Friday Fodder for Foodies: Burger Kings

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Here’s a local hometown place that has some damn fine hamburgers, and I’ll shamelessly plug them here:

A 2018 World Burger Champion, the city of McDonough is fortunate to have at least one good place with real good food, though I’ll say we have a lot of other hidden gems around here, too. From a family owned place called Bojanes that focuses on great fresh food from vegan to carnivores but with a unique New York deli feel, to a great local Cuban restaurant called Papi’s, we do have our shining stars. But Kirby G’s is something else.

Yes, they have some great burgers. They have great everything, and it’s set in a 1950’s-esque diner with an ice cream bar and it has a nice aura to it. Kind of feels a little like being John Travolta and Uma Thurman walking in to Jackrabbit Slim’s in Pulp Fiction, just without the wait staff being dressed as actors and musicians from the era.

It’s nice to have places like this, and it seems like there’s always a great signature burger in a place like this. With ice cream and shakes. “You want that Martin and Lewis, or Amos and Andy?”. Oh, I’m having multiple flashbacks to the 90s (can I take the Waybac there, please. Pretty please. With sugar on top. Now clean the f*cking car). Okay, so I’m having Pulp Fiction flashbacks. Sue me. It’s on cable right now and it’s glorious. If you know, you know.

Hey don’t be a square. It’s been 32 years since this came out. You’re getting old, Daddy-O. To put that into perspective, when I watched Rio Bravo at 16, it was 31 years old.

It also makes me flash back in time to another place.

The Grill. Not known for sanitation, great service, quick service, or really even great food. But they served beer late into the evening and you wouldn’t know if any of the other stuff sucked, at least you got to sit down for a while and eat some good hangover-proof food.

Man, I’m just simply being nostalgic here, scamps. But to be honest, some of the best childhood to adult memories revolve around a good grill, some burgers and dogs, and some ice cold beers or great ice cream treats. Summer is approaching, I can feel it. Or I could Wednesday, and now it’s winter again. Come on, spring and summer.

Anyway, if you’re ever on the Southside, give Kirby G’s a visit, you won’t be disappointed. I never am, because they have top flight burgers when I’m of an age where I’d assume just make it myself, and I’ll actually pay money for it. And, it takes me to a happier time and place.

So, how’s about you? You have a favorite burger joint, or a memory associated with a good burger?

Discuss, scamps.

25 thoughts on “Friday Fodder for Foodies: Burger Kings”

  1. Crystal Beer Parlor in Savannah. The 1930s feel was real, because it started back then. Some of the old waiters seemed like they started with it. Good memories.

    • I’ve eaten at the Crystal Beer Parlor many times. Not to mention Johnny Harris’ on Victory Drive. Hated to see that place go. Both my parents were Savannah natives. When I was small sometimes we ate in the kitchen at Harris’. My Dad seemed to know everyone by their first name. When they were young Harris’ was a dinner club with a band and dance floor. Good memories.

  2. Henderson drive-in, Thomasville, Ga. When my brother and I scraped enough money together we would go to Henderson’s and order the superburger, with a sliced onion. You had to tell them if you wanted the sliced onion. It was a big slice of a white onion that just topped it off. I’m drooling now.

  3. Fincher’s Barbecue in Macon has a really good burger. It’ll come with a brush of sauce on the bun, mustard and onion. Simple and very good.

  4. Branch House Tavern, Flowery Branch Georgia. You can get burgers with pimento cheese, fried egg, pulled pork, Bleu Cheese, slaw, probably peanut butter or any number of toppings people add to fuck up good burgers.
    Keeping it simple with the BHT, I skip the lettuce and tomato and stick with onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard cooked medium rare. No sides, just a big ass burger and a cold, cold beer. Or two.

  6. For some reason, I don’t eat a lot of burgers anymore. In college, the cheeseburgers and beer at Allen’s were hard to beat. For a fast-food burger, a Whopper with no tomatoes (I’m still convinced they’re poisonous) is my favorite ever since I worked there in high school. Currently, wife and I eat at a place called “Hop Doddy”. It might be a chain. They are pretty good.

    I did eat a pretty decent buffalo blue cheese bacon burger at the Wagon Wheel diner in Needles, CA along Route 66 last week.

    • In the pre-smartphone days, a buddy of mine and I landed late in the evening in Phoenix with no connecting flights that night to Vegas, so we rented a car and rolled the dice. Without a map. After a couple of hours driving through the darkest night I’ve ever experienced, we ended up in Blythe and called it a night. Drove up the next morning through the most beautiful country I’ve ever laid eyes on and through Needles. Gorgeous in the early morning.

    • Hop Doddys is now a chain in Tejas with a fantastic lamb burger. The boys who created Rudy’s BBQ also created Mighty Fine burgers which are terrific. I’ve got a Rudy’s here in COS and pray they bring MF. Whataburger has made it here to complete with In&Out which is sooooo mediocre I can’t understand the hype for the Cali chain.

  7. Troys in Montezuma. A real hellhole in a dying town, but good burgers (I don’t think its open at night). Little square burgers made to order as you walk up to counter.

  8. For those in the northeast Atlanta ‘burbs, any of the Village Burger locations are darn good. They also do a pretty darn good Chicago dog. They serve good beer if you want one to go with the burger. Get the village sauce to go along with the fries.

  9. I need to make a road-trip down to McDonough, one for Kirby G’s, two because I’m overdue visiting some friends down that direction.

    As for burger-adjacent memories, in the mid-late 90s, Krystal did a full-size chicken sandwich that was UNBEATABLE. Crispy chicken breast, couple of pickles, mayo. That was it.

    As for burger joint memories, I do have to go to Allen’s. I co-owned Normal Brew Shop on Prince many, MANY moons ago. I would trot across the street to Allen’s on occasion for several cheeseburgers, and a couple of servings of their potato salad. My whole-ass kingdom for that potato salad recipe, btw…

  10. Brooks Sandwich Shop in Charlotte. No frills type joint where you walk in the building to order, then go outside to wait for them to fix it, and then eat outside at the stand up tables under the pavillion. Best burger I’ve ever had.

  11. Ann’s snack bar near the Atlanta Zoo. Won creative loading’s best burger multiple times. The Ghetto burger was a monster.

  12. Weird .. .world’s colliding. I was just having this discussion last Friday with Chef Andre from the Little Lunch Market in Alpharetta.

    He just re-opened in a new location after taking a hiatus due to COVID. The owner of NFA in Dunwoody (in a Chevron on Chamblee Dunwoody) has opened a second location in Avalon. I guess he was in testing the competition. NFA just won the 2026 Burger Bash at the Miami Food and Wine Festival earlier this year.

    https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/restaurants/article314608047.html

    I have had NFA and it is a very good burger – still surprised me that it won.

    However, Andre made me a Philly Cheese smashburger that he is adding to the menu soon. This was a great burger. Juicy, with carmelized onion embedded in the beef – excellent cheese. Nice bun that is soft but doesn’t get soggy. It was well worth it.

    That being said my all-time favorite burger was the foie gras burger made by Farm 255 (RIP) in Athens off Washington St. (the predecessor to Farmburger). The perfect bit of beefy, juicy, mouthwatering umami bomb.

    I have eaten at the Grill in a long time but I remember them having a decent burger. When I dropped off my freshman son for school this fall, we ate a
    Clocked next to the 40 Watt – that was a good burger too. The little diner burger at The Globe was good as well.

  17. There was a place in Arlington or maybe Alexandria VA called Ray’s Hell Burger. The burgers there were phenominal. Pretty shore it’s closed now. The best I have had in has been H&F also NFA Burger in Dunwoody is really good.

  18. Southside BBQ in Waycross…it’s been gone lo all these many, many years.
    The old Dogs and Suds 5 points in Albany. Still there? I very much doubt it.

  20. Carter’s Fried Chicken (We called Carter Burgers) in Cordele. They had some of the best, greasiest hamburgers around. Haven’t been there in a long time so don’t know if they’re as good as they used to be.

  21. Ralph Fiennes made the perfect cheeseburger in the movie The Menu…I won’t spoil what happens next.

  22. Ate at the Grill two weeks ago with my daughter, it was clean (er) food was great, milkshake was giant and service was good! must be new management!!

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