Foodish: Grease is the Word.

As I'm sure you've discovered by now...there are few things in life as wonderful to my tastebuds as a good hamburger.

Last Tuesday (that would be June 30), I went with my sometimes-vegetarian best friend Amanda to this new restaurant called the Burger and Cheesesteak Factory, on Prince Avenue in Athens. I did my research--Flagpole (the Athens independant paper) was not impressed, neither was a blogger who works at The Grit (a vegetarian restaurant).

But there were positive reviews as well.

I nearly had to get down on my hands and knees and beg Amanda to go--she heard the phrase "deep fried paradise" and nearly had a coronary--but I was fairly determined that I was going to try this place, and make up my own mind.

My first impression, upon walking into the restaurant, was that the decoration was quite minimalist. There were tables, booths, a counter, and a trashcan shaped like a Coke bottle. The place was very empty; it was me and Amanda, the workers, and a couple who probably should not be eating deep fried anything.

Most of the decoration came from customer-supplied remarks, Sharpie-fied on the walls, booths, and floor for all of eternity. We did not partake in that little venture.

So, anyway, you order at the counter. The menu is mouthwatering, with the front side listing 13 burgers, 9 cheesesteaks, and the beginnings of Deep Fried Paradise. Now, most of the deep fried paradise things I would probably never order; like the broccoli with cheese wiz or cheese stuffed jalapenos. The candy bars I'm still dying to try, though. The back menu hosts "more fun stuff," which is a list far more appetizing than deep fried stuff, as well as shakes and a kids menu.

*Side Note: When I return, I want to know what exactly a "scrambled dawg" is. And I want deep fried candy bars.

After much deliberation, stomach growling, and consultation, I ordered the burger topped with portobella mushrooms and Swiss cheese. I also added lettuce, because despite being a meatetarian lettuce is a hamburger staple, and an order of chili cheese fries. And a chocolate shake.

Amanda ordered a cheesesteak (I don't remember which variety...I want to say it was the portobella one as well but that might be a lie) and a rootbeer float, and opted to share the fries.

You'll have to eat there yourself to make up your mind, but my experience at the Factory was wonderful.

My burger arrived on a lightly toasted bun, with a foot long toothpick in it. There was an eensy weensy pickle atop that. You could literally see the shrooms and cheese melting all over the warm, juicy beef patty. And another thing...the burger was HUGE.

(P.S. Sorry for the sideways picture of the burger...it won't let me rotate!)

It is very, very rare that I don't eat all of a hamburger. Especially when said hamburger has cheese and mushrooms (my favorite vegetable) dripping all over it. But this burger was so intense, so massive, that combined with the plate full of fries, I could not eat the entire thing.

The bad reviews said the burgers tasted faintly like hot-dogs, but I did not see that. There was a lot of flavor in the burger: the tang from the cheese, the sauteed taste of the mushrooms, and the crisp lettuce, plus the very beefy taste of the patty itself.

My only qualm was the pepper mayo on the burger. Pepper is not a good flavor to me, so next time I'll know not to get that on it. Also, I do admit that the grease on the burger could be considered excessive. That part kind of reminded me of getting a good taco, where the juice from the meat kind of leaks out over your hands when you take a bite and the shell breaks. But that's kind of an irrelevant remark...so let's move on.

What probably ruined my burgerppetite, pepper mayo or not, was the rather large serving of deep-fried potatos absolutely drenched in chili and cheese.

Oh my word. This was truly a heavenly side dish. I probably would have been good with just the fries and the shake, it was such a big portion.

The fries were wonderfully greasy and mouthwatering. The chili would probably not win any fancy taste test award, but it had a strong flavor and was slightly chunky, just the way chili should be. Now, usually I'm not a big fan of American and Cheddar cheeses unless they're on a good burger, but it worked with the chili's flavor. Kind of a semi-sharp taste on its own, the cheese was mild compared to the chili, and was very complementary.

I would go back just for the fries, even if the restaurant stopped selling everything else.

I ate there, and I'm not afraid to go again. I do have some tips for your first time though:

1) Try the chili cheese fries, unless you're lactose intolerant, in which case you should skip the cheese

2) Get lettuce on your burger. I found that the crisp texture was very good when contrasted against the other, more tender ingredients. Plus, lettuce is healthy, right?

3) Come really...really...really hungry.

Now...you've heard what I've got to say. Go eat there yourself!

Meatetarian Podcast

For the record. This final "for my advertising seminar class" post is probably going to be a one-time thing. We have to do a Podcast in order to get a good grade on our blog project.

I promise I'm going to keep writing Meatetarian after this post, but what I don't promise is that you'll ever see me post another Podcast. Not a particular fan...sorry.

In going with my previous post about the ADSC retail meat sales--and also helped along by my boyfriend's text message that informed me to "come over here and try one of these brats"--I decided to do my Podcast about how I wasn't the only one who enjoyed eating the meat my fellow students help put on the table. Granted...I interviewed my mom, who cooks all of the delectable dishes in which said meat goes, but my mom is a mean cook, and thanks to my great coaching, she knows her meat. She even uses her little Georgia Cattlemen's Association meat thermometer!

So, if you've never done a Podcast before, I think you just have to hit the link below in order to hear my wonderful (possibly very accented, I was really tired and when I get tired I tend to ramble and get twangier) voice. Here goes nothing!

ADSC Meat

Arguably my favorite part of being an Animal Science major is that at some point during my four-year college career, I will actively participate in every single aspect of the life cycle of livestock, from artificial insemination to gestation to finishing to slaughter. And then, of course, eating the food the animal produces.

Obviously, since I like about 10 vegetables, I definitely am a fan of the eating part. But like most people these days, my family is talking about how important it is to know where your food comes from. Now, this doesn't necesarily mean that you should check your milk to see if it comes from happy cows in California, but to me it means that it's important to promote local and sustainable agriculture. I'll do a researched, factual post about this topic later, because I think it plays a vital role in the future of agriculture in the US.

Tonight is totally my opinion on my favorite place in Athens to get truly local food-- the Animal and Dairy Science department retail meat sales. There is no question where the meat came from and how it was raised. All of the beef, pork, and lamb sold at the retail meat sales are raised and harvested exactly according to USDA standards on UGA-owned land by students and faculty.

Because there is so much research being done at UGA's three campuses to determine genetics for carcass quality, the meat is extremely high quality. Obviously since I haven't done a post yet about how to choose your cuts, I won't go into much detail here, but from experience everything I have tried from the meat sales is delicious. I've had a couple of different cuts of steak and bacon, currently, but my family has also tried some meats and now keeps hounding me about how I need to go to the sales every Friday before I come home and get them this, this, and this.

The availability is kind of iffy, because slaughter is scheduled around classes, so during the summer months pickings have been comparatively slim in the lamb and tenderloin steak departments. The freezer of pork products--ranging from hams to about four different types of sausages--looked pretty full on this past Friday when I was there. Lamb, I heard from the manager, will start being on the shelves probably around September or October.

That kind of makes sense because all of UGA's sheep lambed at the same time this year thanks to a test-run of a new estrous synchronization process.

Also...if you're down for choosing meat based on price over quality, you REALLY need to check out the retail meat sale at least once. The prices are really good-- as in, $11.99/lb tenderloin steaks good. And it's definitely a better cut than what you'll find at Kroger or IGA. I say that because my TV is constantly showing Kroger and IGA commercials for their meat prices, and from shopping at the eastside Kroger in Athens (whose meat choices, by the way, are slimmer than an anorexic person), it is not at all the same caliber you're going to find at UGA.

I actually am planning to do an article on the retail meat sales for the Red & Black at some point. My freshman year I had done interviews for it and everything, but never figured out the right angle to go at it from. One of the questions I asked was where the money from the meat sales went. The answer? Right back to the department, where it is distributed all the way from office supplies to gas for the vans that take students to their labs off-campus. So, by spending $42.35 on Friday afternoon (on 3 pounds of bacon, close to 5 pounds of tenderloin, and 2.5 pounds of bratwurst), I just bought myself some academic benefits somewhere down the line.

I don't think that the retail meat sales sale Kosher or Halal meat, because the slaughtering facility is so small compared to other industrial operations; and the meat is NOT organic, natural, grass-fed, or free-range (that's like grass-fed for pork, just FYI). All the animals harvested at UGA are owned by UGA, and the facility is operated like one that's actually in the industry. So all the inspectors and certifiers are there, and every record is kept according to USDA regulations.

I think I've done enough blabbering for the night. As a journalist, I really really really like having sources, so just talking my opinion bothers the bejeezus out of me, but there you have it. Here are the details if you need them, and if you get any meat from the sales, shoot me a comment/Facebook/Twitter thing and let me know what you think.

Location: Edgar C. Rhodes Animal Dairy Science building on River Road in Athens, Ga

Time: Fridays 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. (Yes, this means every Friday, except for holidays. So July 3 = no meat sale y'all...)

They take cash, checks, and credit/debit cards. Up until like 3 weeks ago they only took cash, so I basically victory danced outside the meat science facililty when I saw that sign. I never have cash, for some reason. But there is a big sign pointing to exactly where in the building the meat sales are so you don't get lost, which is pretty easy to do if you're not an ADSC major.

Oh--and one last thing. I only took one of these classes so far, but if you are interested in learning more and participating in the actual harvesting process (and eating) of livestock, here are some classes you might want to check out:

• ADSC 1050: The Meat We Eat; 2 credit hours; fall semester
• ADSC 2010-L: Introduction to Animal & Dairy Sciences; 4 credit hours, fall & spring (The first part of the class is meat production. I definitely got to butcher a pig. It was so cool.)
• ADSC 3010-L: Meat Merchandising; 2 credit hours; fall semester
• ADSC 3180-L: Meats Judging 1; 2 credit hours, fall semester
• ADSC 3190-L: Meats Judging 2; 2 credit hours, spring semester
• ADSC 3200-L: Evaluation and Composition; 3 credit hours, fall semster (This one is also lovingly referred to as Live/Dead)
• ADSC(FDST) 3650-L: Introductory Meat Science; 3 credit hours, spring semester (Definitely taking this in the coming spring. Can't freakin wait.)
• ADSC 3890: Animal Products in the Human Diet; 3 credit hours, fall semester
• ADSC(FDST) 4140-L: Advanced Meat Science; 3 credit hours, spring semester
• ADSC 4890: Advanced Meat Science; 3 credit hours, spring semester

The two Advanced Meat Science classes have different prerequesites. You can check out all the ADSC classes on the UGA bulletin.