The mushroom & Swiss @ Big Burger Spot

The first thing I noticed was the bun: this giant, puffy piece of bread, big enough to lay my head upon, its crust glistening with what’s got to be butter.

Burger buns can be problematic. They need to be wide enough to contain the meal therein, soft enough that the eater can bite and not tear, firm enough that ketchup and grease doesn’t drip everywhere.

There’s no worse thing a burger can do than slide out of the bun on the first bite.

But Big Burger Spot’s got big burger buns, enough to contain even their largest burger — the Colossal, which approaches a pound in weight.

The aesthetic that applies to the buns is evident throughout the menu here, where they smoke their own brisket and corn their own beef, the burger patties get hand-formed every day, and the chili, pimiento cheese, hummus and veggie burgers are all made in house.

There’s a lot to choose from, but the classic mushroom and Swiss is exemplary of the kind of work these folks put into their burgers. Fresh mushrooms are sautéed — none of that canned, rubbery stuff here — and the Swiss comes generously portioned and melted atop the meat itself. There’s the option of fresh mushrooms as well, a nice touch for another day, perhaps.

A point of technique is that the patties are char-grilled on an infra-red grill: no flame, but the meat gets a nice roasted bark on the outside and enough of the juices run off that the whole thing doesn’t fall to pieces in your hands.

And that magnificent burger bun can handle all the sweet grease that remains.

3750 Battleground Ave., GSO, 336.617.3777 • 510 Nicholas Road, GSO, 336.541.8861 • bigburgerspot.com

— BC

[This article is part of the cover story “The Hamburger Renaissance” published on July 2, 2014.]