The place has a hokey but fun western saloon feel, with hand-painted murals of a barnyard filled with animals, including a cute pig with a red bandana. That would be Lucy, the couple’s pet pig. Their three dogs and five cats are also in the scene.
The “Outlaw” ($8.25) is a half-pound of ground Porterhouse, fat, tender, and topped with aged cheddar. It is cooked a perfect medium rare. I opt for the “Bubba” BBQ ($6.70), a tender patty with a smoky note, thanks to hickory bacon, and a kicky barbecue sauce, cheddar, onions, and pickles. It is so juicy and loaded that I happily eat it with a knife and fork.
A more health-conscious selection is the “Tatonka" ($8.25), a bison burger that, despite its relative leanness, remains pleasingly juicy. Hickory-smoked mayo, cheese, and sauteed onions add their own flavorful juice.
Onion rings (small $3.75; large $4.75) are fried crisp in a light batter, and we wash all of this great stuff down with a thick vanilla frappe ($4.75).
Four Burgers, a stylish joint located across from the Boston Common, had an auspicious start. It opened the day before the Bruins’ victory parade last year in the Theatre District. With thousands of fans lining the street just outside the new storefront, owner Michael Bissanti couldn’t have been happier.
Bissanti, the former managing partner of the popular Paramount restaurant on Beacon Hill, left there in 2007 to open his first Four Burgers in Central Square, Cambridge. A self-described “health nut," Bissanti says he focuses on doing four burgers “really, really well,” using high-quality regional ingredients. The four choices are a grass-fed, local beef burger ($7.75, double $10.25), organic vegan black-bean burger ($7.50), turkey burger ($7.50), and wild salmon burger with sesame slaw and soy mayo ($8.75).
The salmon patty is a healthy-size piece of fish, cooked medium, the slaw crunchy. A whole-wheat bun is slathered with house-made mayo, and it all adds up to a delicious mix of flavors and textures.
