BurgerFi is a relatively new chain of premium burger restaurants in the southern and northeastern U.S. The chain launched in Delray Beach, FL and is rapidly spreading across the country with stores marked as “coming soon” as far west as Arizona and California. We’ll be adding BurgerFi to the official roster of restaurants we track on Fast Food Source in the coming weeks, but first let’s talk about the food.
BurgerFi’s claim to fame is all natural burgers. The name comes from their slogan “Burgerfication of the Nation®” but, deep down, I suspect they went to GoDaddy and searched for a domain name starting with the word “burger” that was available. BurgerFi is a strange name for a restaurant.
The burger, however, is very good. Constructed from the top-down with condiments riding above the meat and cheese, you truly taste the salty, cheesy double patties of the default Burgerfi Cheeseburger in your first bite. Lettuce, tomato and BurgerFi sauce (a standard 1000 Island spread) mate well. The meat-on-the-bottom construction with no spread on the heel bumps the meat:condiment ratio to about 1.25:1 in my estimation. Great if you have a craving for meat first in a burger but don’t want an overwhelming gi-hug-o monster burger. This one is just right. And that unique branding of the crown adds a really classy literal signature to their sandwich. Nice.
The BurgerFi side items are generously-sliced fries and mega-sized onion rings. The fries were crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside and reminded me of Five Guys. The onion rings are big but thin, meaning a lot of batter to every bite. BurgerFi offers a not-so-secret menu (it’s in their printed menu so how secret can it be?) that includes variations on the burger and fries akin to the In-N-Out secret menu.
Overall, I found my visit to BurgerFi (I went to the Lake Mary FL store) pleasant and enjoyable. I think there’s room for more gourmet premium burger chains and BurgerFi is a welcome addition. It will be interesting to watch them grow and see how far they can get in size and scope in the coming years.