Four burgers, four sides, and dessert ...that's it
There are probably restaurants like Four Burgers opening up all over the country. Who doesn't want a great burger? All it takes is an entrepreneur savvy enough to source food at the best places and, of course, the right real estate.
In this case, the place is in Central Square, in a spot that once housed the Ghandi Restaurant. Four Burgers is bright, clean, and spare. And it's located between two Whole Foods Markets, owner Michael Bissanti points out. "Similar demographics would go to both places," he says.
Bissanti, who is also a co-owner of The Paramount on Beacon Hill, makes his four burgers with ingredients you might find at these natural foods markets. The idea here is that the menu is very limited - it consists of four burgers, four sides, and a couple of ice cream desserts and cookies. Once suppliers are located, there's not a lot to get wrong. Put someone efficient at the counter, get a good runner to deliver orders to tables, and you're set.
Still, the buzz among local citizen reviewers on the Web gave the little spot a hard time soon after opening. These diners seemed to land on the doorstep minutes after the paint was dry and complained about the cost of burgers (beef, veggie, and turkey are $7; salmon $8.50), and about very slow service and dry patties.
Obviously Bissanti is paying attention to these rants because by the time I get there every round is moist (and reasonably priced for this quality), the service quick, and a charming Nepalese counter worker named Tridevi is going from table to table making sure customers are satisfied (she should give lessons!).
Bissanti seems particularly proud of the restaurant's slogan: "Which one are you?" It's written all over, including on the small menu card listing the four patties. If customers decide to answer correctly, I imagine people approaching the counter and announcing, "I'm a turkey." Some gimmick.
The delicious little turkey burger (all patties are on the small side, each 5 ounces except the beef, which is 5 1/2 ) is made with Plainville Farms' hormone-free birds from upstate New York mixed with chopped apples, cooked, and topped with a mildly sweet cranberry chutney. Buns aren't exceptional; stale one night, soft and puffy another, both times buttered, griddled, and salted - though the food sorely lacks salt otherwise.
The beef patty is shaped from Brandt Beef, a family-owned farm in California, and it has lots of good flavor. Like the other selections, this comes with a handful of waffle chips, thin and delicious one night, and then days later, too thick and no longer crisp.
Salmon burger is a knockout, the roll spread with mayo, and the patty topped with a crisp fresh-tasting vinaigrette slaw. A side of fries ($2.50) shaped like shoestrings is just out of the deep-fat bath and wonderfully hot and good. Bissanti tells me that this double order is about to be offered in a single portion too ($1.50). Hand-cut sweet potato fries ($2.50) are very appealing.
A mesclun salad ($3.50) with balsamic vinaigrette comes in a generous portion and every last leaf of these greens - my friend calls them "yuppie chow" - is bright and fresh.
Only the veggie burger falls short. They're vegan, made by Blue Mango in Portland, Maine, and I guess they're an acquired taste - though the guacamole and tomato salsa garnishes are good.
In its tall glass, a real chocolate milkshake ($5.50), made with Richardson's chocolate ice cream, whole milk, and sugar syrup, is thick, cold, intense, and seems like too much for one person. Minutes later, my husband is surprised to hear the unmistakable slurping the straw makes on the bottom of the glass when it's trying to draw up the last bits of liquid. And the giant homemade chocolate chipper ($1.50), with dark chocolate, isn't bad either.
Citizen reviewers: See what you think.
