Celebrating 40 Years Of The Best Hamburger In America
You don’t enter Ann’s restaurant unless there is a stool open. If you do, you are quite liable to have a spatula waved at you as you are told to wait on the porch. You don’t curse inside Ann’s. You don’t lean on her counter. And I would recommend you not even think about talking on your cell phone while waiting on your order.
The rigid atmosphere of Ann’s has earned her comparisons to the “Soup Nazi”, a character from the Seinfeld TV series. It is understandable, but unfair. Ann is neither irrational nor unfriendly. Quite the contrary, Ann is a pleasant and cheerful person who has a beautiful smile when you can break the concentration of her cooking and get her talking about her accomplishments.
Her accolades are many. The Wall Street Journal has called her signature Ghetto Burger the best hamburger in America. It is two softball sized patties fried over onion slices on a small griddle behind Ann’s counter. It is topped with bacon, chili, ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce and tomato. It fills an 8” plate and is served with an equal sized plate of fries. For sake of variation, I prefer the Hood Burger that substitutes cole slaw for the lettuce and tomato.
I realize I’m a bad vegetarian for sometimes wanting to eat meat just so I can experience ordering a Ghetto Burger and meeting Ms. Ann.
