Some come with cheese, lettuce and tomato; others in Happy Meal boxes. Many feature foie gras, fried eggs, truffles or crayfish. Yes, it’s the hamburger, and no matter what you put on top, it’s one of this country’s proudest contributions to the culinary landscape. In fact, it is estimated that Americans eat more than 50 million burgers a year or three per week.
In honor of National Hamburger Month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution went looking for some of the most notable and unusual burgers in the metro area. They’re not always the most expensive (although we have a few of those), but these burgers deliver the all-American comfort food.
Atlantans certainly love their burgers, and there seem to be as many varieties of burgers as restaurants touting theirs as the best. For what is essentially a two-ingredient dish — meat and bun — the discussion as to what makes the perfect burger tends to fall into two camps — it’s the perennial “Ginger or Mary Ann” conversation.
For some, minimalistic is the best. “Make it as simple as possible,” says acclaimed local chef Ford Fry, whose restaurants include St. Cecilia, King + Duke and the Optimist. The key to a great burger is the “ratio of quality meat to the bun. We grind frozen butter into the fresh dry-aged ribeye meat to give it moisture and a crust and put it on a brioche bun.”
At $34.95, the burger at Fry’s Marcel is one of the most expensive in town. “At Marcel, our servers tell our customers they don’t need anything but the meat and bun, not even cheese. It’s so rich you don’t need any more fat,” he says.
Credit: Courtesy of STK Steakhouse Atlanta
Credit: Courtesy of STK Steakhouse Atlanta
David-Alex Steele, general manager at STK Atlanta, agrees. “Essentially a good burger should taste great by itself. Everything else you put on it is designed to give it additional texture or accentuate the different flavors the patty should give you. If you keep adding sauces, bacon and everything, it takes away from the intended purpose of the burger. We only offer four toppings.”
Grindhouse Killer Burgers, which has four locations in metro Atlanta and one in Athens, likes to keep it simple. “You put too many things on it, it doesn’t always work. We’ve got a handful of toppings, and we don’t try anything too fancy,” says owner Alex Brounstein. “It starts with good quality beef; we use beef chuck and brisket that create a really good flavor and lots of fat to make it juicy. Put it on a bun and technically, it’s a burger. Veggies on a burger make it get cold, and you don’t want to get the bun soggy. Don’t overcomplicate things.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Others believe in going for broke and cooking up numerous add-ons with extra sauces, vegetables, spices and cheese. To that camp, more is more.
Mix’D UP Burgers started as a food truck, and along with the truck, has two locations with another opening soon in Midtown. (The East Lake location is open for takeout but not for sit-in dining.) “We just kept going to see how crazy we could be with the burgers,” says owner Brett Eanes. “We offer a solid quality product with everything made in-house. Our burgers are not a list of ingredients; they’re well thought out and modifications are strongly discouraged.”
Credit: Courtesy of MixD UP Burgers
Credit: Courtesy of MixD UP Burgers
Every burger on the menu started out as a special and earned its honored place on the menu by customer demand. One of its most popular is the open-faced Texan with Angus beef, bacon, cheese, pulled pork, barbecue sauce and chipotle ranch slaw.
The Vortex, with two locations, is the home of creative burgers. Its no-frills hamburger is a half-pound 100% premium ground sirloin patty with lettuce, tomato, red onion and dill pickle slices. After that, customers have a choice of 23 other burgers, including the Quadruple Coronary Bypass, which offers 9,606 calories of meat, toast, eggs, bacon, onions, diner relish, mayonnaise and 28 slices of American cheese.
BURGERS WITH BUZZ
Some burgers are high on buzz factor, whether for their location, their quality or their rarity. NFA Burger — not fooling around — attracts customers to its Dunwoody location in a Chevron station. It topped the AJC’s Best of Atlanta poll in 2020 for best burger. People line up early every Sunday in hopes of buying a cheeseburger from Evergreen Butcher + Baker in Kirkwood, which is only available on that day.
Of course, not every burger has to be All-American. We are, after all, a country that prides itself on being a melting pot, and that applies to burgers as well.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Nestled among tacos, Spanish octopus and paella at Botica, a Midtown Mexican/Spanish restaurant is the Buck’s Burger. “The burger is a classic, playful dish that every menu must have,” says the chef and owner, Mimmo Alboumeh. “You can have fun with what you put on it, and Botica’s burger is inspired by Spanish flavors of salchichón, a Spanish summer sausage, and topped with egg plancha.
SSAM Burger, located on Defoors Ferry Road, offers nine Korean-style burgers, including the Saigon Burger (cilantro, carrot pickle, jalapeño, cucumber, Saigon lemongrass sauce, patty and sriracha mayo).
While many burger places tout the quality of their meat, many are proud of the fact that their burgers don’t contain meat at all. The most famous is the Slutty Vegan, where folks, including many celebrities, line up to experience founder and CEO Pinky Cole’s plant-based concoctions. And there are places where you can have it either way. “We have two non-meat burgers, and they are wildly popular,” says Grindhouse’s Brounstein.
There are several national burger chains in town that offer a variety of great burgers, too. Uncle Jack’s Meat House, with locations in Peachtree Corners and Duluth, features five burgers including the Ooey Gooey Mooey Burger that adds a secret sauce, onion jam, maple pepper bacon and L.T. Buttermilk Blue cheese fondue to the patty. Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, with several locations including in Decatur and Roswell, offers the self-explanatory Bacon Cheeseburger on Steroids and the Dr. Seuss-inspired Sam I Am, with an over-easy egg, pesto and ham. And the burger-and-shakes classic Shake Shack now has several local outlets, including in Buckhead, Dunwoody and at the airport.
No matter how you like your burger, it’s always a satisfying staple. “I’ve been to France and their food is, well it’s good,” says Mix’D Up’s Eanes, “but it doesn’t beat the hamburger.”
WHERE TO GO
Marcel. 5-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5 p.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays. 1170 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta. 404-665-4555, marcelatl.com.
STK Atlanta. 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m Sundays-Mondays; 11 a.m.-midnight Tuesdays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 1075 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-793-0144, stksteakhouse.com/venues/atlanta.
Grindhouse Killer Burgers. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Mondays. Various locations. grindhouseburgers.com.
Mix-D Up Burgers. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 313 Boulevard SE, Atlanta. 404-963-2381, mixdupfoods.com.
The Vortex. Locations in Midtown and Little Five Points. thevortexatl.com.
NFA Burger. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays; 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Inside the Chevron, 5465 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody. nfaburger.com.
Evergreen Butcher + Baker. 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. 2011 Hosea L. Williams Drive, Atlanta. 404-996-2442, evergreenbutcherandbaker.com.
Botica. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Mondays-Sundays; Brunch 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. 1820 Peachtree Road NW, Unit 3, Atlanta. 404-228-6358, eatbotica.com.
Ssam Burger. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Fridays; 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Saturdays; noon-9 p.m. Sundays. 2072 Defoors Ferry Road NW, Atlanta. 404-609-5533, ssamburgeratlanta.com.
Slutty Vegan. Three locations: on Edgewood Avenue, Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard and in Jonesboro. sluttyveganatl.com.
Uncle Jack’s Meat House. Locations in Duluth and Peachtree Corners. unclejacksmeathouse.com.
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. Several locations. baddaddysburgerbar.com.
Shake Shack. Several locations. shakeshack.com.
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