Elite Event: BURGERFI

Wow.
They rolled out the red carpet for us.
Figuratively.
We, Unilocalers, received a full menu tasting with a three hour introduction/​lecture by Steve, the Burgerfi Global Brand Ambassador.
Steve was amazingly energetic, very enthusiastic and informative.
Pitching woo and slamming his competitors, Steve informed us about his marketing, his past work experience and lots of fun facts that even us Unilocalers (Gasp!) didn’t know.
Did you know that potatoes at the end of harvest make horrible fries due to their too high sugar content and decreased starch content?
Or that those rubber wristbands cost 18 cents a piece?
And the difference between an custard and ice cream is the percentage of egg used?
And Burgerfi investors get a menu sampling, just like us Unilocalers!
FOOD
Since we tried the whole menu, I can tell you my absolute favorites were the vegefi and the breakfast all day burger.
For dessert: the chocolate shake was perfection.
For those of you that know me, you know that I’m not a huge veggie burger fan but this veggie burger was excellent!
The vegefi was a fried quinoa burger wrapped in lettuce.
Crisp and crunchy, hearty and well seasoned.
After eating this, I did not miss meat at all!
The all day breakfast burger was delicious. It had crispy bacon, a fried egg, a juicy beef patty and potatoes inside.
It’s really hard to go wrong with a runny egg and beef.
My only caveat is the potatoes. It seemed like too much starch between the bread in the buns and the one inch layer of potatoes.
The chocolate shake was cool, frosty, tasted of ground chocolate and topped with whipped cream. Loved it. I was so bummed I didn’t get to share this with my hubby.
Thank you Unilocal,Drew, Katey (and Ruggy)!
Much thanks for Steve and all the amazing staff at Burgerfi. I had an amazing time! And left with a food baby.

I can’t remember the last time I had a burger prior to this event. After dining at Burgerfi however, I believe I met my quota for the next 5 years. Every burger I sampled was beyond delicious and simply irresistible. I even find myself fighting for seconds.
Breakfast burger — I surprised myself for loving this particular burger so much. Bacon, fried egg (totally agreed that it is the most underrated burger topping), hash brown, burger patty, and maple syrup. Genius combination! Did I mention I don’t even like bacon? I would be forever happy if I can eat this sandwich for breakfast every day!
Classic burger — double patties, special sauce, and melted cheddar cheese — the burger was beyond juicy yet not one bit greasy. After polishing my sample, I couldn’t stop myself from eating the demo too.
Veggie burger — hands down the best veggie patty I’ve ever had in any burger chain. Loved that exterior of the patty was perfectly crunchy and the lettuce wrap complimented it so well! Stuffed with 3 other burgers prior, I had no problem downing this one since It was so light!
Angus beef burger — after initial bite, one could tell immediately it was made with the finest ingredients. However I found the angus beef patty to be a bit dry. I didn’t get much of the bleu cheese either so it tasted pretty much like a regular hamburger. Good but not as memorable as others.
Chicago dog — I didn’t get a chance to sample Chicago dogs while in Chicago so I have no true baseline to compare to. My favourite component of burgerfi’s hot dog was the soft potato bun. However I thought the hot dog meat itself was too salty.
Red velvet cake custard and chocolate shake — just as I thought I couldn’t stomach another bite, the two heavenly treats appeared. My stomach miraculously expanded just a tad more to make room. Wished they were given along with the burgers (salty and sweet combo would had been perfect). The custard was velvety, the cake was moist — would come to Burgerfi for this alone!
Fries and onion rings — the classic two sides. Both done extremely well. I ate a batch of various versions of the dressed up fries and did not get greased out at all.
Overall — well deserving 5 stars! I can’t thank the staffs enough for the generosity and effort in hosting this event. Couldn’t think of a better event to end another Unilocalful year!

This event was incredible. The founder Steve is AWESOME! He knows everything about food science /​healthy ingredients and had so many great stories about the history of this restaurant… including the sustainable ranch they get their cows from. Knowing that this food has all been sourced humanely makes me feel so much better eating it. Plus I didn’t have a stomach ache after that I normally do… despite eating 2.5 burgers, half a hot dog, fries, onion rings and 2 desserts! Normally burgers, fries, and hot dogs give me stomach troubles so the fact that this place didn’t really speaks to the freshness of their ingredients and lack of artificial additives. Way to go BURGERFI!
I am still SO full the next day and all the food was delicious. We got to sample the traditional cheese burger, 28 burger, breakfast burger, vegefi burger, cheese fries, cajun fries, (GIANT) onion rings, «animal style» fries, chicago hot dog, red velvet concrete, and chocolate milkshake. Oh, and there were free drinks on the house. So generous! My favorite things we tried were probably the breakfast burger (which has bacon, hash browns, a fried egg and maple syrup! :o) and the veggie burger. The vegefi is legitimately the best veggie burger I have tried. It is crunchy and flavorful and although I do not live near the UES, I am going to go out of my way to get this burger again! This event was intimate (only 15 – 20 Unilocalers) which I think added to how much fun it was. I enjoyed talking to the people sitting near me.
Steve described how BURGERFI is a chain with a local feel and I couldn’t agree more. He said each location gets to pick local craft beers to put on tap which truly makes every restaurant different despite it being a chain. Nobody from BURGERFI has ever worked in fast food and you can tell… because everything we tasted seemed gourmet.
The staff was super friendly and accommodating. I got there late and they still went out of their way to let me try the burgers I had missed which was very nice. Everyone seems to have fun working here too and hollering on the bullhorn! Thank you Alex, Katey, Steve, and the staff at BURGERFI for such a great event! You have created a new customer, and I am going to recommend my relatives in Florida visit too!

Never have I ever experienced a food coma like the one I had by the end of this Elite Event. Steve Lieber, the Global Brand Ambassador, did a superb job of introducing us to BurgerFi’s history, culture, and food. I loved how intimate tonight’s event was; about 15 Eliters sat at one table and enjoyed each menu item together. We tried 4 different burgers, a hot dog, and two desserts! It was food overload.
I know it’s weird to ask, but I thought the food portions should’ve been smaller, since we were eating so much. The food baby I had after leaving was intense! Otherwise, I had a great time trying new food and getting to know BurgerFi. Steve’s passion is inspiring. He taught us a lot about the food industry, too. And I’m convinced the veggie burger is the best in the country!

OMG. This event may be the best Manhattan EE ever.
Me and 15 Unilocal elites were so privileged to sample the followings:
Burgerfi cheeseburger (double angus beef and American cheese)
Breakfast all day burger (!! So good)
The twenty-​eight (28-​day dry-​aged ground brisket burger)
Vegefi burger (quinoa and white cheddar. must try)
Hand-​cut fries
Cry and fry
Vienna beef dog
Red velvet concrete
Chocolate shake
Non-​greasy burgers and fries are the way to go! Steve Lieber, the global brand ambassador, truly knows about burgers. From the way he talks about his market research and presents his data, he really cares about his food being natural and fresh. They grind their own salt and pepper! Steve did market research for 5 months and went to try fries at five guys 43X and 30X at shake shack. Currently the UES is the only Manhattan location. They started in Florida about 5 years ago and is now expanding worldwide. They tailor their beer menu to the individual neighborhood’s taste.
400,000 people have dined here in the UES location in the last two years and the interior still looks the same. All of the tables and decorations are made out of recycled materials. Talk about sustainability.
Did you know there are 5,000 kinds of potatoes but only 3 good are fries? They are Burbank, Norkotah and Norwester. This event is so educational that I feel like I need to pay him tuition to be schooled.
Thanks to Katey and Drew (and Ruggy) for this amazing event! Thanks to the entire staff at BurgerFi for this fantastic evening.