When Salvation Burger opened in January, we knew immediately: our Instagram feed was flooding with pictures of what we now know is The Classic, a masterpiece of a cheeseburger, double decker and oozing with sauce. It looked great, but you know, it was another burger place in a city blooming with new restaurants to try and favorites to return to. The circumstances changed, though, after Emily was forced to part with all four of her wisdom teeth as well as a week’s worth of solid food. There was only one way for her to survive her sad, pain-fueled fast: the promise of SALVATION BURGER at the end.

The day we planned to go, food critic Pete Wells gave Salvation Burger a star review. We considered this a lucky sign, and used his review as a cheat sheet for what to order. There was no wait, and we got the best seats in the house: the bar overlooking where the food was being prepared. The chefs there are really artists: the man preparing slices of banana pie was so extremely precise in placing shards of banana “glass,” watching him was like being at the theater.