Atlanta's Blue Ribbon Burgers

Editor’s Note: The Burger Guys – Don, Finn, Mike and Steve – have really branched out. Not only did they add attorney Andy to the group – he convinced them they needed “legal counsel” – now they’ve invited Coke co-worker Emily to the pack. And this was before they even knew Atlanta INtown was under fire for its “sexist”practice of not including women in the reviews (see letter below). The guys-plus-gal are now inviting readers to come up with a new name for their group – along with recommendations of burgers you’d like them to try out. e-mail susan@atlantaintownpaper.com.

This month, the Burger Guys (and Gal) headed out to Food 101 in Virginia-Highland (the new sibling to the original Roswell Road location). Food 101 is a bit of a departure for our group, as the restaurant features only two burgers. On the dinner menu you will find a Grilled Kobe Burger with St. Andre cheese, arugula, beefsteak tomato and horseradish aioli ($14). But we tried the burger featured on the lunch and brunch menus, the Grilled Kobe Burger with Boursin cheese, tomato jam, arugula and bread-n-butter pickle ($11).

Initially, our group was somewhat divided on how to rate Food 101’s burger. The reason for the initial confusion came down to expectations. Our overall comment on the Food 101 burger is, if you are looking for a standard, classic burger, this isn’t for you. But if you crave an unusual take on the standard fare, this may be what you are looking for.

The Food 101 burger is served on a big multi-grained bun. The organic, seedy flavor of the bun is strong, so be prepared. Emily found the bun a little too seedy, but the others thought it was a nice departure.

Our experience with Kobe burgers is that they are often a little dry and sometimes flavorless. Not the case at Food 101: the Kobe beef was fairly juicy and had a different flavor than the standard ground sirloin. We wouldn’t say the flavor was better or worse, just different. As you know, we are sticklers about overcooking, and too-well-done Kobe becomes like Kevlar if it stays on the grill just a second too long. At Food 101, we ordered our burgers medium, and they managed to keep them from drying out.

Just to check out the Food 101 burger in its purest form, Emily and Finn tried the burgers both as specified above, and plain with cheddar cheese. They preferred the plain with cheddar. If they were rating that burger alone, they would give it a 7 of 10 – neck and neck with Houston’s, which we consider to be a darned-good burger. (Just to confirm its equality to the Houston’s burger, Finn went to Houston’s that night – yes, it was a two-burger day for that boy. He can confirm that they were equally good in a head-to-head cheddar cheese-only burger comparison.)

Our group tends to lean toward the backyard, charcoal-grilled type of burger. So for us, the consensus is that there is just a little too much going on with the bun, the tomato jam, a hint of rosemary, and the Boursin cheese – too many flavors at once for our taste. We give the Food 101 burger a 6.5 out of 10. If you like a fancy burger, you may want to stop by and give it a taste.