Since the last time we made a top 5 burger list three years ago, Nashville has greatly elevated the humble hamburger.
Now, there’s ground filet, grass-fed beef, all organic, locally-sourced ingredients and every other hipster buzzword you can find as part of the ground meat mix.
Sorry, Nashville stalwarts Rotiers, Gabby’s and Brown’s Diner, your yummy, reasonably-priced burgers have been bumped this year.
You might find the new places pretentious and overpriced, but they do make wickedly delicious burgers.
Here’s the latest, from myself and an enthusiastic team of volunteer (all amateur) taste testers.
5. BOBBY BURGER, TAVERN AT BOBBY
Several boutique hotels are popping up downtown, and they all have modern restaurants that definitely do not look anything like burger joints of yesteryear.
If you’d rather have a burger underneath a crystal chandelier, this is your place.
A green tomato/chili jam sets this apart from other fancy cheeseburgers in Nashville. And the fresh ground beef and toasted brioche bun are really solid.
My buddy Joe added a little salt to the burger to set off the sweetness of the jam.
I thought it was perfect as is, and, well, I ate it so fast, I probably didn’t have time to consider the savory/sweet balance of the burger.