October 10: 206 Burger Company

I've been craving a decent burger for a few days now, ever since my daughter got a shake from Herfy's. Nothing fancy; I didn't want to pay $13 for a burger, or eat in a place where having a fried egg on it was an option. But I also wanted something a step above Dick's or two steps above McBurger Jack. To the Googles!

... and I came up short.

The best rated burgers in town were more than $10. Some of the cheaper ones were at pubs that don't open for lunch. Some of them were in places like Georgetown or Interbay or on a corner of Capitol Hill that would be difficult to get to quickly on mass transit.

In the end, I simply asked Google to provide me search results for "burgers near me." The 206 Burger Company came up in the list a short walk away. That's where I went. On the way, I was tempted to stop at Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill and Irish Pub -- the sign on their Smith Tower sidewalk promises an $8 burger special -- but I'll save that for another day. Street view was vague on where it was, and once I arrived, I realized why. It's in a food court!

This just opened up several more options to me. A co-worker of mine suggested Thai to Go last week. That's here. The Happy Teriyaki near my house is gone, but there's one here. There's another Taco Del Mar. There's a phở place. And there's four other food options.

206 Burger Company is small. There's four seats at the window, and the rest of the seating is outdoors. If it's cold out, you better plan on either bundling up or bringing it back to the office. Service is quick at the counter, and the guy operating the register helpfully confirmed with me that burgers come with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and sauce. The reminder to ask "no tomatoes" was a nice touch.

My number was called in just a few minutes, and I made my way to a plastic table outside. The fries were hand cut, but sliced unimpressively flat and floppy. They were lightly salted, if at all. The burger, on the other hand, was pretty good. A light trickle of grease dripped into the foil, but the layer of lettuce and the thin smear of sauce prevented it from dissolving the bun. The cheese was fully melted, oozing into the crevices of the hamburger. Plus: bacon. Who doesn't like bacon? Quite satisfying.

Really, the only downside was the food temperature disparity: The patty was warm, the veggies were cold, but the bun was room-temperature (which meant 55° today), which made for a slightly cold burger. The fries were also warm but not hot. Still, for $11 out the door, there's worse food decisions in the area to make.

206 Burger Company
Bacon cheeseburger, fries, fountain drink, $11.00
823 3rd Ave.