Flat Boy Burgers
8620 - 107 Street NW, Edmonton AB
The first thing that anyone will tell you about Flat Boy Burgers is that it is located in a curling club. The Granite Curling Club in Garneau, to be precise. There is a mechanical boot brush at the entrance, and the dining room, such as it is, looks onto eight sheets of cobbled ice. In this unlikely location Flat Boy makes one of the most distinct burgers in the city. If the two things that make a restaurant a hidden gem are an obscure location and excellent food, Flat Boy has outdone itself in both regards.
I have no doubt that the HVAC system at the Granite meets or exceeds all local regulations, but as soon as you enter the club the air is scented with beef fat and onions; it drives me to a frenzy every time.
It’s a wide world, with plenty of room for all kinds of hamburgers. From thin, industrial fast-food burgers, to thick pub-style burgers, to self-aware burgers topped with arugula, there is a time and place for all of them. But the style of hamburger that has most captivated Edmonton’s imagination the last several years is the smash patty. To make a smash patty, ground beef is pressed thin onto a smoking-hot flat-top griddle and seared, creating a caramelized crust that holds the flat, juicy patty together.
Jack’s Burger Shack of St Albert was an early champion of the smash patty in our region. Others, like Fox Burger and Gravy, have since done the style admirably. However, if these places provide crunchy “burger candy” as textural nuance, Flat Boy delivers it so generously as to transform the very nature of the sandwich. When you pick up the burger you can feel the patty crackling inside the soft bun. The funky aroma of beef fat and onion is intoxicating. The depth of flavour from the hard sear is delicious, inscrutable. At three ounces, the patties are on the small size: I’m usually a single-patty guy, but I would recommend a double Flat Burger as a starting point.
Part of smash burger culture is a nostalgic reverence for simple, mid-century toppings. We’re talking about processed American cheese and iceberg lettuce: don’t expect to find Brie or mizugula here.
The fries are also “flat”: a quarter inch thick but as wide and long as your thumb. One “Flat Fries” portion is unreasonably large: you can share an order with a dining companion and still leave uncomfortably full.
A more casual dining room does not exist. There are flatscreen tvs hung from the ceiling, though most guests are content to watch the curling. Flat Boy is not licensed but the “Extra Ends Lounge” upstairs will graciously welcome you and your burger.
