Burger 18: George Martin Burger Bar Black Jack Burger

The story of the George Martin restaurants is actually quite interesting.  The founder, George Korten, graduated from Cornell University with a degree in hotel administration.  In 1987, he opened his first restaurant in Syosset, New York.  Only two years later, George Martin opened in Rockville Centre, New York, then Nick DiAngelo in Merrick, New York, and Max's Grille & Tavern, also in Rockville Centre.  Korten then completely transformed his idea of a restaurant and opened Grillfire in Hanover, Maryland.  Today, there are four operating Grillfire restaurants, plus four other restaurants owned by Korten.  

The GM Burger Bar concept was developed to serve as a neighborhood casual restaurant.  Currently there is only one, but there are plans to open at least two more in 2015.  

I walked into the burger bar at 3:00PM on a Sunday afternoon.  The place was full.  There is a full service bar and table seating.  On Sundays, there is a bottomless beverage brunch which is why most people were there (at least I think).  Since it was crowded, I decided to get burger number 18 "to-go".  I ordered the Black Jack Burger, and sat down to wait for the 8 ounces of heaven to be prepared.  I decided on this burger because there were no "signature" burgers, or burgers named after the restaurant, so I decided on the first one listed on the menu.  

Black Jack Burger:  8 oz, exclusive blend, candied bacon, pepper jack cheese, black jack sauce, & cherry peppers on brioche roll.  

The Beef: The beef was really well-seasoned, and cooked to amazingness.  After biting into the burger, the ground beef fell apart in my mouth.  Isolating just the beef was difficult to do with all of the different flavors on this burger, but to rate this a 3 out 4 would be debatably underrated.  

The Bun: Usually, I am not a fan of brioche, but this brioche was an exception.  It was not quite as dense and thick as normal brioche rolls, and at this point I may just be trying to see how many times I could say brioche before you realize the over abundance of brioche...or in this case lack thereof, which found that happy medium.  While the top bun would have been rated extremely well, the bottom bun was soaked.  I'm not talking damp, I'm not talking moist, I'm not talking a little burger grease.  I'm talking the chef must have put this bottom bun in the kitchen sink and let the water run over it all night and all through brunch.  It was wet to touch, and made those bites not quite as enjoyable.  2 out of 4.  

The Beef to Bun Ratio:  Putting the wet bun to the side, since this rating is based on the beef-to-bun only, I think this is what you'd call the "golden ratio".  The 8 ounces of pure delicious beef mixed with a perfectly sized brioche roll, made this truly something special.  This burger is well-deserving of the utmost rating.  4 out of 4.  

Presentation: The burger was in an aluminum "to-go" container, yet the presentation was still beautiful.  The cheese was melted nicely over the beef, the bacon swirled around the finely diced cherry peppers, and the lettuce, tomato, and onion (which was there just for show because those went immediately in the garbage, because of all the other toppings) was stacked neatly around the container.  The presentation was a solid 3 out of 4. 

The Cheese: The great proportion of pepper jack cheese was melted perfectly onto my 8 ounces of awesome.  Definitely a far way away from your ordinary yellow American cheese.  3 out of 3.  

The Sear:  The sear around the edges of the burger was decent, but I wouldn't say it was one of the stand out features.  2 out of 3. 

Overall Taste:  Let's take everything into consideration as I relive my ingestion of this savory meal.  Biting into this burger there was the juiciness of the 8 ounces of beef, the sweetness of the candied bacon, the kick of the pepper jack cheese, the heat of the cherry peppers, and the tanginess of the black jack sauce...then, the soggy, wetness of the bun which is responsible for this being a 4 out of 5.  

BBSR:  21 / 27