Hey, Enough With the Burgers Already

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Hold the pickle. Hold the lettuce.

In fact, can we just hold the burgers for a bit?

The Burger War used to be dominated by the superpowers of McDonald's,(MCD Quote) Burger King(BKC Quote) and Wendy's(WEN Quote). Now a whole slew of smaller players are hoping to cash in on the meat hockey puck.

The burger frenzy is heating up as low-brow and high-end restaurants roll out new versions of the old favorite.

Don't get us wrong, we have no beef with burgers. We just wonder how many variations the public can stomach. Even the Big Three see the value of diversity, adding panko-breaded fish sandwiches, salads, fruit and lattes to their menus.

But, then again, Burger King has sliders now. Wendy's is preparing a secret weapon in the form of a blue-cheese burger. Even McDonald's launched its first new hamburger in nearly eight years -- a one-third pound Angus burger. Whether it takes hold or becomes the next McLean Deluxe remains to be seen.

Everyone is getting into the bovine-based bacchanalia. The Food Network's omnipresent Bobby Flay, for example, has launched his own chain of burger restaurants, Bobby's Burger Palace. New outposts for Five Guys Burgers and Fries are popping up everywhere (with help from the publicity they gained from President Barack Obama's visit to a Washington outpost). Sonic(SONC Quote) is expanding northward. Ruby Tuesday(RT Quote) and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers(RRGB Quote) are trying to flip customers their way with specialty burgers. Then there's Hardee's and Carl's Jr.(CKR Quote). Farmer Boys. Burgerville. Fatburger(FCCGE Quote). Jack in the Box(JBX Quote). The list of places vying for your burger-begging taste buds goes on and on.

Sadly, we still can't get an In-N-Out Burger franchise here on the East Coast, a development that would definitely get us to shut up.