MNN - Mother Nature Network

My boys and I put in a few volunteer hours this morning at a local food bank, something we’ve been doing once a week this summer, and I wanted to thank them for their hard work by going out to lunch. They said they wanted burgers, so I decided we’d check out Elevation Burger.

 

Elevation Burger is a fast-food restaurant chain that serves burgers made from 100-percent organic, grass-fed, free-range beef that is ground fresh daily. The fries are cooked in olive oil, and they offer several healthy beverage choices (in addition to the traditional Coke product fountain drinks).

 

They also offer hand-dipped milkshakes, although there was no information at the restaurant or on the website about the type of specific ingredients in the milkshakes. The website does say that their ingredients are “fresh, sustainable, and local when practical.”

 

Elevation Burger is committed to sustainable building practices. They also donate waste olive oil to be made into bio-diesel, recycle their in-store waste, and use paper products made with high-content post-consumer waste.

 

The boys each chose Elevation Burgers — double patties, double cheese and their choice of toppings (all toppings are complimentary). I chose a single patty cheeseburger. We shared an order of fries which were definitely too big for one person, but just right for the three of us. We bought fountain sodas, but after buying them I noticed there were other options — bottles of Honest Tea, Wild Bill’s Old Fashioned Soda Pop (made with cane sugar), juices and water. I would have bought the boys the Wild Bill’s if I had seen it first. We also bought three small fresh-baked chocolate chip, oatmeal, pecan cookies made with organic eggs and butter.

 

The ingredients in the food are much more impressive than what you get at the average fast-food burger joint, but that doesn’t matter if the food’s not good. But this food is good — very good. I thought my cheeseburger was one of the best fast-food cheeseburger I’ve ever had. The meat had good flavor and the burger was juicy.

 

I asked the boys how they thought their burgers stacked up to Five Guys burgers (we do treat ourselves occasionally to Five Guys). My 12-year-old said they were just as good. My 9-year-old said they were “Four percent less better.” Gotta love the preciseness of that comment.

 

My older son asked if I considered our lunch a healthy meal. I told him that we weren’t eating what I considered “healthy food,” but what we were eating was healthier than similar burgers and fries at other fast-food restaurants. It’s not something I’d go out to eat several times a week, but it’s seems to be the best choice around when we want to indulge a burger-and-fries craving.

 

Maybe once a month, my family will go out for burgers and fries. Next time we do, I’ll push for Elevation Burger because of the ingredients.