?
Much like the Big Mac's special sauce, it's a trade secret. [Back to questions]

Do cheeseburgers count? What about toppings?
Yes. We also eat cheeseburgers. And toppings. But we always try to sample a plain burger first or, if that's not possible, we try to break off a little of the patty to taste and evaluate it on its own. [Back to questions]

How did this site get started? What inspired it?
After pizza blog Slice had won a small measure of acclaim, its publisher wondered if there was an audience for a niche foodblog about his second-favorite food—tiny hamburgers. Realizing that it might be somewhat limiting to blog entirely about White Castle, Pop Burger, Krystal Burger, or the famed Cozy Inn, Adam expanded the concept to include all hamburgers regardless of size. Still, the idea festered in Adam's grease-addled brain for nigh on a year. That's when coworker Honey P. prodded him into action by promising to help edit a burger site, if founded, and by recruiting her own honey, Hamburglar Hadley, as the site's West Coast editor. Not long after that, we picked up Matty when he e-mailed Slice, expressing interest in attending one of that site's Pizza Club events. "Hey, Adam," he wrote, "ever think of starting a burger blog? If so, I'd love to help." "Funny you should ask," came the reply, and, with Team Burger assembled, work began on this site. [Back to questions]

Can I submit a review or post for publication on AHT?
Sure. The editors of AHT and the site's readers love to hear about burgers from all over the country and from around the world. If you don't see one of your favorite burger joints on our site, e-mail us about the place you'd like to write up. What you get: We're even worse than Wimpy, because we can't afford to pay you on Tuesday or any day. But you will get the pleasure of seeing your work on a popular and well-regarded website read by thousands of discriminating burger lovers worldwide. [Back to questions]

What's with that strip of photos in the left-hand sidebar?
It's a photo feed from Flickr, a neat photo-sharing website that our editors are wild about. Flickr allows you to upload your photos to the site and "tag" them with keyword labels. In this case, the photo stream at left displays the five most recent images uploaded to Flickr with the tag "burger." Go ahead and click on the photos to see larger versions and, perhaps, more information on them.

Does AHT support trackback links?
No. We're sorry that your pings are not registering with AHT, but as our publisher learned with our sister blog, Slice, trackback spam is almost unstoppable and deleting it is a major pain in the ass. [Back to questions]

Would you explain the semiotics of the site's color scheme?
Certainly. The AHT color palate employs hues that might best be interpreted as signifiers for standard burger condiments: ketchup (light hard red; #FF3333), mustard (light faded yellow; #FFFF66), and pickles (dark spring green; #339900). One would not be off the mark to construe the white (#FFFFFF) content and sidebar backgrounds as stand-ins for onions. Keeping in mind the parameters of condiment representation, all shades were then chosen for their bold yet eye-pleasing characteristics. [Back to questions]

Will you link to my site?
Possibly. See our links policy, below. [Back to questions]

Will you review my burger joint?
Possibly. See our Review Policy below. [Back to top]

POLICIES
Links Policy | [View our links list.]
If you're a hamburger joint or run a site dealing primarily with burgers or burger ephemera—or if you know a good site—we'll almost always link it. Hit us up. (Exceptions would be blatantly commercial sites, like ones that sell vintage Happy Meal toys, for instance; think more Condiment Museum than sites that automatically redirect to "McDonald's toys" searches on eBay. Capiche? ) As for our "Food Sites We Like" list, we link to sites we like. And we like sites that produce high-quality content on a regular basis—and that have been doing so for months. We don't trade links. As one of our favorite bloggers once said, "Links are like relationships; they take work." So if you want to link to us, we appreciate it, but you have to meet our approval before we'll link back. Also note that, with very few exceptions, we don't link to promotional sites. So feel free to drop us a line about your site, but please don't harass us about it. We don't like that. [Back to top]

Comments Policy
Comments are an integral part of the relationship between blogger and reader. They allow you to interact directly with us—you can give us feedback or tips or call us out on our burger bullshit (but we hope that won't be necessary). However, A Hamburger Today does reserve the right to delete or deny the posting of any and all malicious diatribes, attacks, or blatant shilling on the part of burger-joint owners, their agents, or their friends. [Back to top]

Advertising and Affiliates Statement | [To advertise on AHT, click here.]
Though primarily a labor of love, A Hamburger Today does accept advertising. Heck, we've got to cover our server costs and subsidize burger runs somehow. And while we're not hyper-picky about the type of advertising we'll take, we cannot accept ads from hamburger restaurants. Given the almost nonexistent wall between editorial and advertising functions at AHT, the publisher of the site feels that such arrangements would call into question the objectivity of all AHT-produced reviews. [Back to top]

As far as our arrangements with the Amazon Associates and iTunes Affiliates programs go, we feel it is our duty to inform readers that we make a small commission from any purchases driven to those merchants from our site. We hope you understand, however, that we would never recommend or write about a book, movie, or album solely to earn revenue. If you knew how little it actually makes, you'd understand that it's not all about the Benjamins here. (More like the Lincolns—as in pennies.) [Back to top]

Review Policy [View all AHT-authored reviews]
The first-party reviews published on A Hamburger Today are the opinions of our editors and contributors. Like all good publications, we strive for accuracy and fairness at all times. That said, we're human, and sometimes we may get our facts wrong. If your restaurant received a review you do not agree with, feel free to dispute it in the Comments section of that particular entry.

There is no quid pro quo at A Hamburger Today. We do not allow our staff members or contributors to take burgers, fries, shakes, sodas, books, movies, or swag of any kind in exchange for coverage. If you are the owner of a burger joint or the agent thereof, please do not write with offers to comp us meals in exchange for reviews. We will not entertain them. Our duty is to our readers, who are smart and savvy and can smell BS in flash. Taking graft would only serve to alienate them and harm our burger cred. Let us reiterate: There is no quid pro quo at AHT. However, we do understand and admire the pride, craft, and love that goes into the food at the best burger stands. If you feel your sandwiches are worth bragging about, we don't mind if you e-mail us a notice that gently prods us to check out your wares. [Back to top]