BurgerFi - Winter Park

On a recent trip to Orlando we discovered a delightful restaurant called BurgerFi. Located in Winter Park on the corner of Fairbanks and Park, BurgerFi may just be the ultimate burger place. The place has both indoor and outdoor seating and has a wide open feel to it. It’s a modern take of an old fashioned burger & shake place.

Before I get too much further into our experience I will tell you that while parking in the street is at a premium, we were able to find a public lot that was virtually empty about a block away. Now it is only public parking after 5:00 PM so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It was a comfortable evening in Winter Park and as we strolled towards our destination we saw several other shops & restaurants along the same street. There was sushi, frozen yogurt and French cuisine to name a few. But, we were after the perfect burgers.

As we walked through the wide open doors we were welcomed by a young and attractive girl behind the counter who we will call Lauren. Lauren inquired if we had been there before and we told her no and that we needed a minute or two to peruse the menu. The menu is all listed on a giant digital board behind the counter. The aromas escaping the kitchen were indescribable. Since we had not been there before, Lauren explained to us that all of the burgers are made with all-natural grass fed Angus beef. She added that everything was fresh and never frozen and all the hot dogs were made with Kobe beef. I really liked the sound of that.

The Little Prince ordered first and chose the original BurgerFi Burger which was a Double Natural Angus

burger, lettuce, tomato, and BurgerFi sauce. Lady Gianna chose the VegeFi Burger which was a crisp quinoa burger, white cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and BurgerFi sauce served on multigrain bun. But Sir Griffin did not want to just order straight from the rack. No, Sir Griffin decided to build his own burger. I chose a double made with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, jalapenos, hickory bacon, American cheese and BurgerFi sauce. For a side we ordered a basket or Cry & Fries, which is both fresh cut fries and onion rings.

Also unique to BurgerFi was there selection of beverages. While you could order fountain drinks and the standard teas and lemonades, they also had a nice selection of bottled drinks. While those were not refillable and came at more of a premium price I still decided to try one. They had Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange and Sprite all made from real cane sugar in Mexico. They also had a variety of Boylan’s sodas: Orange, Crème, Root Beer, Birch Beer, Black Cherry, Ginger Ale and Grape all made with real cane sugar. I chose the Birch Beer as it had been several years since I had one of those.

Since everything is made fresh it does take a few minutes of waiting to get your order. After we ordered Lauren gave us what appeared to be one of those things that they give you in restaurants to let you know when your table is ready. However, it was not. She instructed us to sit wherever we chose and set it in the center of the table. When our dinner was ready it would be used by the runners to figure out where we were seated. Very cool.

As we waited I took a couple of sips from my Birch Beer. It was delicious. We liked the way the inside of the restaurant was designed and Lauren told us that our chairs were made from recycled Coke bottles. How cool is that?

Our food arrived and my mouth was watering. Each bun was branded with the BurgerFi logo which I thought was a very nice touch. We split up the onion rings and I started with that. I have tasted some wonderful onion rings over the years, but this one had to be the epitome of all of them. It was huge, crispy and flavorful. It was O-ring heaven.

The Little Prince dove right into his burger. I saw his eyes light up when he took that first bite. He started giggling with joy and said “Daddy, this is the best burger ever”. I looked over at Lady Gianna and she said that she had never had a veggie burger like the one she was enjoying. She called it “amazing in every way possible”.

I could wait no longer. So I cleansed my palate with a French fry (also delicious) and prepared for my first bite. The cheese was dripping off the burger and I could see the juices pouring out. I picked it up, took a bite and…nirvana. I had never tasted anything like it. I almost began to cry for the deliciousness of it and began to profusely thank the former cow that made up this incredible edible. Lady Gianna said my expression of joy looked like a guy having his first mean after being trapped in a cave for a year. I ate it slowly and savored each and every bite. The Birch Beer perfectly complimented the double cheeseburger.

When we finished I strongly considered getting one of their frozen custard shakes. The Little Prince and I

went and spoke to Lauren about them and she said they were great, but we were pretty full and did not know if we could finish one even if we split it. (I’m exaggerating here. I know we would have finished it, but we’d have been sick if we did) Lauren asked if we would like some samples of the frozen custard. Our eyes widened and we said yes. Lauren then brought us a fairly healthy serving of each the vanilla and chocolate frozen custard. We shared them and while we agreed they were both delectable, we both decided that we preferred the vanilla. I know! Who would have ever believed I would prefer vanilla over chocolate? Go figure.

And with that we left and began the short walk back to the car. I did notice some very cute dogs sitting outside with their humans, but one in particular caught my eye. It was a Yorkie and she was enjoying some frozen custard. Vanilla of course.

BurgerFi is a growing chain and if there is one in your area or somewhere where you may travel I highly recommend you take the time to visit. The Little Prince and I are already in eager anticipation of the one that is allegedly coming soon to Tampa. Perhaps we’ll see you there.