I eat well. Ridiculously well. Although Marla prepares a hell of a lot of killer paleo dishes, now and again she's just not in the mood. This is when we head out on the perilous journey to find pretty much one of two cuisine choices; a Mexican restaurant or a burger joint.
Today let's have a look at Burger Up in Nashville, TN.
I'm not a grass fed beef burger snob. Personally I'll take a tasty burger over a grass fed burger 100% of the time though I have the benefit of stellar paleo perfect meals every night of the week at home.
I know however a lot of you do care deeply about sourcing so let's have a look.
Front and center on the Burger Up menu you'll find the local farm, Triple L Ranch – and by front and center I mean on the back of the menu, I'm a sleuth I tell ya.
Triple L Ranch is in Franklin, TN, only about 30 minutes from Burger Up. This is a huge win in the local category. Triple L produces naturally raised beef, though not 100% grass fed. Their cattle are raised in the open and graze on grass pasture and hay, however they're grain-finished during the last 4 months before processing.
The feed during those months consists of corn, wheat, soy bean meal, cottonseed hulls and soybean hulls so you'll want to weigh the cost-benefit there. Do you prefer extremely local or grass fed? It's a tough call, but local grass fed, grain finished beef is a big win over conventionally raised beef in my book.
What's a Burger Without Fries?
I love me some good french fries. Although most paleoistas swear by them, in my humble opinion sweet potato fries simply aren't fries. White potatoes aren't really paleo (Loren Cordain argues that they're quite problematic), but sweet potato fries just don't cut it for me.
Burger Up did, however have sweet potato fries right there on the menu. My first thought was that this was another paleo win, but there was a glitch in the matrix. Peanut Oil.
Yep, our old friend the sweet potato has been tainted with the only food that I have to avoid 100% of the time (I discovered recently that peanuts are no bueno for me). Thankfully right at the bottom of the menu they printed All Fries are Cooked in Peanut Oil.
The burger, thick cut bacon and Jack Daniels Maple Ketchup were all excellent. Sure the meat was grain finished and I had to fight the urge to try the peanut soaked fries, but dammit those 2 thick patties (always double down on the meat) were pretty wonderful. The only downside was the portion size.
How Much Does Burger Up Cost?
While the individual prices on the Burger Up menu aren't all that bad, everything did add up quickly. Together me and Marla had one Woodstock Burger with an extra patty (no bun), one Lamb Burger (no bun), a glass of Sangria and a couple glasses of tap water.
Since we didn't want the peanut oil fries I substituted steamed baby spinach and Marla sub'd a side salad ($1 for each substitution). All in all the meal came out to just under $40 for 2 burgers and a sangria. This wasn't horribly expensive, but unfortunately neither of us were really satiated after the meal so it felt a bit steep at the time. Granted I eat a lot and we may have been satiated if we had had the fries.
Nevertheless the burgers were great. Burger Up will definitely be on the shortlist next time we're in Nashville, I'll just know to order a couple meals from the get go (like I do at DMK Burger Bar).
On my harsh 5 star rating scale (5 being the best burger I've ever had: Au Cheval) I'm giving Burger Up 4 out of 5 Stars.
In terms of paleo-ness the food is all well sourced, just not completely up to paleo snob standards. On the paleo scale I'm also giving Burger Up 4 out of 5 stars.
If you're interested in more paleo friendly restaurants or have a specific restaurant request let us know!