The fried egg is a crowd-pleasing addition to your average hamburger, sure. However, to local restaurants serving up much more inventive patties around the region, this oft-used topping could be considered child’s play.
Piled high with unconventional ingredient combos, burgers that incorporate everything from a blended patty of short rib and brisket to the ramen noodle bun aren’t unfamiliar territory for the Tampa Bay food scene. Independent eateries have been churning them out for quite some time now, committed to taking gut-busting to a level that those fast-casual franchises and their “gourmet” burgers wouldn’t dare attempt.
In honor of Tampa Bay Burger Week, which kicks off Thursday, Oct. 18, CL asked a trio of restaurateurs known for their spins on the American staple to weigh in with their thoughts on why over-the-top burgers have made their mark on menus all over town.
A trendsetter of the epic burger in Tampa is Datz, which started as a deli in early 2009. After many customer requests for burgers, husband-and-wife owners Roger and Suzanne Perry decided to introduce a 10-ounce cheeseburger.
“McDonald’s raves about their Quarter Pounder. We wanted to be different and unique,” Roger said. “Since then we’ve been experimenting with just about anything we can get our hands on.”
Enter the Cheesy Todd, the best-selling patty at Datz that swaps regular buns for two fried rounds of bacon-jalapeño mac and cheese. Wanting to stay ahead of the curve, the restaurant quickly rolled out a fat burger on a pair of glazed doughnuts aptly called the Double D.
Boulevard Burgers & Tap House proprietor Charles Marco credits the guy behind Engine No. 9, Jason Esposito, with igniting St. Petersburg’s appetite for burgers with intense flavor mashups six years ago. Look no further than the Bokor, which Esposito piles high with sliced brisket, fried cheese curds, jalapeño bacon and jerk glaze. Shortly after the doors of Engine opened, as Marco puts it, surrounding restaurants began to follow suit.
Marco doesn’t exactly view the half-pound patties at his Boulevard Burgers in St. Pete Beach as over-the-top. Instead, he says they push ordinary burger boundaries with creative flavors — and names. The Godfather, for example, dressed with sautéed mushroom, marinara, ricotta and melted provolone, is the restaurant’s Italian-inspired Burger of the Month through October.
“No matter how good something looks, if it doesn’t taste good it doesn’t go very far. Sometimes a name is enough to pique the customer’s interest,” Marco said.
Back in St. Pete, Burg Bar & Grill and Burg Diner owner Bill Georgiou has a couple of eight-ounce burgers for adventurous patrons who stop by either of his restaurants, including an option with gyro meat, house-made tzatziki and a thick slice of grilled feta. But that one’s somewhat tame compared to the monster Double Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger, nestled between two grilled cheese sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and onion.
What keeps the popularity of unorthodox burgers growing? Roger Perry points to social media and the phenomenon Datz has dubbed “stunt food.”
“People want to take pictures of what they’re eating and send it to their friends. It’s a wow factor that they can show off,” Roger said, adding, “Why do we get deep-fried anything at the fair? Indulgence.”
He’s got a third answer, too. These type of burgers are ego-driven, so diners want to finish them and post about their accomplishments — even failures — online.
It all makes sense, yet also begs another question, are old-fashioned patties a thing of the past? One more thing millennials have “ruined?”
“Traditional burgers are as American as apple pie,” Roger said.
Phew. He does believe they’ll undergo a facelift, though, as restaurants increase the quality of their meats, presentation and sauces.
As far as Georgiou is concerned, his patrons are sticking to what they know with timeless burger orders. The Burg’s customizable selection allows them to go bold with playful ingredients they might’ve never used to jazz up burgers at home, but more importantly: Keep it simple.
“Our double grilled cheese burger can sometimes be too much bread for our guests,” Georgiou said. “It’s a fun burger to have on the menu, but I try to encourage our customers to order their own creations.”
Marco laughed when we asked if classic burgers with the standard LTO were going anywhere.
“Not a chance,” he said.
While the Burger of the Month promotion has been a hit since Boulevard Burgers launched in 2015, the top sellers are conventional. That said, if one of the limited-time burgers becomes ridiculously popular, Marco will add it to the regular menu when he does his biannual update.
So there you have it. As exciting as over-the-top burgers are to both our eyes and our taste buds, the good news is that old-fashioned patties — done well — will continue to do their thing. Think of the classic as your significant other. That fantastical version, on the other hand, is the side piece you might use to spice up your newsfeed or Sunday brunch routine.
This article appears in Oct 18-25, 2018.