This weekend I tried to save a few bucks and eat some inexpensive, quick service meals. Katie and I hit the Howell Mill Food Park Friday night, where they happen to be filming the Cooking Channel Eat St. show this weekend. They are filming tomorrow at Tower Place in Buckhead if you want to be on television. They asked if they could interview me on camera as a local food truck expert, but I had not tried the truck in question.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been somewhat disenfranchised with the food truck scene in Atlanta. Long waits, high prices, and average food abound. There are many trucks I want to try, but I’m still waiting for an experience worth the effort.

We first tried the Fry Guy, which I initially sampled from their outpost in Poncey-Highlands before they had a truck. The fries were quite good, but Katie ordered the special which was listed as $3 on top of the regular price, she interpreted it as $3 total. So we ate some $8 french fries with parmesan and black truffle oil. Even as someone who blows money on undefendable purchases (read: Burgundy), I was displeased with the cost.

Next I tried a fish sandwich from Bushels. It’s fried white fish, on plain white bread, $5. It was crispy and hot and fine. We finished with a Red Queen apple cinnamon tart. It was my second purchase from her, and probably the best thing I’ve eaten to date in the food park. Really excellent.

The next day I stopped at HD1 on the way to a friend’s house (to watch football and make demi-glace, ha). I ordered two dogs to go – the merguez and the classic. I waited a while considering there were only a handful of people in the shop, and quickly ate in my car. I was not a fan of the lamb. The menu doesn’t offer that this pungent, dry dog was covered in raisins, an addition many may enjoy, but I wouldn’t have ordered it had I known. Two bites.

UPDATE – Someone in the comments noted, they are not raisins, but are red currants, and they are listed on the menu. I misread the menu, thinking the currants were in the lamb sausage itself, and I didn’t identify them as currants in the two bites I tried. I don’t know everything, and will admit when I’m wrong. Just ask my wife.

The classic was much better, I love the acidic ballpark style mustard. The dog itself is nice too. Split top bun is commendable, but does not achieve the pillowy excellence of the Holeman & Finch version. To be fair, the H&F dog costs a good bit more.

But still, with a $1.50 tip I spent $15 even on these two dogs, hardly a deal. Being I don’t live in the area, I don’t have much of a desire to return.

FLIP Buckhead opens today at 3655 Roswell Rd.

the pass

owner Barry Mills (little known fact – he used to live next door to my girlfriend, and he had an unsecured Wi-Fi connection called “Barry’s Router”. Thanks Barry!)

the patio

beet salad

fried potato skins (with smoked mayo and bacon jam) in the foreground, underrated fries in the background

burger with sous vide pork belly

seasonal venison burger

osso bucco burger

plaintains

Executive Chef Jason McClure, Richard Blais, and an immersion circulator all make an appearance

thai tea shake

NO2 martini

The burger below is from Pawley’s Front Porch in Columbia, SC. A local favorite, they were recently featured on Diner’s, Drive-In’s, and Dive’s. Not that I put much stock in that show, though Fieri’s ability to act like he just had his freaking mind blown after taking a bite of some unoriginal fried mess is impressive. “What’s that? The secret ingredient is Old Bay? Get the f out of here!”

I had a speciality burger with green tomato and bacon. It was huge, almost cooked like I asked, and satisfying. I liked the green tomato, though I took a bit of it off. The Tabasco onion rings were a let down, as I couldn’t place the faintest hint of the cayenne sauce. A worthy burger stop in Columbia. Topping/creativity driven.

Below is the grass fed burger at Yeah! Burger. I can’t say I was too impressed with the burger, and a few things were messed up on my order, but they’ve hardly been open so I’m not condemning them by any means. I won’t even get into the details until I have a chance to try it again.

Miller-Union burger. All around well done, executed with precision. Well formed/right size patty, great bun, toppings were the proper size, well melted cheese, properly seasoned beef, etc. It’s just clear when care goes into something, even when it’s just a burger.

Can’t go to M-U without the veggie snack!

Grass fed! Organic! Prime! Wagyu! Family Friendly! Trendy! Bland! Provocative Signage! Overrated! Overcooked! Too Expensive! Inconsistent!

Damn, on the other hand, this post may just be piling on to an already saturated topic with little interest. I’m a little sick of it myself, but I still love a good burger, and I do try all of these places. I had a poor experience at Yeah! Burger during their first week of business, but I don’t want to judge someone so early. On the other hand, I had a fabulous burger at Miller-Union this week. And really, considering it came with fries, it didn’t cost much more than those other restaurants that allege they are at a friendly price point.

Where I’ve really been eating the most burgers is at home. I got hooked on the geekiness of it all when I started reading The Food Lab on Serious Eats. It’s a series of research and recipe posts by Kenji Lopez-Alt, a professional chef, founder of the Good Eater collaboration, and a contributor to Cook’s Illustrated. He’s also an MIT graduate who tackles cooking questions using a very scientific method with which I can identify. One of his favorite topics is burgers. He cooks thin burger, fat burger, grilled burgers, sous-vide burgers, replicates restaurant burgers, and he really does his homework. Hell, in one post on thin and crispy burgers, he somehow manages to compare the forming of burger patties with fractals.  I love his usage of line graphs when discussing how often one should flip a burger. Intense and admirable work sir.

Anyways, I won’t regurgitate all of his ideas, but here are a few of my experiments based on Kenji’s posts.

The most important lesson learned is to grind my own beef. Lately I’ve been going with a modified version of Kenji’s blue label blend. His proportions are 1:1:2 sirloin, brisket, oxtail. Oxtail is not as easily found, so I substitute short rib. But if you want oxtail, you can find it in town at the Sweet Auburn Market, or at Super H in Doraville.

Initially I used my food processor to grind beef. The problems I encountered were mushy beef (even though I froze it first) or an uneven grind. The beef below was too chunky.

But you can see when I form the patty, I form it very loosely. I don’t pack the meat together in my hands. I lay down the weighed portion of ground beef on a tray, then gently push it together until it’s not falling apart too badly. Then I gently flip it and repeat.

On this occasion I cooked it on very high heat in a cast iron skillet – look at that crust!

The crust may have been good, but the cooking was very uneven and the chunks of beef made the burger very steak like. You can see the center is pink and somewhat mushy looking. Not awful, but clearly it can be improved upon.

For my next set of experiments, I had the KitchenAid grinder attachment. Much better.

This time I started with Kenji’s thick and juicy burgers, which are initially cooked in the oven. I realize this may be sacrilege to you grill masters, but it provides for a very evenly cooked burger. The burgers come out looking like a pink-gray mass of grossness, but they are finished with a sear in a hot skillet.

I overcooked this burger by ten degrees accidentally, I’m not sure if my quick read thermometer is any good because I pulled the burger out at 122F exactly, but it still tasted good. The center was soft and the exterior wasn’t all burnt to hell, a common problem with a very thick burger. I really think this cooking method is overlooked.

The burger below is the “Ultra Crispy Burger“. For these I make a smaller, thin patty, and cook it in a hot as hell cast iron skillet that is barely larger than the burger. The small skillet traps the fat, in essence frying the exterior of the burger. Indeed, the texture is deep fried. I’m having problems getting a burger this thin to cook to medium. The cheese isn’t melting fast enough. This burger cooked two minutes on the first side and one minute on the second side.

You can see the cheese oozing into the loose texture of the beef though – that’s what I like to see! This burger was tasty.

Be warned, your house will become smoky and smell like burgers for hours when you cook using this method.

My last burger was blue label, packed a little more tightly as it was of moderate thickness. I cooked it on a moderately hot cast iron skillet. As was done with all these burgers, the beef was generously seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides right before cooking. The bread is H&F bread from the Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market. It was a very solid burger. It could have had a better crust, but the flavor of the beef was outstanding. If I did it again, I would only cook two burgers in a single skillet at a time. I think with four burgers they are too crowded for a great crust.

The fries pictured above are yet another product of a Kenji post – How to Make Perfect Thin and Crispy Fries. The technique takes time, but they are hands down the best fries I’ve ever made. Try this recipe. Please.

I bought the largest russets I could find. The fries are hand cut and soaked.

Then they are placed in a large pot of water, with two tablespoons of vinegar added, and brought to a simmer and cooked for ten minutes. The vinegar keeps the fries from falling apart.

The fries are dried, then fried at 400F for about a minute.

After the fries have cooled, I layered them in tupperware and froze them. Apparently the freezing of the fries makes for a much fluffier interior (the almost hollow McDonald’s style fry). Again, read Kenji’s research on this.

The frozen fries are then fried at 400F for 3-4 minutes. Toss with salt, serve immediately.

I’m really considering keeping a stock of these in my freezer. They were that good.

I’ve been hearing a lot about Farm 255 lately, particularly in regards to how they operate with Full Moon Farms near Athens. The farm operates as a local CSA and provides produce and meat to the restaurant. A chalkboard inside proudly displays the details of which ingredients are currently sourced from the farm, and the list is quite robust.

In addition to sourcing ingredients from Full Moon Farms, employees of Farm 255 work the farm, harvesting the crops and even slaughtering chickens. This kind of employee buy-in and involvement is uniquely awesome. In the construction distribution industry, you might call this ‘vertical integration’.

The week prior to heading up to Farm 255, I was sitting at the bar at Leon’s and eavesdropped on two guys sitting next to me. Over a couple of pints, they were talking about food and local restaurants, and the most verbose of the two launched into a buzzed diatribe about how he loves restaurants that only serve ingredients when appropriate – “HEY MAN, listen, I only want strawberries when it’s fucking strawberry season! I’m tired of everything being available all the time!”

It was at that point that he started telling his buddy all about Farm 255, how they source the ingredients, and how the employees are involved in the farm. It was cool to hear someone get excited about food in this manner – the finished product isn’t only of importance, but the process is becoming important to consumers. If this trend continues (I hope it does), we’re going to be eating healthier and more responsibly. I just finished reading In Defense of Food, can you tell?

The menu changes often at “the farm”, as I’ve heard it called often, and within seconds of sitting down one appetizer jumped out at me – Poutine. I’ve actually been stalking poutine lately, searching for cheese curds around Atlanta (Trader Joe’s has them, go figure) and on the internet. The decision was easy.

A popular dish in Canada, poutine can also be found in New Orleans, but I have yet to see it around Atlanta. A dense mixture of French fries, gravy, and cheese, it’s a dish full of warmth, depth, and calories. Everything a growing boy needs.

The Farm 255 version was made with an extremely thick chicken gravy and melted cheddar instead of curds. On the one hand I would have liked the gravy a little thinner so I could mop my fries around in the gloppy mess, but the thickness did help the fries maintain their well fried status. The melted cheese ensured ample coverage on almost all the fries, so breaking from tradition seems to have paid off there. If you’re in Athens, go try this while you can. And don’t order too large of an entree, you’re gonna need that stomach space.

FB’s thoughts are in line with mine for the most part. The burger is slightly greasy, served on a wonderfully soft bun, with all the requisite toppings, plus free Grindhouse sauce if you so desire. A single will do you right, so I imagine a double burger will give even the hungriest of eaters their fill. The meat itself is a bit soft, almost wet. My first thought is that I would like more seasoning in the beef mix, but upon further intense burger reflection I think I would like a little more of a flavorful and seasoned fat crust on the exterior of the meat to add some flavor and provide contrast against the soft beef.

I did enjoy the sides a bit more than FB, but I’m a sucker for hot crinkle-cut fries and the onions rings (more like straws as FB mentions) weren’t greasy and had a lots of salty and peppery flavor in the exterior, though I will agree that this style of onion ring is more of a crunchy batter conduit than an onion.

Grindhouse makes a very satisfying burger, at a fair price, in a location I very much liked. As the guy sitting next to me who stumbled upon Grindhouse for lunch said, “I might just have to do that again.”

Grindhouse Killer Burgers
Sweet Auburn Curb Market
209 Edgewood Ave

Yesterday was the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson football game, a Thursday night game, which I think is one of the best attractions in all of Atlanta. The weather was cool and wonderful, and the backdrop of the Atlanta skyline can’t be beat. In addition, Georgia Tech and Clemson have had a heated and well-matched series for the last ten year, with most games being decided by just a few points.

The actual game is great, but a well planned tailgate might be just as much fun. I got out to our spot roughly three hours before game time, where my buddy Matt had already set up his turkey fryer. No one brought a grill this time, so it was deep fry only!

Matt fried some mozzarella sticks first, then some hot wings which he then lathered up with a mixture of Texas Pete and butter. I generally use Frank’s cayenne sauce instead of Texas Pete, but they are comparable. Just be sure to use equal parts melted butter and cayenne sauce for maximum awesomeness.

For my part of the frying, I first prepared some jalapeno poppers (not pictured). I took twelve large jalapenos, cut the stem out and used a thin knife to core the seeds and ribs from the pepper. Then I cut small pieces of Monterey jack cheese and stuffed the peppers. The coating was a 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, and 1 tbsp of Cajun seasoning. They fried for 2-3 minutes only. They came out well, though the oil was too hot so the coating was a little darker than ideal. Also, I’d recommend letting the batter drip off on a rack prior to frying.

I was going to try frying the sausage & cheese balls that I often see as a baked tailgated snack, but in a rush I forgot the sausage at the grocery store. I ended up mixing cheddar cheese with Bisquick and Cajun seasoning and throwing the wet mixture in the hot oil. You can see these “cheese fritters” below. The oil was also too hot for these, which only needed one minute to cook. They weren’t bad, but they were a bit burnt and were definitely missing the sausage.

I realized today that I’ve been deep and pan frying quite a bit lately. Apparently I’m not the only one. A blog I like, Macheesmo, put up a post the other day surveying his recent Deep Fry Party. Check out his deep fried Oreos!

Other adventures in frying

While the deep fryer gets the glory, a good pan fry can produce lots of greasy goodness, such as the Redneck Burgers by Rowdy below. He pan fried thin burgers in bacon fat on high heat, creating a wonderful crust on the exterior of the burger. I’ve been reproducing this at home and I’ve even produced a wonderful veggie burger in this manner, though something feels wrong about cooking a veggie burger in animal fat.

The main instigator of my fry-fest has been the cast iron Dutch oven I purchased a few months ago. Below I have some duck fat melting like butter. I’ve been using peanut oil from Costco (great buy) mostly, but I like the animal fat taste provided by the duck fat.

The duck fat can be purchased at Star Provisions. I think it’s $10 for a pound.

French fries have also been a frying project lately. The best results I’ve had have been very thin fries (almost as small as McDonald’s fries), soaked in water for 24 hours, then fried once at 300 for five minutes, removed, then fried again at 400 for just a few minutes.

I tried reproducing the JCT fries once too. These have been fried twice, tossed in white truffle oil, then I used my microplane to produce the light and fluffy layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

My most fried item has been hot wings. I bought a huge bag of frozen wings from Costco, which may or may not have been a good idea, depending on how you look at things. I use the aforementioned cayenne/butter sauce a lot, but mostly I’ve been using variation of the spice mixture used on Rowdy’s Sichuan Fried Chicken.

The first time I made the spice mixture, it wasn’t hot enough. I had some cheap cayenne, so I purchased the cayenne below online. To say this stuff is “spicy” would be like calling Rush Limbaugh “conservative”.

I vary the mixture, but below is garlic salt, salt, coriander, paprika, cayenne, ground/toasted Sichuan peppercorn, and black and white sesame seeds.

I threw in a few dried chiles with this batch and got my brush ready for basting.

When the wings are almost ready, a ladle out a few tablespoons of the boiling hot oil and pour it on the spices and stir vigorously. The spices should become very aromatic. Then remove the hot wings and brush the spice paste on them.

I served these with a sriracha/blue cheese dipping sauce. I wasn’t a big fan of the sesame seeds so I’ve stopped using them.

I made these wings for friends again last weekend, but with a bit more salt, less garlic powder, and more cayenne. They were fantastic, but so spicy I had the hiccups for about 10 minutes. When the hiccups start, they are hot enough.

One time I had the wings I drank this Riesling which I brought back from Washington a few weeks ago. Off-dry, with a hint of effervescence when I first opened it, light minerality, with plenty of honey and some tropical fruit. I enjoyed it, I think it could compete with some German Rieslings at the < $20 price point.

Phew, anyone else need to hit the gym now?

The clock was ticking. My meeting in downtown Greenville had just wrapped up, I hop on I-385 on my way to Columbia, look at the clock and see that I have 110 minutes to get to my meeting next meeting 100 miles away. My brains is whirring, doing the math…I have 20 minutes to spare…enough time to hit up Zorba’s Lounge!

A hole in the wall, and the absolute favorite “cheat food” destination of my mother, Zorba’s Lounge isn’t going to be on Diner’s, Drive-in’s, and Dive’s anytime soon. Their “artwork” consists of a close-up of a woman’s rear in a thong, a sign that says “No Overnight tabs”, and yet another notice to the clientele that proclaims “No Outside Liquor Allowed”. Apparently flasking it has been a problem here.

The menu is varied, including the option to order a single hot wing or single fried shrimp (really?), and they could be good, but I will probably never find out, because there is one reason I’m going to Zorba’s Lounge – the Ribeye Steak sandwich.

A heaping pile of well seasoned, thin, greasy, yet lean shaved ribeye, served on an always-fresh onion roll, with gooey melted Swiss cheese, a thin layer of mayo, topped with grilled onions, lettuce, and tomato if you desire. I’m not usually one for mayo, but in this case, it only adds to the awesomeness of this sandwich. I didn’t get lettuce or tomato because I don’t want any of that BS clouding up my palate while I’m trying to enjoy the juicy, rich oregano seasoned ribeye.

One sandwich is damn filling, but be sure to save room for their cooked to order steak fries.

I can also recommend their Greek salad, but ask for the dressing on the side. Splitting a salad, fries, and a sandwich is a good move, and will fill you up, but I guarantee you will be craving that sandwich later on.

Zorba’s Lounge 
1414 E Washington St
Greenville, SC 29607

Zorba’s Metromix Info

Their being here for the weekend of course meant that we were in for some good food. Whenever in town my parents often try to eat at places that are different than what Greenville, SC has to offer. While Greenville has some great dining destinations, ATL definitely has a leg-up, particularly in the ethnic food category. Oh and they claim they like spending time with their kids. 

I have a bunch of photos so I’m going to dive right in to the food. Oh, but first! Good news…I finally got a camera yesterday, replacing the one I had stolen in 2003 so I can stop using my iPhone. You may or may not know this, but prices have really come down in the last six years. 

We got started Saturday afternoon at Yakitori Jenbei, which was right over by the Galleria, across from the Best Buy on Cobb Pkwy. It was funny because I had just read about this place on Yelp the other day and wasn’t planning on going here. Unfortunately, they don’t offer yakitori (think grilled meat kabobs) for lunch. They did have some great lunch specials. For $8.50 I got a salad, soup, two sushi rolls, steamed vegetables with rice, and teriyaki salmon. 

The soup was awesome miso soup. You can see it wasn’t thin/watery and had great fresh miso flavor. I love ginger salad dressings and theirs was definitely worthwhile. 

Above is the rest of my food. Definitely worth it, but I want to try out the yakitori for sure. One complaint – they brought out everything at the same time (soup, salad, rolls, etc). There wasn’t room on the table for everything. 

After lunch, we headed on over to The Colors of Wine for their free Saturday wine tasting at 3PM. The free tastings are every week, but on occasion they cancel so you may want to call before you head over. We found out that this tasting would be a cold sake and plum wine tasting. My sake knowledge is limited to sake bombs (when I say sake, you say bomb! sake! bomb! sake! bomb!) and we thought this would be a great learning experience. 

Our tasting guide was Koji, who was introduced as the “sake expert of Georgia”. Koji’s family are sake producers in Japan, he works as a distributor here in the US, and he also produces his own label of sake created in California. We had a lot of fun trying the 6 wines, but it was even more worth while to learn about the sake creation process and why quality cold sake is a special drink (and $$$$). We even tried what he called a “limoncello sake”, which after we tried initially, he then added some mint carbonated water to the sake, creating a fun and refreshing drink.

More information on the products Koji distributes can be found here. 

Next up, Muss & Turner’s for dinner. I had not been yet, and surprisingly I didn’t even realize how close this was to my house. It’s almost next door to South City Kitchen at Vinings. 

M&T’s had a gastropub feel, but definitely not the same kind of vibe as Holeman & Finch. It had a much more open, bright, market feel. They had a counter where you can order baked goods, or you can pickup some prosciutto de parma by the pound. They also have a small bar where they can pour from their large bevy of beers or wines by the glass. The beers were the most intriguing part; they had some very unique offerings and the menu mentions that they often have beer tastings. I think it would be worth checking out. On to the food…

We started with some appetizers of the charcuterie plate, some serrano ham, cheese, and pork belly. The charcuterie plate was good stuff, and the serrano may have been the best part of it. Good thing we had got a second plate with nothing but serrano on it!

The pork belly was disappointing to me. It was dry and didn’t have much flavor. 

For his entree, my dad ordered the “Insult to Philly”; their take on a cheese steak. He said the roast beef was awesome and was shaved extremely thin, calling it “the best cheese steak I’ve ever had.” Strong words coming from a Pennsylvania Yankee.

Some of the french fries, with my pommes frites in the background. 

Katie’s stuffed poblano. I tried it and it was good, but not great. It was a little soggy and the black bean puree which surrounded the dish lacked flavor/seasoning. It was a lot of food. 

Here is a picture of my duck burger. The bread was focaccia-like, fresh, toasted, and very buttery. It was served with thin pommes frites and a soy mayo. At the top of the picture you can see the sambal aioli that I got to go with the fries. I only actually got to taste the aioli once because the rest of the table took it down quickly. It was good stuff. 

My burger was cooked medium rare, and had great duck flavor that went well with the mayo and the cabbage, but overall it was too greasy for me. I had it with a big glass of dark Anchor Christmas Ale which helped cut through the fat. 

FINALLY, the last meal on Sunday afternoon….

We headed on over to the Chamblee area to China Delight for dim sum. I’ve been here before and this place is great. It’s deceivingly large and quite crowded on a Sunday around the lunch time, which is definitely the most popular time for dim sum. When eating dim sum, I’m a big believer in looking for a crowded restaurant that is turning a lot of tops, otherwise you have no idea how long what you are about to consume has been sitting in that cart. Bad dim sum is no fun. It rhymes!

Poor little yummy crabs!

Little clams in a tasty broth. 

Green beans with large slivers of garlic, ala Paul Sorvino in Goodfellas. 

On my plate: green beans, duck, cold pork salad, and some kind of awesome cabbage. 

We ate until we were going to pop for about $12 a person. Dim sum is fantastic because you get to try so many foods, it’s conducive to sharing, you don’t have to wait for your food, and you get to “take a look” to see what you want. Definitely worth the hike!

Phew…so that was a big weekend of eating, but I didn’t even mention the pizza I ate last night. Why didn’t I mention it? Check back tonight for that info!

I’m definitely behind the curve on writing about FLIP Burger Boutique, as it’s been open for a number of weeks and apparently everyone has already been there, but I’m not too proud to post late.  Considering I live 2 miles straight down Chattahoochee Blvd from FLIP, I should have been there on day 1, but instead I decided to wait until the day the AJC posted their official review of FLIP, giving it 4 stars. Congratulations are in order for Richard, Mark, all the other chefs, as well as the rest of the team at FLIP. 

Congratulations may have been in order for the staff at FLIP, but the only thing in store for the diners last night was a significant wait! We arrived around 7:15 last night and it was straight jammed! The restaurant was full, the bar was full, the waiting area was full, the sidewalk outside was almost full. See below. 

But we had resolve and an undeniable hunger for burgers, so I pushed my way to the bar and ordered a few drinks while we waited. 

This gave me plenty of time to check out the interior, as well as do some fantastic people watching. A very trendy crowd indeed, there was even one guy who was profound enough to wear a button down shirt with either the top 3 or 4 buttons undone; quite the fashionista. 

The space is very clean – white tables, white walls, trendy aluminum bar stools for the center tables, and the long bar featuring an alternate pattern of mirrors and flat panel TV’s, both surrounded by the same style of classic white frame.  The very large booths on the left side of the restaurant have a  duplicate of the bottom booth inverted and stacked towards the ceiling, “flipped”, to create a divider, separating the booths and creating the most private and special spots to sit in the restaurant. Unless you’re a hipster and want to sit at the burger bar facing the open window to the kitchen where you can watch the staff cook, top, present, and prepare the numerous burgers flying out of there by the minute. 

pictured: Ryan, clearly wanting a burger, and also not living up to his moniker, “Smiles”

After 80 minutes or so we were seated, ready to devour anything coming our way. Our friendly waitress arrived quickly to take drink orders while we figured out how we were going to tackle this menu. Sharing was definitely on the docket. 

Above: the turf n earth burger with arugula and goat cheese

Ryan and I decided to split four burgers, and the two ladies chose one for themselves. The total burger order included a bun mi (a play on the Vietnamese Banh Mi), the turf n earth (mushroom patty for the veggie), the butcher cut, the southern, the pâté melt, and a regular flip burger. As sides we ordered the sweet potato tots, the fried rutabaga and the french fries. 

We were so ravenous, when the food quickly came out, I started eating so quickly I wasn’t even thinking about the flavors or the quality, so I had to quickly slow down and pace myself.

We cut the burgers in half for sharing, so I ended up getting four halves to try, plus a few bites of the turn n earth, which was quite interesting, and definitely earthy. I’m not a huge mushroom fan, so I wasn’t in love with it, but when you got a bite of the goat cheese along with a big hunk of the warm, soft (but firm) bun, it was very enjoyable. In fact, the bread was a major contribution to all the burgers. Some may have other favorite styles of burger delivery system, but I thought the buttery brioche style was the perfect accompaniment. 

the butcher cut and the bun mi

Once I slowed down I began to take note of the differences of the meat and how the flavors were working together. The blue cheese was just the right amount on the butcher cut, as was the pimento cheese on the southern. 

The side dishes were also very notable. The fries were short, but perfectly crisp with a homemade smoked mayo that brought me back to Belgium.

fries with smoked mayo

The onion rings were quite good, but not nearly as notable as the sweet potato tots, which stole the show. Though you don’t receive a ton of them, they were perfectly crispy, large, and of awesome sweet potato substance (not like regular tot-filler). 

sweet potato tots with blue cheese dipping sauce

Lastly I tried a few sips of the krispy kreme milkshake, which as I had heard, was not as overpowering as you might think at first. The flavor was definitely recognizable, and the flavor and texture perfectly in balance. 

southern burger with pimento cheese

Overall I thought FLIP was outstanding. I love burgers, and they won me over with the freshness, creativity, and the fun setting. While I wasn’t amazed with every burger, I absolutely loved the butcher’s cut and the pâté melt. Pimento cheese is one of my favorite’s so that was also a big-time winner in my book. The bun mi was a little disappointing – just a bit too non-descript for me. But the meat was consistently juicy, deliciously flavorful, and cooked to my preference (medium or so for the beef). I look forward to trying some of others. Maybe if we get another economic stimulus I will try the $30 A3 Kobe burger. 

As far as value goes, FLIP is also a winner. Our table ordered 6 burgers, 3 sides, 1 milkshake, 2 beers, and a Fire Fly vodka cocktail. Split evenly and included tax & tip, this totaled to about $25 per person. I felt like for the level of the cuisine, and the quantity of food, it was well worth it. 

We ended up eating too much, but I don’t regret it, and I had a blast. The energy level was high, burgers were flying out the kitchen, and smiles were on everyone’s faces as they left. Earlier in the night, about a half an our into our wait, a woman approached me and gleefully said, “it’s worth the wait!”. And she was right.

FLIP menu available here. 
View FLIP review on Yelp