THE Final Four: Atlanta's Best Hamburgers

Warning:  The following may be inappropriate for children under the age of 13 or those that do not watch Mad Men

Mad Men may be the best show on TV.  If it's not, I believe it has some of the best writing and it definitely has the best character development. Only the writing on the Newsroom on HBO compares.  The character development is so deep, I imagine writing for this show would be lots of fun.

I find my favorite characters are the anti-heroes, Stringer Bell, Omar Little, Vic Mackey, Tony Soprano, Walter White, Jack Shepherd, Sonny Crockett, Larry David and of course Don Draper.  All are hard to root for, but we find ourselves hoping they persevere. Even Larry David.  They all often times strive to arrive at the right conclusion, but most of the time fail miserably.  I guess that's what makes them both interesting and layered.

Omar Little, "You come at the King, you best not miss...."

If you know me "The Wire" is my favorite show of all time, but Curb is my favorite comedy of all time with all due respect to "Cheers" which is a close 2nd.

The funniest and most uncomfortable show on TV

Enough of my ramblings, here is The Dry Rub's Final Four:

The Sinatra Division:

Upscale and cool restaurants all serve hamburgers. Here are the two Blue Eye finalists:

http://holeman-finch.com/
http://www.kinganddukeatl.com/

Holeman & Finch beats out the King + Duke. Foodies everywhere can now release their collective breath. Holeman & Finch may be the Don Draper of burgers, but King + Duke is the Bob Benson. Bob (Spoiler Alert!) could easily be the next Don Draper, a man with a false identity, but the plan and cunning to be succesful. Truth be told, I LOVE the K+D burger. For two days, I was going to pick this burger over H&F, but I realized it couldn't happen...........yet. Bill Cowen had the K+D burger last Monday and commented, "it tastes like a steak, you really don't have to add anything to it."

It was so good, I started eating it before I remembered to take a picture!

James Wolk, whom plays Bob Benson does an incredible job.  I've seen him in a few things now and I truly believe he will be a breakout start once he gets the appropriate vehicle.

I admire you now, but watch your back

The Hippie Cow Division:
We are so hypocritical, we want our cows to be vegetarians, but we'll eat the hell out of that cow.http://www.millerunion.com/site/
http://bocadoatlanta.com/

Miller Union's "Daily Grind" takes down Bocado. Miller Union is the Peggy Olson of our group. By far the most talented and hardest working member of Sterling, Draper and Cooper, but is often overlooked. The best will not be overlooked here. Bocado's offering would be the Megan Draper of burgers. Great looking, you want to be there, but in the end just falls a little short. It's a delicious burger and to be honest, I'm not a fan of the double patty, but this is one of Atlanta's finest offerings. Though guest burger critic Alecia Taylor commented on Bocado "They have weak table settings." We had a great birthday lunch here for burger panelist Marybeth Harden last week. I encourage you to try Bocado if you haven't.

Bocado makes a great burger

Come to Bocado, you'll love it

The Clark W. Griswold Division:

Gas up the car and check the tires.  You may have to travel a little bit, but it's worth the trip.

http://www.nnnwcorp.com/highlandtapmain.html

http://www.mussandturners.com/indexmain.html

The Highland Tap Burger takes down Muss and Turners.  Muss and Turners offering is great and one of my favorites, but The Tap's (Brasstown Beef) Steak Burger is an Atlantan classic.  

Added bacon, cheese and mushrooms because I could

The Highland Tap is the Roger Sterling of venues. Classic and it's okay to have a martini here at 1130a.  I may or may not have had a drink here at lunch Friday, but let's say I did, I would choose "The Tap."  Muss and Turner is more of the Pete Campbell.  Talented, but never respected.  I feel the M & T's OTP status may give them the same feeling.  

My mentee from the University of Georgia, Maria Bouloukos, loved the Tap and said, "My dad would love it here."  I'm not sure how to take that.............Joe Carroll at the lunch said, "You are eating the winner."

"Driver to the Highland Tap, stat"

The David Hasselhoff/ Botox Division:

It's not what's on the inside that counts, it's how you look.

http://www.grindhouseburgers.com/

http://www.thevortexbarandgrill.com/

In a mild upset, Grindhouse Burgers takes down the Vortex, whom would be the Bert Cooper of the burger world, the veteran and de facto leader of the group.  Many on the burger committee will not be happy, but Grindhouse in a relatively short time has created a great product, a great venue and can accommodate people from all walks of life.  I see hipsters, professionals and families all congregating here.  And with the Vortex's method of operation, I doubt they really give a shit either.  Grindhouse would definitely be the Joan Holloway, gorgeous with lots of aesthetic "assets."

What would these guys do in today's non-smoking work era?

My arteries harden just looking at this

Here is the updated Bracket:

Today's Footnote:
I have my annual blood work done in the middle of this hamburger tournament and somehow my cholesterol is fine.  People were in shock.  In fact it's lower than it's ever been in my adult life.  I've stopped drinking sodas and started taking "Juice Plus" a couple of years ago.  If I started exercising more, I could give John Hamm a run for his money.  At least in the drinking category.