Post-Burger Odyssey: Flip Burger

Celebrity Chef Richard Blais' Flip Burger has only been open for a couple of weeks, and honestly, the vibe defies easy categorization; the menu looks like stereotypical modern-gourmand  gastro-pub fare, but the rest of it's nothing like any burger joint — high end or low — Nashville's ever seen. Partly a modern take on an '80s model of a '50s diner, partly Southern fusion, it's going to take a few more visits to decide what I think about Flip Burger as a restaurant, as a whole. In the meantime, this review is based solely on where the name comes from: the burger.

Atmosphere: 9. I was tempted to go in the middle with a 5, because I suspect it's going to be a love-it-or-hate-it affair with many. I had to go with the high mark, though, because the interior is just so heavily stylized, in a 1980s New Wave kind of way with its geometry and super-bright lights, and a PA cranking out the likes of Joy Division, Viet Cong, War on Drugs, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foxygen & Modest Mouse at levels so loud for a Nashville restaurant, it's like a line being drawn in the sand.

Juiciness: 4. The pic to the right pretty much says it all but readers might be interested to know that it was ordered to be medium rare, and the first version that came to the table had to be sent back because the condiments were incorrect from the order. On eating, it was somewhat dry, and the pink you see only appeared in the middle.


On the other hand ....

Attractiveness: 8. It's just too cute, isn't it? Perfectly melted cheese and lovely charring on the side, and that one perfect little leaf of Bibb lettuce.

Flavor: 8 Something about the Flip Burger burger reminds me of what Dairy Queen's old "Brazier Burger" used to taste like, when it was still good and more burger than meat product. The grilled bun's a plus.

Digestivity: 6. Maybe it was the burger, maybe it was the burger combined with the yummy fried cheese curds (of which I only ate half) and the Nutella milkshake, but I was left tasting it several hours after lunching. A great burger reverberates in your mind, not in your tummy and esophagus.

Overall: 7 Still, I'm going to return and hope for a juicier burger, at least once. Then I'll go back again and check out other things from the menu because Flip Burger has more going on on than its namesake, and because maybe I'm a little nostalgic for '80s riffs on '50s culture.

Burger Republic: Resistance is Futile

All photos © 2014 Mary Brace all rights reserved.

When I moved to Nashville no one would have conceived of Nolensville as any kind of foodie test market. It was completely rural: housing was sparse and you could drive from a strip mall just below Old Hickory Boulevard, on the city's south side, and not see a red anything until you got to the stop sign at Highway 96, 14 miles later.

Twenty years later, I'm sitting in Burger Republic's first satellite franchise restaurant in Nashville's Gulch, and it makes perfect sense that developers who took some of the greatest chances on area real estate for the 'work hard/play harder' crowd would seek eateries putting well-researched, high end comfort food on the local map.

Like Martin's BBQ, aficionados have been telling Nashvillians about Lennox Village's (a high density, mixed use development that sprang up in Nolensville a decade ago) Burger Republic for a few years.  BR didn't make it into Bon Apetit and other gastronomic authority publications, though. With one major change, they could easily join the undisputed Nashville burger kings. It just happens that change would also mean disrupting the marketing of their main product, and possibly their franchise ambitions. I'll come back to that after the breakdown:

Juiciness: 6. As you can see from the photo, not much there there.

Attractiveness: 10. OMG well it's beautiful. The brioche bun gives it a distinct look among Nashville burgers.

Flavor: 6. I made two visits to Burger Republic, because on the first occasion I ordered a burger that had various gourmet elements that I thought might be overshadowing an otherwise boring burger. For the second visit, I stuck to American cheese & lettuce to let the taste of the beef come through. It didn't. Really, it's the condiments — gooey cheddar, thick bacon and special sauce — that brought the action on my previous visit and this score is based on basic burger flavor, of which there isn't very much of, on its own.

Atmosphere: 7. It's a very neutral look inside. Dark booths, white walls, large screen TVs and a wall of taps. Good sized patio.

Digestivity: 10  One hour later, feeling good.

Overall: 7.

First, Burger Republic lovers, before you start thinking I'm cray-cray, know that the overall score is actually higher than the numbers add up to and average. That's because the sides, Truffled Tater Tots and Mac & Cheese, were delicious. I have no doubt the spiked shakes are also wonderful.

So ... about the beef. Burger Republic makes a big deal of its source, in Certified Angus Beef. There's a big sign on the wall outside the door. There's Certified Angus Beef swag, in the oversized steak knives. True hamburger lovers know, though, Angus doesn't matter in the burger world. Most connoisseurs would put it well behind local organic grass-fed anything, local grass-fed anything, and organic anything. In that order. In making that one switch, from a beef chosen for flavor and local freshness, rather than its ability to taste the same in Tennessee as it should in Vancouver, Burger Republic could transition from being a great place for a burger to being a great place for a great burger.

Burger Republic - The Gulch -
420 11th Ave S Nashville, TN 37203
Website