Fairfax

Before anyone objects: both of us have been to Fairfax at least three times, and we have thought the burger was just alright every single time. This is not one bad visit and it is not a first impression. The burger comes from Bar Sardine, a sister restaurant, and runs across Fairfax's menus with BBQ mayo, cheddar, crispy potatoes, and red onion.

The patty is where it goes wrong, and the problem is bigger than seasoning. It is underwhelming full stop. It tasted underseasoned, it had little char, and there was not much beef flavor underneath either. The patty is the most critical element of any burger, and this one has nothing to say.

The third visit is what made that undeniable. We ate Fairfax immediately after The Spaniard, which sits in the same neighborhood, and the contrast was stark. The Spaniard's patty comes out juicy under a real crust and tastes like beef. Fairfax's, eaten within the hour, tasted like a vehicle for everything piled on top of it. Back to back, the gap was not subtle, and it is the clearest evidence we have that the issue is the meat rather than our expectations.

Everything on top of it is loud. The BBQ mayo is tangy rather than smoky, the crispy element brings crunch, and the onion is sharp. Against a well-seasoned, well-charred patty those would cut through and balance it. Against this one they simply take over, and the meaty flavor vanishes under them.

What you end up eating is more reminiscent of a sandwich than a burger, and we think that is the honest way to describe it. As a sandwich it works. The tang, the crunch, the sharp onion, and the smoked cheddar make a genuinely good one. It is only when you judge it as a burger, which is what it is sold as, that it comes up short.

One specific note on the sauce, and this is our impression rather than a claim about the recipe: it tasted as though it had a hint of fish sauce mixed with vinegar. Savory, sour, a little funky. Not barbecue.

It is not a bad plate of food, and it still falls flat against what its ingredients and its reputation promise as a burger. Both of those are true, and three visits apiece is what makes us confident saying so. Order it if you want the sandwich it actually is. We would not wait in line for it as a burger.

The topping set here is assertive and distinctive, and against a properly seasoned, properly charred patty it would produce a genuinely good burger.

It does not have one. The patty is underwhelming rather than merely underseasoned, so tang and vinegar and crunch have nothing to cut through and simply dominate. The result reads as a sandwich rather than a burger, and it is a good sandwich, which is not what it is being scored as. Eating it immediately after The Spaniard on our third visit made the gap plain.