Anns Snack Bar- Atlanta, GA

The Wall Street Journal calls this the best burger in the USA.  I say....it's close! However, the EXPERIENCE is the best in the USA.  I went here with my friend John who told me about this place years ago. We arrived (photo above) and had a good chuckle. A true screen door joint.  We opened the door and were "not so politely" told to wait outside until a seat opened up. There are 7-8 stools at a counter, when one opens you can enter and sit. You then wait, keep your mouth shut until you are recognized and asked exactly what do you want.  No menu except the board.  We sneaked a brief conversation in with the guy next to us at the counter who told us he fell asleep trying to eat the famous ghetto burger. That being said, we went for the regular cheeseburger.  We sat outside for 20 minutes, we sat at the counter quietly for a good 15 minutes until we were recognized by the one and only "Miss Ann". She took the order.  Another 10-15 minutes goes by and then you see her slapping a big handful of meat on the griddle- 10 handfuls for 10 burgers.  Then she takes a huge spatula and just flattens these burgers, shakes a little house seasoning over them, slaps them again, flips them, slaps them again. Then she cuts onion up with nothing short of a machete.  Then she flips them again, slaps them, pushes them, slaps them. I mean this goes on for 30+ minutes- no kidding.  Now I'm thinking "how can any burger that's been smashed, slapped, pushed, flipped and smashed again that many times be good?".  We are trying not to bust out laughing but we are dying of starvation by now.  Then she takes the buns and opens a 1-door kitchen oven and shoves them under the broiler.  She moves only as fast as she wants so. 8 of these 10 burgers are for ghetto burgers ordered by other folks at the counter. Pictured above as a double patty.  The other 2 burgers are ours.  It took a serious 10 minutes to put this together, so 1 hour in and we're still waiting.  Then the moment of truth, it's set in front of us. We bite in eagerly and grin.  I say to John, "you know, for a burger that's been cooked for an hour, it's pretty darn good!".  If you are in Atlanta- you MUST go.  AND I could not finish my single patty burger.  I would have ended up in the hospital if I had tried the ghetto burger.  Although I wanted to!  Give it a try. It's a memory for the books.  Thanks for taking me John!