Meal of the Week: Stockyard Burgers
Location: Marietta Square
Meals Ordered: Smoked Pork Nachos, Jane's Not So Plain, and the Dirty South
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Recommended: Yes
Lately, I've been on this kick to find the perfect tasting burger. To many people that know me, that might sound odd because a few years ago, I decided to kind of kick my need to include beef into my diet with the only exceptions being having my mom's spaghetti when visiting home and maybe when I took a random visit to a highly recommended spot here in Atlanta.
Well, I don't know what happened over the last year, but I feel like all I want when I travel is the best local burger that I can find. Since I consume a lot of chicken and veggies when I'm not traveling, I suppose my tastebuds start craving something nice, fat, juicy, and beefy. Though I know it's not the healthiest thing in the world to crave, I also know that it's totally OK to treat yourself from time to time, so treat myself is what I do.
So, a few months ago, I was sitting in my apartment wanting something tasty and treat worthy to eat and of course, having a burger came to mind. Now while my usual spot to conquer my craving for a burger is Grindhouse Burgers, I wasn't interested in driving into the city and bracing the line that usually comes along with a Saturday evening at the spot. So, I hopped on Yelp and started searching the areas nearest to me for some highly recommended burger joints to check out. That's when I stumbled upon Stockyard Burgers & Bones and I'm so happy that I did. After calling my good friend Chris and giving him little to no convincing, we were on our way to Stockyard to try what has been said to be one of the best burgers in the Marietta area.
Now, before I jump into the food at this particular location, I'd like to address a few other things. We arrived at the restaurant around 5:30 p.m., so I expected the wait to be ridiculous. The wait was about 30-45 minutes, but luckily for us, we were not opposed to sitting outside at the table that had just opened up, so there was literally no wait for us. To be honest, outside is probably the best option when it comes to this particular location of Stockyard unless you like to be in a hot and stuffy area when eating. Don't get me wrong, it was literally packed in there, but it was also very uncomfortable for me with the heat just walking in. I can only imagine what it would've been like to sit down and eat in there, too.
After we sat down outside and made friends with the family at our neighboring table and a nice older gentlemen that needed help directing his Uber driver to his location, Chris and I ordered a round of the Smoked Pork Nachos to share. I love nachos, so I was a little skeptical to get a round from a burger joint, but if I'm being real, the nachos were perhaps the best part of the trip to the restaurant! Y'all. When I tell you those nachos were so good! It's like the pork was handcrafted by Jesus himself and though I usually like my nachos loaded with toppings, the subtleness of these were a terrific complement. It wasn't a huge order, but the plate gives you enough to hold two or three people over until the main dishes come out. It could also be a good option if you're just looking for something small to eat, too.
As we cleaned the plate of nachos, our waitress came back and took our orders for the burgers. One thing I always like to see is a knowledgeable staff who seem to love what they do and I can definitely say that you'll get that if you head out to Stockyard. Our waitress was able to give us great recommendations for burgers that would suit each of our tastebuds and some if we were interested in stepping out of our comfort zone, too.
When it comes to food — particularly burgers — I'm a little on the fence when it comes to adding on a bunch of new things as toppings. Therefore, I always go with the closest thing to a plain burger because if you mess that up, then I really can't trust any other form of a burger that you make. So, I ordered the Jane's Not So Plain burger while Chris was a little more out of the box with the Dirty South option.
For the Jane's Not So Plain burger, I'm not going to lie, I wasn't immediately impressed with its presentation. The burger, which features sharp cheddar, butter lettuce, tomato, smoked paprika aioli, and homemade pickles, didn't make my mouth water when it hit our table. However, after removing the homemade pickles (I'm just very particular about the way my pickles taste because I don't like them much anyway), the burger was satisfying. The fries, however, were not among my favorite, which was a little disappointing. Even after eating the half plate of nachos though, I was still able to devour my entire burger and a few of my fries. The only thing I would have wished was that my meal was served hot instead of warm, but with their packed day, I gave them a pass on that.
As for Chris and his Dirty South burger, which was topped with smoked gouda mac & cheese, bacon, and apple butter BBQ sauce, there were no complaints on his part. I'm really not a fan of mac & cheese (yeah, I said it!), so my review on that would totally be biased, lol. However, according to Chris, the reviews on Yelp, and the patrons of the restaurant, the Dirty South burger should be one of your top picks to chomp down on. So, if you happen to stop by after reading this, be sure to let me know what you think of it!
Overall, Stockyard is definitely a spot that I would recommend anyone to stop by if they're looking for a burger joint in the Marietta area and have a little time to spare. Would I go back to try something new? Absolutely! However, I'm just not convinced that they'll be able to take the place of Grindhouse in my book.
As a side note: If it weren't for the stuffy and warm feeling on the inside of the establishment that day and my underwhelming order of fries, I would have given the location a 4/5 stars. But, that's the way the cow mooed that week, so I had to take it with a grain of salt.
On to the next beefy paradise!
With Creative (and Hungry Thoughts),
-Kp