Nashville Scene's Burger Week — Quick(ish) Notes 1: Park Cafe

   Our local alt.weekly, the Nashville Scene, just ran a promotion for Nashville Burger Week. Some 15-20 restaurants put up the goods and invited eaters to vote for the champ, who will be selected to go on to represent Nashville at the World Food Championships (who knew this was a thing?) in Miami.

No word yet on the vote. 

   I've already given the rundown on a number of the participating restaurant burgers but there are several new places that I had/have yet to try, or old places I still hadn't gotten around to ... Anyway, by the end of the week, I managed to add three new burgers to my repertoire, at least one of which I'll return for more. And again.

  First down was the burger at Park Cafe, on the commercial strip where Murphy Road turns and becomes 46th. Never having been there before, my immediate impression (and nothing changed it) was that it was one of the surprisingly bubba-centric watering holes due to its proximity to McCabe Golf Course.
   Park Cafe's burger offered TN Hereford beef, onion-bacon jam,  cheddar cheese, Duseldorf mustard & the usual accompaniments. I tossed the pickles. The result was a somewhat unevenly cooked (all burgers are ordered medium rare), but otherwise solid burger with a unique, sharp bite to its flavor.
   Attractiveness: 8 ... it's nice but not at the level that screams, "EAT ME!"
   Flavor: 7
   Juiciness: 5 ... I wouldn't say it was dry, but there were maybe two drops on the plate. Maybe.
   Atmosphere: 7 ... It's a nice restaurant way more than it's a burger joint. If we were rating wine bars, it'd score a 10 for casual chic.
   Digestivity:  9 .... some of the condiment flavors lingered for an hour or more but over all it went down soundly with no repercussions.

Overall: 6 ... solid, but would be better from a chef who believes a burger can be a gourmet statement on its own.