Thanks to Cheese-burger.Net for writing this up & sending this our way.

Atlanta is unquestionably a great burger town. Legendary joints like the Vortex Bar and Grill and Ann’s Snack Bar were dishing out world-class cheebies well before the burger boom. Now the landscape is positively packed with primo patty purveyors: Holeman & Finch and Flip Burger Boutique opened in 2008, Grindhouse Killer Burgers entered the scene in 2009, and Farm Burger debuted in 2010. And the hits just keep on coming. Let me introduce you to the newest combatant in the A-T-L’s ongoing burger war… Yeah! Burger.

A smallish storefront in one of those ultra-chic intown warehouse districts, Yeah! Burger is the brainchild of longtime Atlanta chef Shaun Doty. The vibe is quirky and cool, a mix of old-school retro and hipster modern.

Despite mixed reviews, there always seems to be a crowd, and such was the case last week when I stopped in for a weekday lunch, a steady line of folks studying the laminated menus as they queued up to place their order.

Yeah! Burger promises a double-stack of high-quality, grass-fed third-pounders, made in-house and “free of antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides, ammonia, and preservatives.” Got a beef with beef? You can go bison, turkey, veggie, or chicken breast instead… or try your luck with the Burger of the Month. (November’s happened to be a “crab burger,” a jumbo-lump crab cake on a bun, which really stretches the “burger” classification to me, but whatever.)

Then you start custom-building your burger. You choose from three different bun types (more on the bun in a minute), six organic cheeses, eight free toppings, eight $1 toppings, and fifteen sauces ranging from white BBQ to sunflower pesto. Fighting back the urge to let my inner gourmet run wild, I played it close to the vest for my maiden voyage. I needed a burger baseline to start with, so I opted for a plain-jane beef burger with American cheese on a white bun and no toppings.

I did ask for Yeah! sauce (chipotle-tinged mayo, perhaps?) on the side, thinking I could add it if the burger was on the dry side (the menu specifies only medium to medium-well)… or just use it as a dip for my half-and-half order of fries and onion rings.

First visual impression: my God, look at that cheese! Beautifully melted, almost liquefied, enrobing those patties in velvety awesomeness. Go on, take a closer look. I did.

First taste impression: I said earlier that Yeah! Burger has opened to mixed reviews, and I’d agree. “Phenomenal” mixed with “spectacular.” I flat-out loved this burger from the word go. The beef was thoroughly juicy, even if a tad under seasoned. The cheese was just as good as it looks, coating every single bite in creamy perfection.

But that bun! Maybe the best bun I’ve ever had. Doty personally developed the “Southern White” bun along with H&F Bread Co., a local outfit that supplies over 60 of Atlanta’s top-tier restaurants. It’s a work of art. Nice texture, just the right amount of squish, but substantial enough to not disintegrate. Right down to the last bite, with the burger still dripping profusely, the bun held its own and soaked up that liquid gold like a champ.

Yeah! Burger also features a full bar with beer, wine, spirits, and a roster of signature cocktails. Personally, I was more interested in the milkshakes, cane-soda floats, and concretes (the old-fashioned name for a DQ Blizzard), but I decided against it. This was almost a perfect burger experience, and I didn’t want to risk tainting it. Leave a tender moment alone, the Piano Man once said. Will I be back to try it again sometime? Well… Yeah!