This may be a few days after the fact but it’s still worth talking about!
Last post I mentioned that Jeff and I were going out with the family for a quick dinner. His family lives in and around Chattanooga, TN so we don’t get to see them as often as we’d like. His parents were in town this past weekend and asked us if we’d like to catch them for dinner before they made the 2 hour drive back home. Of course we did!
We took them to a place near our apartment called Farm Burger. It’s a farm-to-table type burger joint that uses only 100% grass-fed beef and vegetables from local sources. They offer a veggie burger too that you can customize and lots of other delicious things.
I had a veggie burger for lunch that day, and wasn’t all that hungry anyway, so I just got this salad. It was very fresh tasting but the dressing was a little bland.
I got a side of onion rings that ended up being much bigger than I thought. I only ate a few, but they were fantastic, especially with the smoked paprika mayo.
Jeff got a burger with caramelized onions and special sauce. This was too much sauce for him, but he still thought it was good.
The parents had similar burgers. All in all everyone liked their food and we had a great time getting to see them.
I appreciate what Farm Burger is trying to do, provide good food from local sources and burgers made from humanely-raised and healthy cows. I only wish that the food they serve, that has come from such noble origins, could make it to the plate with the same level of nobility. When I hear words like “farm-to-table,” “sustainable,” or “locally-sourced,” that communicates “freshness” to me. A giant glop of sauce and a heavily buttered bun doesn’t equal “freshness” to me though, and it just serves to completely hide all that wonderful grass-fed beef they’re trying to feature.
I really do like Farm Burger. The food is very tasty and there are a lot of very unique options to choose from there. I only feel that it is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. I think the more they steer away from trying to be a typical “burger joint” that just happens to be sustainable to a purveyor of fresh local foods that just happens to serve burgers, the better. At this moment though, I feel like they are attempting the later and succeeding in the former.
Oh well, still delicious.
