More Culinary Adventures
I've been to plenty of shady eating establishments in my day, but none of them hold a candle to Ann's Snack Bar, Home of the Famous Ghettoburger, in terms of their, uh..., ghettosity. (Yes, the Ghettoburger really is their claim to fame. (Yes, it really is kind of famous, at least locally.)) This place is quite amazing. It's a little shack, nestled between a liquor store and a Family Dollar. (Starting to see where the name "Ghettoburger" comes from?) As far as I could tell, the owner Ann is, in fact, the only employee. From the little experience I had with her, Ann seemed quite the character. She has an extensive list of rules (picture) which, if broken, will result in a brusque refusal of service. And possibly a spanking. I even read a story that once, when she ran out of cheese in the middle of the day, she yelled at a customer and forced him to run out to buy more! I remember that we had a fairly large party, so we sent in one representative to place our orders, but he was promptly shooed away and told to wait until a stool opened up. She only serves those who are seated in the stools by the bar, of which there are unfortunately only 8. Combined with the fact that she's the only one doing the cooking, and the fact that the typical customer spends quite some time trying to inhale the massive burgers she serves, this results in wait times well over an hour (in our case, two).
Aah, but the burgers themselves are a sight to behold. As mentioned above, the main draw here is the Ghettoburger, but also on the menu are some kind of concoction involving fried hot dogs and a "Hoodburger". Just what is a Ghettoburger? Well, this should give you some idea. It's about a pound of beef, a quarter of an onion, chili, bacon, lettuce and tomato. The result is a burger that generally won't stay together and has to be attacked with the plastic silverware Ann provides. I understand that the Hoodburger is some sort of burger with coleslaw, which doesn't sound very good to me, so I didn't investigate much further.
Opinions on just how good this Ghettoburger is tend to be polar, judging by the reviews. I personally thought it was actually the best burger I've ever had, but wasn't able to finish it. As some of the reviews mention, the trick seems to be very loosely packed meat, which somehow keeps more of the juice in the burger and generally makes it more flavorful, though it does make it harder to treat as a finger food. I must also say that the entire dining experience did have a decidedly "ghetto" feel to it, as you might guess. But, you certainly can't complain about the value -- the Ghettoburger combo (with lemonade and a large plate of fries) only sets you back $8.50, which is pretty reasonable considering the size of the thing. Indeed, I was full until well past dinner time after eating about 2/3 of the burger for lunch. Although there are certainly more well-known places to eat in Atlanta, I think I would put Ann's on my list of places to check out if you come here. If nothing else, it will be unlike any other restaurant you've visited before. Hurry though, because rumor has it that old Ann is retiring at the end of the year!
Aah, but the burgers themselves are a sight to behold. As mentioned above, the main draw here is the Ghettoburger, but also on the menu are some kind of concoction involving fried hot dogs and a "Hoodburger". Just what is a Ghettoburger? Well, this should give you some idea. It's about a pound of beef, a quarter of an onion, chili, bacon, lettuce and tomato. The result is a burger that generally won't stay together and has to be attacked with the plastic silverware Ann provides. I understand that the Hoodburger is some sort of burger with coleslaw, which doesn't sound very good to me, so I didn't investigate much further.
Opinions on just how good this Ghettoburger is tend to be polar, judging by the reviews. I personally thought it was actually the best burger I've ever had, but wasn't able to finish it. As some of the reviews mention, the trick seems to be very loosely packed meat, which somehow keeps more of the juice in the burger and generally makes it more flavorful, though it does make it harder to treat as a finger food. I must also say that the entire dining experience did have a decidedly "ghetto" feel to it, as you might guess. But, you certainly can't complain about the value -- the Ghettoburger combo (with lemonade and a large plate of fries) only sets you back $8.50, which is pretty reasonable considering the size of the thing. Indeed, I was full until well past dinner time after eating about 2/3 of the burger for lunch. Although there are certainly more well-known places to eat in Atlanta, I think I would put Ann's on my list of places to check out if you come here. If nothing else, it will be unlike any other restaurant you've visited before. Hurry though, because rumor has it that old Ann is retiring at the end of the year!