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Greenville, SC: Pimento Cheeseburgers at Northgate Soda Shop

Posted by Todd Brock, May 24, 2011 at 2:30 PM



Like many of you, I'm sure, my first order of business when I plan an out-of-town excursion is to consult Google Maps to determine my route. My second is to consult George Motz. Yes, my copy of Hamburger America—the burger bible first published in 2008 and whose second edition came out this month—is immediately cross-checked against my travel itinerary, just in case I'll be within striking distance of one of the great burger joints highlighted among its dog-eared pages. (From now on, I'd also consult the Motz's iPhone app based on his book, Burger GPS, which came out last week.) When a recent adventure took me from Atlanta through South Carolina, I quickly realized that I'd be just seven miles away from the Palmetto State's only entry in the book's first edition—at lunchtime, no less. I took a short drive off the interstate and a serious step back in time to reach the Northgate Soda Shop in Greenville. In return, I got a pimento cheeseburger that was well worth the trip.

Not even Motz's spot-on description (the chapter was featured on AHT) prepared me for the Back to the Future moment I experienced upon entering the Northgate. This place is a perfectly-preserved slice of 1950s-era small town Americana, with a long lunch counter, well-worn bar stools, and an astonishing collection of...stuff. Bottles, cans, cigar boxes, framed black-and-white photos, tin signs, Tiffany lamps, vintage kitchen gadgets, and miscellaneous trinkets cover every nook and cranny of the 1947 establishment, the second-oldest restaurant in Greenville, I learned. It's like your grandparents' favorite spot, where they always took you even though you were probably too young to be there, where everything was old and dusty and supremely fascinating—and it hasn't changed a lick since then.

Although there are eight burgers on the menu, the bestseller has always been the pimento cheeseburger. Made every morning with mayo, cheddar, and diced pimentos at the Northgate, pimento (sometimes spelled "pimiento") cheese is a uniquely Southern delicacy, and the pimento cheeseburger is a uniquely South Carolinian obsession. Northgate Soda Shop claims to have been the first in Greenville to offer it, although just about everyone in town does now. (My server Allison laughed about how even the local Red Robin stole it for themselves, so the Northgate swiped their fried-egg-topped burg in retaliation and named it after a favorite customer.) Splendidly swirly in two-tone orange and white and studded with bits of the namesake pepper, it positively oozed off my burger, where it could be mopped up off my Styrofoam plate with overeager fingertips.



The beef comes from a grocer down the street and is hand-pattied in-house. It's smashed in an antique burger press behind the counter and griddled on a flat-top that, although it's scraped clean every day, definitely has some stories to tell. Fresh lettuce and tomato are added, and it's all bookended by a sesame seed bun that also gets a flattening in the burger press. The result is a thin diner burger that, while as simple as simple gets, is elevated to something special when you factor in the heavenly pimento cheese and the authentic old-time vibe.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/burger-gps/id437178689?mt=8&ls=1

Description

★ BURGER GPS ★ Hamburger America ★
George Motz's Official State-by-State Guide to the most interesting burgers in the USA.

Burger Author / Filmmaker George Motz has eaten over 10,000 burgers in his life. Trust him and use this app to find your next great burger.

★ Key Features ★
• Find great burgers nearby or elsewhere
• Includes over 1,800 expert-sourced listings
• NO typical fast food chains
• NO restaurants that use frozen meat
• Browse a list of every burger joint in the app
• Over 250 photos from George's own collection
• Most listings are historic mom 'n pop shops