Hi, I'm Earl. Product Manager at Elevation Burger
I rarely eat burgers. The last time I ate a burger was when I was in New York during the spring, about four months ago. Before that, I can’t recall when I had eaten a burger, so when I visited a local Elevation Burger, thanks to my internship mentors, I was expecting a juicy, greasy burger that I’d regret a few hours later. Okay, that’s sort of a lie; I looked up the burger joint beforehand and knew the burgers were relatively healthy, but that’s besides the point. When I got to Elevation Burger, I was greeted by signs heralding the merits of its 100% grass-fed organic beef, and 100% olive oil fried french fries.
Before getting into the taste, here are some facts about 100% grass-fed beef.
- 4 times less fat than grain-fed, “normal” beef
- 2 to 4 times more omega-3 fatty acids
- high amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a healthy fat
- over 4 times more vitamin E than grain-fed beef
source: http://www.eatwild.com/healthbenefits.htm
As evident, grass-fed beef is a much healthier version of grain-fed beef. Most burger joints use grain-fed beef. Chances are if a burger doesn’t specifically advertise that it is made from grass-fed beef, the burger will be made from grain-fed beef. After all, why would a restauranteur not brag about the quality of the burger when the quality probably cost the restaurant some extra money.
However, regardless of whether a burger is grass-fed or grain-fed, the burger will probably still contain a lot of calories once you factor in condiments and buns. One of my mentors actually had a burger wrapped in lettuce instead of buns, which is a great way to really take the healthy burger idea a leap further.As for the taste, the Elevation burger was not bad but not amazing. Is the burger worth the price though? Definitely, the burger I ordered was $5.99; although, some burgers were as low as $3. I had a “Half the Guilt” burger which contains one veggie patty and one beef patty. I asked for Elevation sauce, caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and hot pepper relish on my burger. The meat itself had a lot of texture because the veggie patty added a ton of soft grit to the burger. I could feel the bits and pieces that comprised the veggie patty rolling around in my mouth. The beef patty on the other hand was soft and delicate. The caramelized onions definitely stood out, because they were cooked to perfection. As a whole, the burger was far from greasy, but the buns did get a little soggy from the Elevation sauce.
The french fries, which are fried in olive oil, were thin and crispy. They weren’t salted liberally, but the fries had just enough salt. After a while, they got soggy, but even then, I enjoyed eating them. The Elevation Burger fries are definitely some of the better fries I’ve tasted.
Lastly, as a dessert, which I ended up tasting before the burger and finishing after, I had these small cookies. Each cookie is about the size of two quarters and thick as a pencil eraser. The cookies were definitely a highlight of Elevation burger. Somewhat reminiscent of the Momofuku Compost Cookie, the Elevation burger cookie was meltingly soft and incredibly chocolately. Supposedly, there are pecans in the cookie, but the flavor of the dough and chocolate chips overpower the pecans. There are also bits of rolled oats in there.
Elevation Burger
12525 Park Potomac Ave.
Potomac, MD 20854
