Pregnancy has its perks, and well it should, considering it has its fair share of horrors on the scale of that scene in Hostel where they cut that guy’s Achilles heel, which is to say, it has added several item to my list of Things That Have Scarred Me For Life.

One such perk is eating. When a girl can’t drink a margarita, have caffeine, or smoke cigarettes, not only does she save a bundle on her lack of habits, but she feels free to indulge in whatever foodstuffs she gets a hankering for, like the root beer float or the second heaping bowl of strawberry shortcake with ice cream “on the side”.

I have a newfound weakness for sweets of all sorts, including donuts and brownies and pancakes, OH MY.

But the thing I love the most, what I want to eat every day? Because they are the food of the gods? The best thing since wing sauce? Cheeseburgers.

I’m not picky. I’ll take a Sonic, McDonald’s, I even like the ones at the hospital cafeteria where I take most of my lunches. I am a connoisseur of the local cheeseburger, and can vouch for the Johnny Wilson burger at Johnny’s Tavern as quite possibly the best in town. Jefferson’s also makes a mean burger, and I’ll never turn down a Local Burger either.

That is, until this weekend. This weekend, I had lunch at The Burger Stand inside that OTHER Irish Pub. And what a burger it was. I had the Kobe beef burger (almost $9) which is simply topped with a brush of truffle butter (swoon) and some pickled red onions (perfection). It was worth every one of my carefully pinched pennies. As was the side of french fries cooked in truffle oil ($2), which came with three homemade dipping sauces, and boy do I love a good dipping sauce.

I also had a root beer float made with Fitz’s Root Beer, and I sampled a friend’s sweet potato fries, which I traditionally abhor, but even they made me want to weep with their sweet and savory goodness.

I’m sure most of you have at least heard about this joint, if not already tried it, so my ringing endorsement is a day late and probably more than a dollar short, but I couldn’t help but put in my two cents on this oh-so-sacred topic.

I also have to give two thumbs up to Dempsey’s Irish Pub for general atmospheric success, the lack of an obnoxious juke box, and a genuinely friendly staff. (Author’s note: If you know me at all, you know that that last sentence was as difficult for me to pen as any I’ve ever written, as I am a dyed-in-the-wool Red Lyon girl. So while I will say they’ve done a bang up job at Dempsey’s, it ain’t the Kitty and it never will be. Just sayin’.)

The other menu choices looked equally divine. Can you say bleu cheese with green apple chutney? Because I can, and I can clap and jump up and down as I say it. Can you say sautéed mushrooms? Shallot-bacon marmalade? I can say all those things, and I can haz my cheezburger too.