IN SEARCH OF
With burger joints everywhere, here’s a few worth stopping for
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
The list goes round and round — sometimes the players remain, sometimes they change. But the search for the best burgers in Atlanta is always meaty fun. Here’s my latest list.
Becky Stein/AJC special
FLIP’s southern burger - country fried, pimento cheese, green tomato ketchup - with a side of onion rings.
Holeman & Finch Public House 
2277 Peachtree Road, Suite B, Atlanta. 404-948-1175, www.holeman-finch.com
The burgers at this true-to-form gastro pub became urban legend about five minutes after the popular spot, known for savvy cocktails and a meat-centric menu, began serving them. Two patties, melted cheese, ketchup, mustard pickles — are all slapped between a soft, brioche-like bun (made at H & F Bread Co., up the street). But get there early and put an order in if you want one: the bullhorn goes off at 10 p.m. for burger time, and by 10:06 these patties are gone, baby, gone …
Ann’s Snack Bar, not rated
1615 Memorial Drive, Atlanta, 404-687-9207
Everyone from the Wall Street Journal to actor Robert Duvall raves about Miss Ann’s “ghetto burger.” Two gi-nor-mous burger patties (no one knows the weight, including owner Ann Price, who pats each of them out by hand) are dressed with bacon, chili, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup. It should be dubbed the gut bomb — and man, is it messy and fun going down. Don’t be in a hurry: Miss Ann takes her own sweet time, and if that doesn’t suit you, she’ll be happy to let the screen door hit you on your way out.
Flip Burger Boutique 
1587 Howell Mill Road, 404-352-3547, www.flipburgerboutique.com
Richard Blais’ and Barry Mills’ jazzy joint is more fun than a barrel of burgers, which are beef — house-ground of short ribs, hangar steak and brisket. The mix makes them fattier and juicier than a burger made with leaner meat, but they’re smaller than average, too — so you can try as many of these little round marvels as you can wrap your chops around: a country-fried burger smeared with tangy pimento cheese and topped with house-made pickles dipped in house-made ketchup, but the Japanese Kobe burger crowned with seared foie gras, truffle butter, bread-and-butter pickles, onion-and-red-wine jam and frisee is over-the-top burger finesse. And fun.
