Vince Carter's Restaurant

All right, I know what you're thinking. He must be getting paid by Vince Carter to blog about the restaurant at least every two weeks. Yes, there have been numerous posts about Vince Carter's recently, but one was to report about the beauty of the place when it first opened, the second was a lunch with my friend Katie and this one is when I finally got to eat one of their burgers. Trust me, I am not getting paid for these posts. If I were, you would be getting reports once a day from me and twice on Sundays.

I have been the burgers each time I visited, but was just not that hungry at the time. A mental note was made that a burger from Vince Carter's needed to be in my future. That chance finally came when I took the family there for dinner.

At Vince Carter's, all burgers are something like $9.25 and then you can pile on whatever toppings you like. On this evening, my choice was the bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. I went with a side of fries, but should have shaken it up and ordered either the sweet potato fries or the macaroni and cheese. My problem with the sweet potato fry is I don't know what condiment to use. Like everybody, I like ketchup on my fries, but cannot make it work with the sweetness of the sweet potato fry. I also can't go with some kind of cinnamon dipping sauce either. It is hard for me to get down with anything sweet during my main meal.

I ordered some wings to start for the table since I had heard they are so good. The restaurant was not too busy when we got there, but was starting to pick up. The wings came out pretty quickly after I ordered them and they were great. Nice flavor, perfectly cooked and extremely hot, both in taste and heat. Julynn killed me by telling me she had something going on with a bad tooth or something and couldn't help me eat the wings and Kennedy just can't take the spice yet. I'll get her there one day. I was only through my fourth wing when my cheeseburger showed up. I know they had been having problems with food getting backed-up in the kitchen and long waits, but you can't fix that by bringing people their entrees so close to the appetizer. I would have liked more time with those wings.

I said I had seen the burgers in Vince Carter's before and knew one was in my future. I guess the one thing I missed was the bun. The burger was incredible, but I am not a big fan of the forcaccia bread as a burger bun. Personally, I think that bread is too dense for a burger this size and didn't add much to the experience. My guess is restauranteurs have been seeking ways to deliver a better burger for years, but I think the best thing to do is leave the bun alone. Sure, you may go plain bun, toasted bun with butter, sesame seed bun or even toast, but if you look at all of these, they really are quite simple. If you want to make an outstanding burger, use the best meat possible, great seasoning and quality toppings. The bread will take care of itself. Because the toppings and meat were so good, I still found this burger to be great. Would I get another one based on my experience with the bun? Yeah, I probably would, but only after I try some additional things on the menu. Next up for me is one of their juicy steaks.

For my burger experience at Vince Carter's, I have to give them four Stiffy's.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry