The Hot Dish: The Meatstick at One Eared Stag

[Note: This gallery originally ran during last year's The Five Days of Meat, but since it's Burger Week, it seemed appropriate to reheat.]

Once an off-the-menu, hush-hush dish, the Meatstick now a regular lunch item at One Eared Stag. Like so many Atlanta burgers, it's a double-stack and features house pickles, paper-thin shaved white onion, American cheese, and a house brioche bun.

The grass-fed chuck is ground in house and seasoned with salt, pepper, and slab bacon. However, the pork flavor doesn't come through; it just adds an extra salty, savory layer of flavor. Smashed flat and griddled, the patties come away with a dark brown, crunchy crust. The cheese adds to the already-rich concoction, and the pickles and onion add enough acidity to cut through it all. The bun is dense enough to stand up to beef and melty cheese, but it doesn't dominate. Everything gets topped off with a side of fries.

It all comes together to form one of the city's favorite burgers.