Lane Cardwell

Bigger Burgers Beat Punier Patties

I have been sucked into a burger vortex. It wasn't intentional, but I am going with the flow. I was in Austin, TX yesterday and went to eat at Mighty Fine Burgers. They have been around since December 2007, but it was my first visit. I had heard nothing but rave reviews and was looking forward to seeing what they thought that they could add to the thousands of other independent restaurants competing in the burger wars.

There is a line of demarcation in developing a burger concept. One side of the line believes that the burger should have a small patty, and a bigger burger would have multiple patties. The other side believes that there should be one patty on a burger, and just adjust the size of the patty if you want it bigger or smaller. Might Fine believes in the "bigger burger is a better burger" philosophy, and they made a believer out of me.
                

In-N-Out Burger uses a 2 oz. patty, which in a Double-Double would give you a quarter pound of meat. Five Guys uses a 3.3 oz. patty, which in their normal double patty offering would still leave you a burger that is under 1/2 pound. Fuddruckers and other casual dining concepts use a bigger patty.  Like I said, two different philosophies on making a burger.

Mighty Fine has a small menu. 1/2 pound burger or cheeseburger, 1/4 pound burger or cheeseburger, hot dog, fries, milk shakes and fountain drinks. That's it. However, these guys have taken burgers and fries to a new level. Mighty Fine Burgers is the bigger patty version of In-N-Out Burger, which if you look back one blog I was drooling over.

Mighty Fine was developed by the Austin franchisees of Rudy's Country Store and BBQ, a concept that Phil Romano developed. Many elements of Mighty Fine reminded me of the early Fuddruckers, a concept that Phil Romano developed. When Fuddrucker's first opened they ground their beef fresh in the store. Not only that, they had a butcher in a glassed in cooler that did all of the butchering and grinding, in view of the customers. Fuddrucker's also baked their own buns on site.

Mighty Fine has borrowed, and improved on, ideas from some of the best burger concepts in the country: 

·         The burgers are made from 100% all-natural chuck that is ground and hand-formed in the store every day.

·         The patties are hand-formed in front of customers in a glassed in cooler.

·         They serve the only fresh-cut potato, crinkle-cut fry in the country. The machine costs $38,000 and they cut the fries once an hour in front of customers.

·         They cook the fries in 100% trans-fat free peanut oil, which is supposed to be allergen-free.

·         Their milkshakes are made from hand-dipped Blue Bell ice cream, and they hand-squeeze their lemonade.

Their approach to the burger patties is early Fuddruckers. The current Fuddruckers uses fresh beef, but no longer grinds the meat in-house. Their approach to fries is what Five Guys does (fresh cut, peanut oil), except they have one-upped them with the crinkle-cut machine.

The inside of the restaurant is pure Rudy's BBQ. Order at the counter after queuing through a metal pipe gauntlet, raw product and inventory (potatoes, peanut oil, etc.) are stacked everywhere to provide dividers to the room, and as working dry storage. Place your order and wait for your name to be called. All food is served in the white to-go bag that the order was written on. The tables are the long community tables that customers at Rudy's both love and hate. There is a hand-washing station out in the restaurant for customers (state of the art).

I had lunch in a Fuddruckers today, that continuing spiral into burgerdom, to refresh my memory on the Fuddrucker's experience. Fuddrucker's still owns the title to the "Best Buns in the Business". Baked fresh in the restaurant daily, they are soft and buttery. However, the menu at Fuddruckers reminds me of the track star from high school that you haven't seen for 20 years. Same personality, but 100 pounds overweight.

What is left for someone to take burgers to one higher level? Copy the food execution at Mighty Fine, and add a bakery for fresh baked buns, a la Fuddruckers. There just isn't a lot of room left to take it much higher. Mighty Fine was mighty fine, but I am not going to eat another burger till at least the weekend.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on March 18, 2009 | Comments (8)