FLIP Burger Boutique, a Critique

This is an almost exact post that I posted on yelp.com but you never know where your post will end up on that thing, so I thought I would post it on my blog. I will add more, since you've taken the time to read this.

I had pretty high expectations for Flip, especially after reading all the reviews posted! So many 5 stars! After a conversation with a few friends raving about the place (they said to absolutely try the Nutella milkshake), I lured another one of my friends to go with me, skipping out on a closer Vortex.

The menu was posted online, which was convenient, and from the looks of it, divine. We showed up early at about 11:30 on a Monday and it was not busy at all. The location was not hard to find, although for a second, I was confused on whether or not, I was in carrepairs-ville. Beware, parking is limited.

THE FOOD: I ordered a chorizo burger, and my friend ordered the sirloin. I also ordered the fried pickles and the fries. I won't quote the whole menu, but the choices seem awesome. NOTE: the special is not ANY burger, fries, and a shake for 12, it's the FLIP burger - which, why would you drive all the way to Howell Mill for a run of the mill burger at a specialty gourmet burger store, I just wouldn't understand. Here's how they looked. Drool at your own will.

Warning: Images appear better than they taste. Obvi, you can tell these are food art, but please remember art does not dictate taste.


PRO: I loved the smokey mayo with the fries.
The sauce that went with the chorizo seemed to have a bit of sriracha, which is always a winner.
The portions were JUST right, not too big, not too small. (They were on the small side and STILL, I couldn't finish.) The milkshake was yummy.

In this photo, this milkshake was split in half and looks incredible. I credit this entirely to my food photography and not to its actual taste. Pictured, it looks like a 10, in reality, it was a 5.5. I've had better, waaaaaaaaay better.

CON: The milkshake was yums but it did not taste AT ALL like Nutella. I'm sorry, I eat Nutella with my bananas very often and I know what Nutella tastes like. Where was the hazelnut flavoring? There was no remote essence of Nutella in this milkshake, it wasn't even busy. This was a chocolate milkshake that cost 7 bux. Good but not great enough for the 7 i spent, especially because it did not deliver on the goods.
There was too much heavy spicing on the bread and butter pickles and the ranch was runny - and watered down tasting. I place a lot of judgment on a place based on its ranch, and this ranch was not something to call home about, or come back to.
The chorizo burger was too heavy, as in, it was oily, yet I wasn't sure if it was cooked all the way through, there were cheese SHAVINGs on my burger that amounted to nothing but extra calories and my poached egg was so runny, that it might have ruined my burger all together. Half an hour after lunch, I felt a bit sick to my stomach - not pleasant.
My fries were a little cold, but delicious. Unfortunately, they were not the best fries that I've had
My friend's sirloin burger was not good all the way through for a medium burger, but overall - MEH.

What I ate. I mean, it was a great presentation.

SERVICE: friendly, and amazingly all the waitstaff that I could see was incredibly good looking - I don't know if this helps anyone, but just putting it out there! There was hipster music playing in the background and most of the staff looked like they were out of the the Urban Outfitters, American Apparel crowd. CON: I did seem them drinking like Chick-fil-a cups before it got busy. I guess this shit it too rich for them, bitch.

Overall: For a $20 burger experience, I did not flip out for Flip. Good while I had it, but will not be returning.

PS. For people that don't live in ATL, this is Richard Blais's burger joint, he was on Top Chef.