Burgers From the Barrio 

• Alex Springer
• Among the formidable stylings of A Lo Maracucho Burger

Aside from the encroaching scorch that tries to kill us around this time of year, I like summers in Utah. It's when the air fills with the smell of backyard cookouts and the sound of families airing their grievances.

As the humble hamburger is often the focal point of these outdoor get togethers, I have been thinking a lot about some of the Mexican, Venezuelan and Colombian burger places that are popping up all over town. Inspired by each culture's own storied grilling history, these burgers are truly marvels of meat-based engineering. Here's a list of a few favorites that will be on my burger rotation this summer.

Loco Burger (Multiple locations, locoburger.com): The South Salt Lake location of Loco Burger was the place that initially opened my eyes to the meaty possibilities when Mexican street foods like tortas team up with a flame-broiled hamburger. The tried-and-true classic is the appropriately named Loco Burger, which tees up a spectacular burger that can be even further customized depending on your mood. The original comes with a quarter pound patty, grilled ham, melty mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado. There is much to be said about including an avocado on a burger; it imparts a great creamy texture to the meat, and it elevates the flavors of the other veggies on the bun. I'd also like to point out how important it is to shred the iceberg lettuce before it goes on the burger—neat little ribbons of cool, crunchy lettuce is simply far superior to full leaves of the stuff. The burgers on this list are known for incorporating a wide variety of proteins, and the Loco Burger can be further customized to include bacon, pork loin, and salchichas, all three of which are available on the legendary Super Loco Burger.

A Lo Marachucho (Multiple locations, alomaracucho.com): First and foremost, West Jordan's A Lo Maracucho is all about Venezuelan comfort food. The cool thing about Venezuelan comfort food is that a lot of it consists of tasty grilled meats, which often lend themselves to bodacious burgers. If this is what you're after during a visit to A Lo Maracucho, then you have to check out the Street Burger. At its most basic level, you can kind of manage to pick this guy up and eat it like its more demure burger cousins. A Double Street Burger can be handled safely by burger professionals, though this is not recommended. A Triple Street Burger requires a knife and fork at all costs; many brave souls have attempted to summit this meat monolith by hand, and all of them have paid dearly. The laws of physics simply do not play with a burger patty, smoked sausage, pulled pork and grilled ham in addition to all the trimmings. Just trust me on this one, friends.

V Burger (1669 W. 9000 South, 385-491-8989, vburgers.net): V Burger shares many similarities with A Lo Maracucho: It's Venezuelan, it's in West Jordan and it absolutely doesn't skimp on the meats. However, I feel like the V Burger here is a great way to get the same stacked variety in a slightly more manageable package. You can by all means debauch yourself with the V Burger Plus when craving all the meats, but the classic V Burger lets you appreciate the Venezuelan flavors without having to lick them off your forearms. You've got the lettuce and tomatoes, but you also get the creamy sauce and crunchy shoestring potatoes. I also think the bun game at V Burger is top-tier—as the restaurant's burgers tend to be enormous, they need some serious consideration when it comes to carb engineering. The buns at V Burger are super soft, but they also have the necessary elasticity to keep the stack of ingredients in check. I think it's inspired by the arepa school of thought when it comes to sandwich engineering. Either way, it's working very well for V Burger.

Parcerito Parrilla Colombiana (10949 S. Redwood Road, 801-205-9068, mirazurparrillacolombianaut.com): A recent entry to the world of insane burgers, Parcerito—formerly known as Mirazur—has brought a wide variety of Colombian cuisine to South Jordan. Colombian food definitely doesn't skimp when it comes to proteins, and the menu is packed with classics like the stir-fried rice dish called calentao and some pretty decently-priced steaks and ribs. It's a grill-forward menu, so it makes sense to see its fast-food menu that includes plenty of overstuffed hamburgers and hot dogs. The Parcerito Burger, for example, comes with thick bacon and smoky chorizo. Like the V Burger, it's easy to see each layer of this burger as soon as it comes to the table. It has a bit more height than the V Burger, though it's still possible to eat it by hand; slicing it in half helps a lot. The Super Parcerito Burger is what you'll want when you don't mind diving in with a knife and fork. It adds fried plantain and shredded chicken to the mix—and the whole affair has me convinced that plantains are nothing short of a burger miracle.