Five Napkin Burger, Atlanta, GA (October 2011)

Several months ago, I read in the local news about a new burger joint coming to town, Five Napkin Burger, in the old space where Nickiemoto's was located at the corner of 10th and Piedmont.  This New York based restauarant, with outposts in Boston, Miami and here, is an up-scale burger joint.   They even take reservations, for crying out loud.

Looking at the options for appetizers, Jo decided that we needed to try to the onion rings, so we ordered a "stack".  The corn meal crusted rings appeared atop a skewer with two dipping sauces - bleu cheese and a 5N sauce.  Not being an onion ring guy, I abstained, but Jo, and the couple we were dining with, said they were mighty tasty.

On to the entrees, I ordered a burger - what else?  Jo went with the fish tacos - always a suspect choice.  You never know what you're going to get.   So with the big choice out of the way, I had to decide on a side - french fries, tuscan fries, tater tots, sweet potato fries or rings.   

 


I'm a sucker for tater tots. But let's talk about these suckers.   They were HUGE.   Hard to tell from the picture, but they looked like jalapeno poppers (roughly 2" x 1" x 1").  So I took a bite and was I surprised.  First it was HOT.   After the cooling off period, I began to explore the taste.  These are fried blobs of chive mashed potatoes.   What a novel idea.  And a really good taste.



And then came the burger - ten glorious ounces of fresh ground beef, with pimento cheese (their standard burger has gruyere cheese - ooh-la-la) and a rosemary aoli on a buttered white roll. 

Wow is the only word that comes to mind.   It is one of the best burgers in the city.  I need to make a second visit to determine its place in the top five.   Let me get on that..
 

Grindhouse Burger, Atlanta, GA (October, 2011)

Looking back through my lists, I also realized that I've never blogged about Grindhouse Killer Burgers.   We ate at the original location (in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market) some time in mid-2009 and I'd been back to that location for lunch when I was in town on a couple of occasions.  They've opened a second location on Piedmont and I've eaten there twice over the past six months.  

The original location has a great "vibe", located in the market.    The counter is built out the wall of the West end of the Market and there's always a 50s or 60s "B" movie - think "Plan 9 from Outer Space" - projected onto the wall, sans sound.  You order at the register and find a place to sit at the counter after you get your order in.  CAUTION:  You do have to pay attention to where you sit at the counter so you don't have the pig parts at the butcher counter across the way in the view when you look up over your fries, but it is a good place to dine. 

The burger selection is typical (beef, veggie, turkey) with all the accoutrements and potato choice.

But the new location leaves me "flat".  It feels like it is trying too hard.   The movies are on the wall.  The burgers are fine, but not really worth the effort to drive there.   If I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stop in, unless I have a better idea...

Below?  A simple cheeseburger.

In -N-Out, Berkley, CA (October 2011)

No trip to California would be complete without a stop at the BEST chain restaurant in the West: In-N-Out.  


Heading back into San Francisco, we realized that we needed to eat and had no earthly idea what we wanted.   And then we saw the sign on the side of the freeway.  The clouds broke, a beam of sun shone through and trumpets sounded.  Take a quick look in the rearview, slam on the brakes, flip on the blinker and up the ramp we go.

"Quality you can taste" is their motto.  We were in the mood to taste the quality.  You see, we first discovered In-N-Out in 2004, when we took the girls and went to San Fransico and Yosemite.   We were staying at a hotel near Fisherman's Wharf and after a long day of sight-seeing, we were hungry and looking for someplace to grab a quick bite.    Just around the corner we saw something that resembled the golden arches and figured that we'd give it a try.

That night,  we first sampled the glory of the Double-Double.  Two 100% beef patties, two slices of American cheese, lettuce (off mine, on Jo's), tomatoes (look at the extra stack on mine!) and optional onions.  It's hard to describe what make an In-N-Out burger different.   In terms of great "chain" burgers, there are at least three - In-N-Out, Five Guys and Steak and Shake.   My buddy David would argue that Whataburger should be included, but I don't think they use beef ground fresh daily - an automatic disqualification in my book.  Back to In-N-Out:  the Double-Double is really good.  But the fries are great!  They're like thick Steak and Shake fries, cooked to a glorious gold.  Maybe some (glorious) day, they'll make their way this far east.

A parting photo for posterity...


Check out this gem that I just discovered from 2007

As I said above, we discovered In-N-Out in 2004 when we were out west.   When Madison and I went on her Excellent 16th Birthday Adventure, she and I found an In-N-Out drive thru and swung through for burgers and fries.  I just ran across this photo looking for something else.  Serendipity!