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FLIP burger boutique
Restaurant information
Established	December 10, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-12-10)
Owner(s)	Joseph Hsiao Matthew Hsiao
Head chef	Richard Blais
Food type	Contemporary American cuisine
Dress code	Casual
Street address	1587 Howell Mill Rd. NW
City	Atlanta
State	Georgia
Postal/ZIP Code	30318
Country	United States
Reservations	No
Website	flipburgerboutique.com

FLIP burger boutique (stylized as FLIP) was an upscale full-service American restaurant based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company opened its restaurant in West Midtown, Atlanta in 2008. The restaurant was generally well-received by food critics for its ambiance and food, though there had been criticism that the restaurant was "overdone". It had been credited as increasing competition among hamburger restaurants in Atlanta.

History

Barry Mills conceived the restaurant's concept as wanting to expand the definition of a what he thought was a hamburger. He sought inspiration from the new growth of hamburger eateries in Los Angeles and New York City, yet disliked their approaches, thinking it would hinder innovation—being bound to a traditional diner-style burger.

FLIP opened an outlet at The Summit in Birmingham, Alabama on December 19, 2010. Ron Stewart, one of the owners of the first Atlanta franchise, was born and raised in Birmingham. The company then opened an outlet on October 19, 2010 in Buckhead, Atlanta, at the Tuxedo Festival Shopping Center. Mills used architecture firm ai3 to design the interior of the restaurants.

The chain hoped to open a location in Washington, D.C. in the Penn Quarter in early 2010, but was unable to negotiate a lease. New York City and Miami have also been noted as potential sites for new outlets. Mills has stated that although its prices would rise, the chain should be able to expand throughout the United States.

Critical reception

FLIP burger boutique has been generally well-received by food critics. For example, Food & Wine journalist Dana Cowin wrote that "Richard Blais's 'burger boutique' is mod, ambitious and delicious." Wine & Spirits writer Krista Reese praised the pricing of the menu and its unique ingredients. And The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the menu as "fun", allowing Blais to "play with the whimsical goofiness that makes him, well, him." ' The architecture and the atmosphere of the chain's restaurants have also been lauded.

However, there are also negative reviews. Creative Loafing in December 2010 called the food at FLIP's Buckhead location "overly salty, overly sweet, overly complicated, overcooked, overfried and just overdone," with "fried sides that tasted of leadened fried bread". Critic Jennifer Zyman noted: "each burger tastes as if someone said, 'Dude, let's figure out a way to cram a bunch of crap on one plate so the diner can't identify a single ingredient.'" Furthermore the newspaper remarked that the decor, as a "carbon copy" of the original Westside location, "except slightly larger," was "somehow less cool as a result." In the same month, Christian Lauterback in Knife & Fork called the Buckhead location "silly and expensive." Lauterbach characterized FLIP's approach as "heaping on garnishes and condiments and finishing everything with sugar" to ensure that patrons "can't taste anything." She also criticized a "stupefyingly bad" osso bucco burger with marrow-naise and gremolata.

See also

• List of hamburger restaurants

• Food
• Georgia (U.S. state)

References

1. ^ Daye Scott, Sherri. "Fine Dining Between Two Buns". QSR. Archived from the original on April 4, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
2. ^ "The City's First Modern Burger Boutique will FLIP Open the Doors Fall 2008" (Press release). TrailBlais. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
3. Horton, Laura (December 1, 2008). "FLIP burger boutique Opens This Week". About.com. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
4. Carlton, Bob (December 29, 2009). "FLIP burger boutique opens at The Summit". The Birmingham News. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
5. Watson, Jon (October 21, 2010). "Now Open: FLIP Burger Buckhead". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
6. Carmen, Tim (November 19, 2009). "Former Top Chef Contestant Blais to Open Flip Burger in D.C." Washington City Paper. Creative Loafing. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
7. Carman, Tim (June 13, 2011). "Richard Blais still plans to open Flip in D.C." The Washington Post. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
8. Tao, David (June 17, 2011). "The end of the 'better burger' bubble". CNN. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
9. Rodell, Besha (January 19, 2009). "Review: FLIP burger boutique". Creative Loafing. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
10. "2011 Food and Drink Awards: Five Best Lunches". Maxim. Alpha Media Group. 8 July 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
11. Disbrowe, Paula. "FLIP burger boutique". Sky. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
12. "FLIP BURGER BOUTIQUE". Go. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
13. Cowin, Dana (May 2010). "Editor's Letter". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
14. Kaiser Thelin, Emily (May 2009). "Retromania: New Restaurants that Serve Updated Classics". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
15. Reese, Krista. "Atlanta". Wine & Spirits. Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
16. Ford, Meridith (January 6, 2009). "FLIP burger boutique". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
17. McLaughlin, Kate (November 17, 2010). "Bring On the Fat, Bring On the Taste". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
18. Zyman, Jennifer (December 8, 2010). "FLIP Burger Boutique Buckhead: Richard Blais' overwrought second Atlanta location". Creative Loafing. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
19. Knife & Fork in Oxford American magazine, quoted by Cliff Bostock in "Christiane fries Flip, praises Cafe Q and Sufi's", Creative Loafing, December 30, 2010

External links

• Official website Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine

33°47′54″N 84°24′57″W / 33.7984°N 84.4159°W / 33.7984; -84.4159

• 2008 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Hamburger restaurants
• Regional restaurant chains in the United States
• Restaurants established in 2008
• Restaurants in Atlanta