Living in Aiken, South Carolina, I am surrounded by places famous for well-dressed hamburgers. In town, we have charcoal-grilled blimps of beef adorned with bacon jam at Whiskey Alley. Out in Warrenville, Bruce’s Bar serves juice-oozing half-pounders with magnificent home fries. The Sports Center on Broad Street in Augusta accompanies its rugged patties with lacy fried onions that have no peer. Gary’s Hamburgers of North Augusta is one of enthusiasts’ favorite stops on a tour of notable destinations.
How do Gary’s Hamburgers’ hamburgers measure up? A few years ago, I was an unreserved fan, praising them as “juicy and full-flavored” and “deeply beefy.” Those words do not describe today’s patty, which is a 1/3-pound disc of ground chuck that has been cooked to death. Juiciness is gone; chewing is a challenge; flavor is faint. The fact that it’s formed by hand is irrelevant.
