The burger is a timeless delicacy. Though ground meat wasn’t always paired with the modern drive-thru cast of sesame seed bun, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and ketchup, it has been a dietary staple since 1209, the era of Genghis Khan. In the thirteenth cen¬tury, Mongolian cavalry soldiers went days without dis¬mounting their horses. As they rarely had the luxury of cook¬ing over a flame on the battle¬field, they simply¬flattened ground lamb and mutton into patties, which they placed under their saddles. After, or even during bat¬tles, soldiers could reach between the bottom of their saddles and their horses’ skins and remove bits of tenderized raw meat-hence the original hamburger. The burger has indeed matured through the centuries, evolving to minced and hashed beef and then to steak tartar, then to the hamburger steak and, eventually, with the invention of meat choppers to the modern ham¬burger, but its beginnings were evi¬dently humble.
If your appetite withstood that crude description of the burger’s birth, I propose an examination of the contrasting appeals of current burger joints.
I see the three most prominent main line burger joints as Elevation Burger, Five Guys and Ruby’s. If you are a burger connoisseur, surely one of these options will appeal to you and you will most likely be willing to argue and defend one of them as the undeniable superior. The way I see it, each establishment appeals to a different era and consumer.
Ruby’s seeks out the “classic” Main Line family. With kid friendly shakes, a forties diner décor and an electric miniature train circulating the restaurant, Ruby’s is the obvious choice for those nostalgic parents and grandparents hoping for a fairly predictable meal. However, Ruby’s burgers are tender and succulent and the elusive Ruby’s sauce (though visually daunting) adds a refreshing though not overly daring originality. The burgers are satisfying and com¬plete the stereotypically American meal when paired with fries and a shake.
Conversely, the more recent El¬evation Burger has stirred up much controversy for its forward thinking. With its motto, “ingredients matter” and its “vision for an elevated expe¬rience” Elevation Burger replaces some of the focus from the actual burger onto the restaurant’s mission. Its use of grass-fed organic beef is notably respectable and undeniably increases the quality of the burgers’ taste. Their atmosphere, while in¬novative, lacks the laid back quality of other burger joints. Elevation’s emphasis on health for the body and for the environment can infringe on the customer’s dining experience. Its tiny burgers and fries are no¬ticeable and make the consumer conscious of the detriments of some nourishment, distract¬ing them for the wholehearted enjoyment undergone at Ruby’s. Si¬multaneously, though, this forward-thinking divergence from the diner experience attracts the Main Line health nut and the environmentally conscious sub-hippy. The Elevation burger is a first look into the future world of food that entices some while causing others to turn away.
A marriage between the two: the intensely modern Five Guys. The Five Guys burger could be consid¬ered a much more refined Big Mac. Five Guys appeals to the casual but current teenager. Though its meat is neither organic nor free range, it makes its use of peanut oil to fry its fries very public. The burger comes with all of the expected amenities and reverts to the appeal of convenience. While you can dine in, many customers choose to take out, creating a sort of classy drive-thru.
In all, the Main Line presents opportunities to all burger seekers-the progressive, the traditional and the current.
Jess Lebow
Class of 2011
