J. Alexander

Founded in 1971 in Nashville with a nationwide expansion plan that is rather selective, J. Alexander's is an upscale casual restaurant that now has over 30 locations in large cities in 12 different states. With more of the trappings of a high end restaurant rather than the "neighborhood" casual places that dot the landscape, J. Alexander's prides itself on using wood fires to cook fresh, high quality food. That's the company line.

We ventured to the one location here in the Tri-State located in Rookwood Commons (you can find them on line at http://www.jalexanders.com/index.php and while the site is smooth and stylish it doesn't really tell much about the restaurant). But we didn't go to check out the web site, we went to try a burger.

We each had an Old Fashioned Cheeseburger that is made from fresh chuck that is ground daily and then hand patted into a thick burger. They brag about their food being wood cooked and as we do the vast majority of our grilling using wood (and different types of wood for different types of food, we know something about the subject.

One bite and you can taste the wood smoke that has cooked into the meat. The burger is fresh and juicy and was cooked to our tastes. The flavor of the fresh chuck was enhanced by the use of Tillamook cheddar, an Oregon cheese that pairs very nicely with the burger. In fact, the entire burger is very, very good.

But this isn't the kind of place most people will want to make their regular neighborhood burger joint. Though the burgers are very tasty they come at a price; and that price is high. Our burgers were $12 each and the fries added another $5.

If you want a good smokey burger then you might want to make a visit to J. Alexander's. Just bring a lot of money. If, like us, you want a good, fresh, wood smoked burger, just run to Jungle Jim's for some fresh 80-20 Angus chuck and fire up the grill with some hickory wood.