Burger at Whole Foods Market Albany

I’m an avid follower of Whole Foods Market Albany on Twitter and Instagram. At some point, they posted a photo showing that they had a new burger venue in the market.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-1ahQQu7X5/?taken-by=wfmalbany

(Yes. I do see the “Foodie” talk in the hashtags. It doesn’t matter to me that they use this abhorrent term when I’m looking at a burger like that. It’s not like they’re talking cauliflower or anything.)

Being that I am a pretty big fan of most of their pizzas, especially the white four cheese with roasted garlic cloves, and that I have bought their ground beef for burgers in the past, it seemed like I had to try a burger there at some point.

A burger there is basically $8 (or $6 if you want something really simple); they have a few combinations and you can create your own. There are a few adornments to bump the price a little (or a lot), but $8 for a burger really isn’t that bad, considering the reputation Whole Foods has with their pricing.

The night I went, the #3 (Cheddar, caramelized onion, smoked bacon, BBQ sauce). For another $3, I tossed some fries onto my order.

The kid behind the counter started by placing a preformed patty on the flattop (no seasoning). I asked about the precooked weight, but he wasn’t sure. There was a scale right there, but I guess I was the only one who saw it. If I had to guess. it’s probably between 5 and 6 ounces, like 1/3 pound.

He sliced the bun and dropped the fries in the deep fryer. The caramelized onions were in an aluminum pan on a warming station. When he flipped the burger, he added the cheese and covered with a pan to let the cheese melt. It all got assembled and about 2 tablespoons of BBQ sauce were added before the top of the bun.

I grabbed a <$1 bottle of water, and I was out of there for under $12.

The one thing I noted was that the kid didn’t season the fries. These fries are frozen slightly battered and carry some seasoning, so they didn’t actually need salt. They tasted just fine.

The burger was very good. It would have been better with some salt, but I had bacon, caramelized onions, and BBQ sauce to help it along. The bacon, one slice broken in two, was fairly forgettable, as one slice of bacon spread across a 1/3 pound burger with bun would be. The caramelized onions were perfect. The BBQ sauce was pretty bad; it was sweet but had a taste I can’t even explain, kind of like undeveloped spices. I scraped as much as I could off since it detracted from an otherwise satisfying burger. Even the roll was formidable and tasty.

Was it perfect? Not exactly, but I enjoyed it. Not as much as the pizza, but I enjoyed it.