The jalapeño jack burger from 1220 Café is worth the burn.

Where's the beef?

By Will Whatley

Recently, I saw on Facebook a number of locals complaining about the service at a popular fast-food stop. I've seen the long lines there at night and I can't help but wonder what the appeal is? It's the same thing over and over; perhaps reliable, but man is it boring...

Nothing against those who work there, but it's not that good! And with the waits you have to sit through, I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would order the chain's food unless I was somewhere between LaGrange and Newnan on my way to watch the injury-riddled Braves not hit anything before the bullpen falls apart. But I digress.

In my opinion, fast food is like asking Google AI to make you a picture and it's the basic concept of what you asked for but nothing you really wanted. Recently, I went to Talisi Grill and got a burger. Was it perfect? No, but it's the kind of burger you get at a friends' pool party, or cookout even. Its imperfections worked; the patty wasn't pressed out by a machine, waiting under a hot lamp for hours until I showed up and ordered it.

I asked on social media what others thought the best "local" burger was. Many had suggestions, so I decided to poke around and see what all the noise was about.

Friday night, I decided to order DoorDash but found no local options. The only chain I hadn't tried was American Deli, so I put in my order. I wanted the cheeseburger with no mayonnaise, because I can't even get past the smell to find out how it tastes. Unfortunately, there was a lot of mayo on my burger, and a few other issues; in their defense, I ordered during prime Friday dinner hours. I did eat a bit of the eight-ounce patty (not fresh, but a step up from the pickup-window alternative) with some toppings uncontaminated by Satan's sandwich spread, and I can definitely say that while American Deli is a chain, it's an improvement over others and a definitely serviceable option when the double-barrel drive-thru line spills out onto the highway.

Many told me how Acapulco had a great burger. I've crushed a few different dishes from there but never took the burger into consideration since it's a Mexican restaurant. I went back and ordered their fajita burger, which on its own doesn't need any condiments because it's worth the hype; the patty was juicy and the grilled veggies and other toppings give you all you need. However, the fatness inside me growled to put queso on top of it, and it didn't lead me astray. Normally, I'd feel guilty for telling someone they should order a burger at a Mexican restaurant, yet here I am telling you to do so.

I've heard many wonderful things about 1220 Café so I popped in one early afternoon and the New Orleans burger, topped with cheddar cheese, Conecuh sausage and a sriracha sauce, was hollerin' my name. I placed my order, got my drink, and sat down to wait. After five minutes, I started growing restless wondering what was taking so long on my burger until I realized "oh, right, the whole point of this is it's not fast food." Then, I realized how boring it is sitting in my car waiting the same amount of time for a blander burger. The place is also incredibly cleaner on the inside, so it's overall better off that alone before the taste will leave you thanking yourself for getting it.

I chatted with the hostess, who had just finished her last shift before heading off to college. She told me how she'd served in different roles and really enjoyed working there before one of the owners came out and thanked her for what she meant to the restaurant. I'm sure such things happen at the burger chains too, but seeing what the locals, those who've invested both their personal time and money into the community, offer really makes me wonder why folks would sit in line in their cars for the same old, same old when we could all simply order something for pickup and support the local businesses.

I recently escaped Montgomery; while the city has some wonderful places to eat, it's been engulfed in a bland sea of Applebees and a nearby Chick-Fil-A if you're lucky. Knowing what Tallassee's community has to offer actually gives me hope that the mom-and-pop spots still have a place in the world.

Please excuse me for the many places I missed, but I can also personally attest that even some local gas stations have solid burgers. I look at all the options, and a drive-thru line spilling out into the road near the town's busiest intersection, and I want to scream on the corner like a Pentecostal preacher that folks should support their local spots before they burn in an eternal hellfire of hundreds of different signs offering the same exact boring dishes.

To paraphrase the poet Dylan Thomas: rage, rage against the dying of your local light. These places, and this community, is worth the effort.