The quest for the perfect burger may not be easy.

But we're not complaining!

With summer upon us — Wednesday marked the summer solstice — the Island Life staff decided to find the best beefy companion to a greasy plate of fries and a creamy milkshake.

So we took to the streets, sampling the city's best-selling burgers — some known for their meaty masterpieces and others, well ... not.

After spending our lunch break feasting on patties adorned with everything from crispy bacon to mushy avocado — yeah, we know, hard job — we came up with favorites and never-agains. We judged each burger on presentation, meat quality and flavor.

Higher-end restaurants, such as Town in Kaimuki and The Pineapple Room at Ala Moana Center, used better-quality meat, but at a price.

The usual suspects — Kua 'Aina Sandwich Shop and Islands Restaurants — served up the largest burgers in size but not always in taste.

And others just didn't cut it at all.

What we learned: You can get a great-tasting burger for less than three bucks (Bob's Bar-B-Que Restaurant in Kalihi) and a phenomenal one for $11 (The Pineapple Room).

Here are the results of our taste test, listed in order from best to worst. You'll notice we didn't include our 2005 'Ilima Award winner — and office favorite — Teddy's Bigger Burgers. We figured we should give other joints a chance.

THE BURGERS

Pineapple Room, Macy's (third floor) at Ala Moana Center, 945-6573, www.alanwongs.com: The overwhelming crowd favorite. On the pricey side at $11, this burger boasted a hand-shaped North Shore Cattle Co. kiawe-grilled beef patty with onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese, hoisin-mayo spread and an avocado salsa. The frills, reported one taster, "didn't overpower the flavor of the meat." And it was really the quality of the meat that stood out. "You could say there's a lot going on," said another foodie, "but the beef meat holds its own against all the haute fixin's." The bonus: a wasabi potato salad that one taster called "interesting."

Nico's at Pier 38, 1133 N. Nimitz Highway, 540-1377, www.nicospier38.com: Nico's is known for its fish but happens to serve a one-of-a-kind burger — chef-owner Nicolas Chaize mixes in things like bits of bread, milk, onions and "a secret" to create meatloaf-like patties (one taster noted it would be perfect with brown gravy). He stacks two of them on a sesame-seed bun. The first comment out of one taster's mouth: "Look how much beef there is!" Topped with onions and cheddar cheese and accompanied by a green salad or fries, the burger has a very affordable price: $5.75. It's so good it's the employee favorite at the restaurant. "Reminds me of the hamburgers my dad makes at home," said a burger aficionado. "Tasty and smoky but not too salty."

Town, 3435 Wai'alae Ave., 735-5900: It's not the prettiest burger, but its flavor got high marks with our tasters. Like the Pineapple Room, Town uses grass-fed North Shore Cattle Co. beef that "doesn't need any saucy adornment," said one taster. "Worth every cent of its $7.50 price tag." The sizeable burger — with a medium-rare patty "cooked to perfection," one added — came with slices of red vine-ripened tomatoes and cheddar cheese on a bun that one critic said "lacked a tan. Pass the bronzer."

W&M Bar-B-Q Burger, 3104 Wai'alae Ave., 734-3350: This is one of those nostalgic favorites. We sampled the Royal hamburger ($3.15), which flaunted the restaurant's original — and secret — sweet barbecue sauce. Total comfort food, we agreed: "Like what you would have at a backyard barbecue, in a good way." Another taster overlooked the "uninspiring" look of the burger, calling it "surprisingly juicy with lots of flavor." We recommend ordering ahead for pick-up; parking is the worst of all the places we visited. (But, we admit, the wait was worth it.)

Bob's Bar-B-Que Restaurant, 1366 Dillingham Blvd., 842-3663: A surprising hit with the tasters, Bob's delivered a tasty teri burger for the best price ($2.25). "It's nothing special," said one taster, "but it's a decent burger for the price." But compared to the fancier, high-quality burgers, this one couldn't compete. "Great initial taste and very flavorful sauce," reviewed one, "but not too much of a standout in any particular way." Well, except in price.

Islands Restaurants, Ala Moana Center, 943-6670, www.islandsrestaurants.com: The new-est burger joint on our list, Islands Restaurants, which opened in February, boasts nine styles of burgers, all with one thing in common: immense size. We tried its best-seller, the Kilauea ($8.79 ala carte), with a jalapeno- and pepper-crusted patty topped with pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli and onion strings. Most enjoyed the jalapeno kick, which masked the beef flavor. "Very tasty but greasy," said one taster. "Onion rings were just salty enough and added a crispy texture." One thing everyone agreed on: Eat this with a drink nearby. Preferably a cold, frosty one.

Kua 'Aina Sandwich Shop at Ward Centre, 591-9133: The definitive Island burger spot, Kua 'Aina doesn't do anything small when it comes to burgers. We sampled its ridiculously large half-pound avocado burger ($6.75) on a kaiser roll — which measured at nearly 4 inches tall. To our surprise, it didn't blow us away. One taster called it overrated, saying it was like a beef brick; another, an avocado addict, admired the generous portion of the green stuff. It scored points for best presentation by one reviewer, who called it a "big, robust, bountiful bumbucha of a sandwich."

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at Ala Moana Center, 949-4867: OK, so we have to explain how this burger even got on our testing menu. A fellow staffer had raved about Bubba Gump's burger, and we couldn't help but be intrigued by the idea of a chain restaurant known for shrimp having a tasty burger. Suffice to say, its cheeseburger ($9.99 with fries) ranked the lowest on our list. In fact, one taster didn't even finish her sample. The overall verdict: not much flavor, a bit dry, just bland.

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.