If you like a good burger and haven’t ever been to Zip’s Café, what’s wrong with you? Regularly voted on as one, if not the, best burgers in the area, Zips has a long standing tradition of being a funky little neighborhood joint that serves up great food, with friendly service, a cool décor, and, oh yeah, a model train tooting around near the rafters.
Zip’s has been a landmark in Mt. Lookout since 1926. That’s over 80 years of serving up food to the locals and any other hungry patron who happens along.
The place is small and cramped and loud and often, no matter what time of the day you stop in, there is a line out the door. But none of that matters. Those of us who have been there many times before know that any little inconvenience is worth it.
When Josh was learning how to drive, Mark made a deal with him to map out the way to some of the best burger joints in town and then drive there for lunch. Josh got his hours in as a driver, navigating various road challenges and both of them enjoyed some great burgers. Zips was one of the first places chosen for this.
Located at 1036 Delta Ave. in the middle of Mt. Lookout (and on the web at http://zipscafe.com/), driving here is always a bit of a challenge, especially for a 15-year-old learning how to drive. But even the narrow lanes, the crazy square and fun, adventurous parking couldn’t hamper a hungry Josh that first time or any time since.
Burgers
While we have both had the Double Zip Burger in the past, this time neither of us felt as though we needed a lunch that could easily fill two people so we settled for the classic Zips Burger. Like all the burgers, that starts with a fresh, never frozen, hand patted quarter pound of beef delivered daily from Bleh-Avril & Sons. It is flame grilled to perfection and served on a fresh honey egg Klosterman’s Bakery bun. Josh got his with American, lettuce and tomato, Mark got his the same but added pickle.
It’s always a treat biting into that Zips Burger. The softness of the bun with just the right bit of flavor followed by lettuce, tomato and any other garden and condiments, all crispy and juicy in all the right places. But it is that beef that is really the star of this show. You can taste the flavor of the flame and just how fresh and juicy the beef is. It’s like pulling it off the grill in your own back yard.
So much has been written about Zips Burgers, all of their burgers (and their specialty burgers such as the Girth Burger that’s topped with a split grilled Mettwurst or a Train Wreck that’s topped with shaved ham) that it would be redundant to rave about them here. But it’s hard not to.
These are as fresh and tasty as any burger either of us has ever had. There are only a handful of burgers that we would put in this same category. It simply is that good. Add the perfectly fried French fries and you have a great meal any time of the day.
And the prices aren’t bad either. Even the Food Network show Cheap Eats has featured Zip’s Café in a segment. Add to that all of the local publications who regularly name it one of the best burgers in the area and it’s easy to see why it’s always crowded at Zip’s. Well, maybe some folks are there to check out the crazy décor. Yes, look closely, that is the model train in the picture. The cans of beer are just cargo.
So even though you may wait in line and then get put at a table with a group of folks you’ve never met before, it’s worth it to take a drive to Mt. Lookout for a famous Zips Burger.
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