BurgerFi (Lawrenceville, GA)

 968 Duluth Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30043

 

BurgerFi is one of the many newish upscale burger chains that has hit the US market in the last decade. Founded in Florida in 2011, it already has more than 100 locations in the US (and a few abroad too). It offers high-end burgers, chicken, hot dogs, and shakes (as well as salads). It not just offers various meat options (Angus beef and Wagyu + Brisket combination) but also vegetarian and beyond meat (and even a "Conflicted Burger" with one beef and one vegetarian patty).

 

I'm a bit overwhelmed by the choice and settle on The CEO ($9.97) and add a "Cry + Fries" ($5.97) and Spicy Mayo ($0.57). The CEO is two patties of Wagyu + brisket blend burger, homemade candied bacon-tomato jam, and truffle aioli (I exclude the aged Swiss cheese), which, like all sandwiches, comes on a branded bun. The burger is so moist and tender, and the meat is delicious, but I am not a big fan of the jam or aioli. Still enjoy it. The Cry and Fries is a mix of three huge onion rings and a big heap of medium-thick fries. The onion rings are among the best I ever had, thick fresh onion in thin coating. They go great with the Spicy Mayo, which tastes like a spicy Andalouse sauce. The fries are excellent. It is best to share between people, if you can work out who will get the second onion ring, as I leave almost half of the fries (even though it takes me 5 minutes to finally really stop eating, so delicious).

 

VERDICT: 97/100

Irrespective of my poor choice of burger, this is one of the best burger chains I have ever been to. In fact, I might go back soon to sample the SWAG (Spicy Wagyu) Burger, which is available for a limited time only.

UPDATE:

Just four days later I went back with my wife, for my birthday, and had the SWAG. It was indeed the better choice. While not as spicy as advertised, it had a nice heat to it. And, for the rest, it had the same delicious taste and texture of the bun and patties of The CEO. 

 

I also had a Banana-Churro Shake (bite me, it was my birthday!), which was just decadent. A creamy banana shake with pieces of banana and caramel in it, with two short, freshly fried pieces of churros in it. This is now officially my new favorite burger chain!

Filet Steak & Seafood (Greensboro, GA)

 1000 Parkside Main Suite 101, Greensboro, GA

 

Filet Steak & Seafood is a relatively new "new American" restaurant in a shopping center outside of Greensboro, catering to the mostly older, rich, white crowd of Lake Oconee. They have a fairly standard American/Southern food menu, specializing, obviously, in steak and seafood.

 

I arrive for late lunch and get the Georgia Peach All-Angus Beef Brisket Hot Dog ($12), which is a deep fried dog that comes with spicy peach chutney, bacon and red onions. The end result is a basic hot dog with some stuff on it (i see no bacon and taste no spice). I get the House-Made Onion Rings as a side (+$4), which are thin onions that are thinly coated and deep fried. Like the onion rings themselves, the "Filet Special Dipping Sauce" tastes like most other onion ring dips.

 

VERDICT: 70/100

I'm sure I chose wrong, but the only thing that was impressive about Filet Steak & Seafood was the 550% profit margin on their hot dog. Criminal!

Maté Factor Café (Savannah, GA)

 401 E. Hall St, Savannah, GA 31401

Maté Factor Café is a high-end café that serves various coffees and teas as well as breads, pastries, and sandwiches. It has two locations, one in Manitou Springs (CO) and one in Savannah (GA), which I visit.

 

I get several breads, one with sunflower pits and one whole wheat, which are both of European quality. I also get a blueberry scone with toasted almond, which is simply divine, and a humongous honey bun, which is so delicious it metls in your mouth. 

 

VERDICT: 92/100

What a wonderful place! Do try the delicious pastries!

Sandy Bottom Bagels (St. Simons Island, GA)

 242 Retreat Village, St Simons Island, GA 31522

 

Sandy Bottom Bagels is the only bagels place in/on St. Simons Island, which promises "authentic New York bagels" (as most bagel places do). They serve the usual selection of bagels and spreads, though very few homemade spreads. 

 

I get two breakfast bagels, 1 everything bagel with egg and bacon ($6.25) and 1 sesame with egg ($4.25). I also get several bagels to go ($1.65 each). The bagels are dense, and have a decently thick coating, but they already taste quite old when they are fresh. The eggs are fine but the bacon is chewy.

 

VERDICT: 78/100

Mediocre bagel place, with underwhelming breakfast bagels, but will do (far) outside of NYC.

Porch (St. Simon's Island, GA)

 549 Ocean Boulevard, SSI, GA 31522

Porch is a fried chicken place in downtown St. Simon's Island with a big outside space that is great for kids. They serve chicken and catfish, grilled or fried, in four levels of heat. They also have salads, shrimp, and sides.

We get the Jumbo Chicken Tenders Plate ($11), Nashville style, and a Catfish Plate ($14), both come with two sides (grilled Brussels sprouts are $2 extra). We also get two spinach salads with grilled chicken and grilled shrimp. The chicken tenders are big but not very juicy and not really spicy. The catfish comes in thin strips, are lightly coated and tasty. The fries are also lightly coated, like the Burger King fries, but big thicker (not a fan). The salads and Brussels’ sprouts were very tasty, according to those concerned.

VERDICT: 80/100 

Great place to go with kids but fried chicken was a bit underwhelming.

Company Supply (Dublin, GA)

107 W Jackson St, Dublin, GA 31021

Company Supply is a new-ish, semi-fancy restaurant in downtown Dublin, which bills itself both as "cajun and creole inspired" and as "rotisserie bistro". It serves a broad variety of bar food and more. Among others, their burgers are famous. 

 

 

 

I am starving when I arrive and start with Onion Rings ($5.99), which come with “Zydeco Sauce”. Although they say they are “lightly dusted”, the coating is actually quite thick but very crispy. The sauce is thick and zesty. Delicious!

As my main mean I get the Fifty50 ($10.99), a half bacon, half beef burger with fried onion, lettuce, tomato, Chipotle aioli on a brioche bun with strawberry preserve. The burger is thick and a bit dry - it was well-done rather than medium-well done, as asked. It has good taste but the sauce is a bit too weak for the burger (the preserve doesn’t really go with it). The fries are thick, light, but a bit too soggy.

VERDICT: 85/100

Very good place for a small town and onion rings stand out.

Tabouleh Café (Jacksonville, FL)

 7645 Merrill Road, Jacksonville, FL 

 

Tabouleh Café is a small hole in the wall in a strip mall on one of the long roads through JAX. They do mostly take-out but there are also people eating inside. They have a rich menu, with most of the usual suspects of a Lebanese restaurant. They don’t have many combination plates or add-ons so I end up with far too much food.

The Humus Dip ($6.49) is plentiful and comes with pita. Both are authentic. The Fattoosh Salad ($7.99) is fresh but overseasoned with dressing. The falafel ($5.99) are big and excellent: fresh, crispy outside but not dry inside.

VERDICT: 86/100

Very good Lebanese food in very basic setting. Punching well above its weight.

LR Burger (Monroe, GA)

 202 East Spring Street, Monroe, GA 30655

 

 

LR Burger is a fresh and modern burger place that opened up some two years ago and has weathered the pandemic well. It has a good range of burgers (including "build your own"), sandwiches, sides, and shakes on the menu and also serves alcoholic drinks. One of the most intriguing burgers is the Patrick Swayze, which they warn is "very spicy" (because of the ghost pepper salsa).

I play it safe and get The Sink ($9.99), a side of fries ($2.99), and add fry sauce ($0.50) - which comes with a drink. The burger is two perfectly grilled patties with lettuce, tomato, red onion (standard), jalapenos, an egg, fries (!), an abundance of fry sauce, all on a H&F wheat bun. It is a mess to eat, and the bun falls apart under the wait, but tasty. I am not a big fan of the fry sauce though. The fries are aplenty and tasty, if a bit too fat. I later (after some 20 minutes) go back for a  Chocolate Shake ($4.50), which is near perfect.

VERDICT: 89/100

LR Burger is for real. I cannot wait to go back and build my own burger, as well as sample some other food. My only coplaint is: why are you not in Athens?

Catch 22 (Athens, GA)

 1021 Parkway Blvd #117, Athens, GA, 30606

Catch 22 is a gastro pub in a small strip mall on the outskirts of Athens, GA. I've been here many times before, but have not reviewed it yet. Today, I went back with J, despite the fact that they are and have been very annoying about COVOD-19 measures (for example, the waitresses don't wear facemasks -- we sat outside, but they don't wear them inside either, just to make a political point).

They have a broad menu with usual US gastro pub food -- American fair (burgers) mixed with an eclectic mix of more common non-US food (tacos, fish & chips, etc). We start with their Wings -- 6 for $7 -- which we get with Sweet Chile sauce. They are big and plump, grilled and tossed in thick sauce. Very tasty. We also share Buffalo Cauliflower ($10), which is pan-fried cauliflower in buffalo sauce: simple but very tasty.

 

 J chooses the Porknado Burger ($16), which is a behemoth that comes with bacon jam, cheddar, bacon, pulled pork, dijon mustard, and bacon mayo. I've had it before and it is tasty but overwhelming. Well, subtlety is not their thing, as we can see from my "Homewrecker" ($13), a footlong hot dog, on Hawaiian rolls, with candied jalapenos and bbq sauce (I ask for no pimento cheese). Tasty but heavy and fatty. The fries are plentyful and potato-y (very much the type of fries the better gastro pubs in the US serve, seemingly thinking they are similar to European fries, but you will rarely find in Europe).

VERDICT: 86/100

Catch 22 is a great pig out spot. It serves the classics and does them plentiful and very fatty. Still, I always leave very full but somewhat dissatisfied.

 

Kendall’s Grill (Greenville, SC)

Inside the Greenville Triumph SC stadium

Kendall's Grill has a restaurant in Greenville with a broader menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sweets options, but serves burgers and hot dogs in the Legacy Early College Stadium during Greenville Triumph games. I get a Slaw Dog ($1.50), which is a small wiener with mustard, slaw, and tasty liquidy chili on a fresh bun. Very tasty!

 

85/100

Pretty good quality for stadium food. Would definitely try their brick and mortar.

Myami Bites (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

Myami Bites is located in the same spot (Gather) as HenDough Chicken and Donuts, Gather, a funky collection of bars and little restaurants in downtown Greenville, SC.  offers a fairly limited menu of Cuban snacks and sandwiches. Despite the fact that I order just a sandwich, and there is just one person before me, it takes very long (ca. 15 minutes) before I finally get my food.

I get the Cuban ($11.99), which is a very thin sandwich with roasted pork, ham, pickles and mustard (I asked for no cheese), pressed to make it soft and warm inside. While it is very tender, and the pork has good taste, it is not remarkable and, obviously, overpriced.

82/100

While the quality of the Cuban sandwich is definitely good for a place outside of Miami, it is also seriously overpriced. 

 

HenDough Chicken & Donuts (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

 

HenDough is one of almost ten small food and drink places in Gather, a new hip venue in downtown Greenville -- their original, brick and mortar, location is in Hendersonville, NC. It serves, you guessed it, (fried) chickens and donuts. They have tenders, wings, and sandwiches. 

 

I get the Maple Bacon Chicken Sandwich, which comes with lettuce, caramelized onions, bacon, and maple drizzle. The chicken is thinly coated and very juicy. The bacon is a bit chewy but tasty. The combination is good but there is a bit too little maple sauce. Both donuts are quite thick and doughy. The various toppings of the Blueberry Caramel Coconut Donut ($2.25) are too weak for the thick dough and falls the Glazed Donut ($1.75) is overall underwhelming.

 

 

83/100

I like the setting and the chicken itself is very good, but the donuts are not special.