Taste of the Stadium: Paris – French American Cheeseburger

By Michael Voitek

Taste of the Stadium is back and this time in our tour of European League of Football stadium food, we went to the home of the Paris Musketeer’s Stade Jean Bouin in Paris, France for a taste of their “Special Burger”.

When you think of Paris, you think of baguettes, fine cheeses, delicate wines, escargot. So, when I walked into Stade Jean-Bouin I was expecting to enjoy a nice charcuterie board, maybe have a pastry toward the end of the game, instead, I was greeted by all the sites of an American football game. There were burgers, hot dogs, pretzels, donuts; like I had been transported back to America. I suppose that’s what the French people want in a football game, but as someone who is used to that stadium food, I wanted something different. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do in this situation, so I went with a tried-and-true favorite, the cheeseburger.

I talked with the chef before he served me up that all beef hamburger, and he said he would make it extra special for me because I was from America. I appreciated the sentiment, but how special can you really make a cheeseburger?

He served it up hot and I took a seat to dive into the tasty little morsel. We’ll start at the bun, it played to its French strength: it was covered in poppy seeds and sesame seeds and had a great taste to it. The burger itself, however, was just OK. It had the American cheese, the tomatoes, the onions, some ketchup, but in all honesty it kind of tasted like a McDonald’s burger. Now, I wasn’t sure if they were doing that on purpose to make everyone feel like they were really in America, but that’s what it was like for me. I also noticed something peculiar about the burger, the inside was all little strands of beef, not one conglomerate like I’m used to seeing. It was a bit scary to look at, but the burger served its purpose, and I was back in my seat to watch the Musketeer’s fight on.

Here’s the full review below.