Some might think there has been a recent glut of burger joints to descend upon Atlanta. While TFL certainly agrees, getting a quality burger and excellent fries is not so easy. For some reason beyond us, we have Five Guys being the fastest growing franchise of 2009. We now have Doty's Yeah Burger looming, celebrity fave Flip, and Sweet Auburn's anamoly Grindhouse. We have yet to sample Doty's burger, hyped out over Flip, and a huge fan of Grindhouse - but still believing Houston's to be the best burger in Atlanta. 

Into the burger madness enters Farm Burger, sister enterprise from Athen's Farm 255. Localist and sustainalist (is there such a word?), Farm 255's proprietors, much like are own Bacchanalia, take the farm to table organization seriously. Owning and operating a couple of local farms, Farm's owners provide the majority of beef, pork, and produce to their growing restaurant group. 

At TFL, we like to eat the best available. When we shop, we buy what looks best, not what we saw on TV yesterday. Burgers are no different. Locally sourced makes a huge difference in the burger wars. Once you have had freshly ground beef, cooked immediately, other burgers begin to resemble hockey pucks or worse. Farm Burger recognizes this as well; their house temp appears to be a nice warm medium rare (pic). Most other burger joints smash and flatten leaving no temp opportunity other than well done. This is what truly makes Farm Burger's product superior to most, and comparable to our benchmark - Houston's.

And then there are the fries. For us, the fries are the lynchpin of the Burger restaurant. We don't really care how they are prepared, we simply want, in order of importance, Hot, Crispy, Seasoned, Creamy Centers, and served to maintain all of the above. We have yet to discover fries that compare to McDonalds except at the rare occasion when all the necessary steps are taken to deliver the exceptional french fry. Unfortunately, Farm Burger is no different. Offering fries, sweet potato, and onion rings - Farm Burger appears to not cook to order, and the end result is apparent. Soggy, luke warm, and sparingly seasoned - we hardly saw any parmesan cheese on our order, FB's fries need some work.

At the end of the day, the burger at Farm Burger is one of Atlanta's best. The sides may need some work, but serving tall boy Miller's (the Champagne of beers) and Abita Root Beer, Farm Burger is here to stay and clearly an industry leader.

TFL Overall Rating:  4.1 out of 5 Stars.