BurgerFi a worthy warrior in upscale fast food battle

Larry Olmsted | Special for USA TODAY

The scene: Fast-growing BurgerFi is another entrant in the increasingly crowded field of more upscale fast food burger joints in the style of Shake Shack, Five Guys, Elevation Burger, Bobby's Burger Palace and Larkburger (all have been covered in this column). It marries the fast food traditions of roadside convenience -- ordering at the counter and quick turnaround -- with the better-quality ingredients, more cooking to order and more creative choices that set these chains apart from the traditional fast food burger model. Florida-based BurgerFi has expanded across the breadth of the nation with a focus on major cities and college towns, and is currently in about 20 states.

BurgerFi makes its upscaled statement with sleek modern restaurants giving just a hint of bar or coffeehouse atmosphere, inviting diners to linger a little longer and relax, while leaving the convenient option to eat and run. The counter is backed by elaborate digital menus and unlike most competitors, they offer draft beer and wine along with prominently displayed ice-filled coolers of craft microbrews. They have the computerized touch-screen Coca-Cola soda dispensers Five Guys has popularized, but tweak the formula by also offering the increasingly hip Mexican formulations of Coke, Fanta and Sprite.

There are lots of these little and not-so-little touches that succeed in giving BurgerFi more of a restaurant feel. Tables are mostly stainless steel, with some larger communal 12-seat faux wood tables, but none of the plastic associated with fast food dining, The walls are wood and boast flat-screen TVs, while high ceilings are adorned with ceiling fans and hanging designer light fixtures. When you order you are given a buzzer rather than number, and in the final showmanship touch, each burger or sandwich bun comes with the BurgerFi logo "printed" on the bread itself, actually a thermal branding process where letters are essentially toasted in. Either way, it looks cool.

Reason to visit: Burgers, fries, chili, OMC chocolate concrete.

The food: If you want a fast food burger experience, in many ways BurgerFi is a much better alternative than the traditional large chains. While those are scrambling to reinvent themselves as using less processed ingredients, a hot trend right now, BurgerFi is already there, claiming to use natural Angus beef that is hormone- and antibiotic-free. This is an excellent thing I applaud, assuming it is true. Unfortunately, there is almost no legal definition of "natural beef," and the term is routinely and very widely misused. BurgerFi also claims to sell 100% Wagyu Kobe Beef hot dogs, which in my humble but experienced opinion it clearly does not, and I have to call them out on this. Real Kobe beef, the most prized and expensive beef there is, comes only from Japan. Even at the lowest possible wholesale price, the meat needed to make a frank costs way more than these sell for, and only a minuscule amount of real Japanese Kobe is imported into the country, not nearly enough to supply this chain. There has been much written in recent years about the widespread misuse of the term "Kobe," now ubiquitous on sliders, burgers, steaks and yes, hot dogs nationwide, almost none of which use the real thing. Two major fine-dining restaurant groups recently settled class-action suits over their misleading Kobe menu claims for expensive steaks. This is an immediate red flag, and when I see "Kobe beef" on a menu like this, I immediately assume something's amiss, especially when I specifically ask and am told that yes, the dogs contain Japanese Kobe beef, which is all but impossible.

That being said, most of the food at BurgerFi is very good, and if they cleaned up their menu text to be forthcoming, I could more heartily recommend it. The burgers are very tasty, all doubles using thin but real formed patties, juicy, fresh and meaty like Shake Shack's version, with very good buns. They are available in a pricier brisket version which says it uses 28-day dry-aged grass-fed brisket, but while it is a bit denser and meatier, it didn't taste appreciably better than the very good standard cheeseburger. The basic double comes with double American cheese, lettuce, tomato, BurgerFi sauce and optional bacon, while the brisket adds Swiss, bleu cheese and pickles. The toppings are all good and fresh. There are a couple of notably creative options, like a quinoa patty veggie burger and an all-day breakfast burger with fried egg, hash browns and maple syrup, something you won't find at other fast food spots. In another interesting twist, all burgers are available in lettuce wrap instead of buns.

Fries and hot dogs (there are non-"Kobe" ones too) are available with a wide array of topping choices (salt and vinegar, parmesan and herbs, hot Cajun spices, cheese sauce, chili, chili and cheese). This is another tweak on the fast food model, and the chili in particular is standout, a bit spicy and quite meaty, more like homemade that can stand alone than the thin, sauce-like version typically drizzled on burger and dogs. The onion rings are very good, crisp and hearty, but the fries are even better – fortunately they offer a combo so you don't have to choose. Fries are hand-cut and reminiscent of a county fair, very real, well-browned, and with an assortment of sizes comes an assortment of crispiness – I loved the smaller pieces. These are standout fries and I'd gladly eat them any time, plain or with any of the toppings.

They offer both frozen custard shakes and concretes, the same thick frozen signature Missouri dessert sold at Shake Shack. The shakes, while thick, didn't taste much better than typical fast food models I usually recommend skipping, but the concretes were very good, creative and big, best in their class, more like eating a sundae. There are four specialty concretes like Red Velvet, plus about two dozen toppings and mix-ins for customization. If you get confused, just simplify things by ordering the stunning OMC – Oh My Chocolate. It's fabulous, with huge chunks of chewy chocolate – there must be an entire brownie cut up in this. Add peanut butter, chocolate chips and chocolate sprinkles in chocolate custard and you have a chocoholic's dream.

Pilgrimage-worthy?: No, but a much better and healthier alternative to traditional fast food burgers, great fries, and worth seeking out for dessert if you have a chocolate craving.

Rating: Yum! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)

Price: $$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)

Details: Florida-based chain with locations in California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Alaska. burgerfi.com

Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.