Flipped Out

Atlanta hasn't yet seen much of La Flavoriser, so tonight will be the debut. Since my return to school, I've dined at several noteworthy restaurants and taken pictures with the anticipation to blog. However, after committing to sell my soul to the devil and trying to secure an internship on Wall Street, my window of time has grown increasingly narrow. Somehow, between chapters 5 and 6 in the Vault Guide, and before midterm studying had gone into full swing, I found the time to drive the thirty minutes in unfamiliar territory to Flip Burger. As many of you know, cheeseburgers are among my favorite foods. Last year, my roommate and I kept a picture of a cheeseburger on our refrigerator -- there were no other pictures. My interest in writing about food has actually stemmed directly from the cheeseburger itself. If I could have any other last name, it would be Cheeseberg (to keep it in the tribe). Ok, I don't know if that's true...

My first trip to Flip Burger was not an adventurous one for me in terms of food - I stuck with the basics to assess the true quality of the restaurant. Only after eating the restaurant's standard burger could I get a real grip on what this place was all about. The burger was above-average, and after mistakenly leaving my credit card at the restaurant, the manager ran it outside to me in the rain. Overall, it was a good night.

This visit was different. I sat at a table, not the bar, albeit the thirty-minute wait. Flip Burger, from my understanding, is usually "squad deep," which is surprising considering its inconvenient location, but realistic given the unbelievable variety and taste of the burgers they serve. Their menu is divided into two sections -- Burgers and Flip Burgers. "Burgers" were every item substantiated by red meat, and "Flip Burgers" were sandwiches of many varieties made to look like burgers. Once we were (finally) seated, the service was extremely attentive. My drink was refilled without being asked. After spending so much time in France, I can't begin to describe how thankful I felt. As much as I loved Europe, I missed the ass-kissing that is the United States service industry.

There were three of us at dinner, and we easily ate a meal for five. We first split the smoked caesar salad, which was infused with some sort of bacon, giving it the "kick" that most caesar salads lack.

Next came my burger -- The Butcher's Cut; a burger cooked medium-rare (always) with caramelized onions, blue cheese, and red wine jam. Caramelized onions are my absolute favorite. Finally, a place other than California Pizza Kitchen has them on the menu. I could have used some more jam to even out the taste, because the burger was a bit salty. Still, I devoured it.

My friends and I had attempted to order the sweetbread nuggets to share, only to find out that the last of them had just been consumed, probably by the people seated directly before us. My group and I decided that we needed to order something just as adventurous (for them at least -- I had already tried most of the foods on the menu). We went with the venison burger with gooseberry relish, brie cheese, toasted pecans, sprout tops, and mushroom jam. This was my favorite part of the meal. The venison was not at all game-y and the combination of cheese, mushrooms, and sweet relish would have turned any vegetarian into a believer.

At this point in the meal, I was just about keeling over. If ever I were to become a hypochondriac, I'm certain that "food coma" would be my most frequent self-diagnosis. And so the food continued with the "Coffee and Donuts" milkshake. The milkshake had chocolate-covered coffee beans, whipped cream, coffee ice cream, and bits of Krispy Kreme donuts inside. Imagine how unreal that sounds... It was better.

Flip Burger is still booming after being open for about a year in the Atlanta area. It's a trendy "burger boutique" -- or so it calls itself -- with hip music and shockingly inexpensive prices. A 5.5 oz burger will run you about eight bucks, creativity included. Their menu is probably the most inventive I've seen with "Flip Burgers" ranging from poboys to tuna tartare. I recommend this restaurant to just about any carnivore, and I look forward to dining here again in the very near future. Until then, I'll be dreaming of burgers...

Dine at Flip Burger:

1587 Howell Mill Road Northwest

Atlanta, GA 30318

(404) 343 - 1609