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The place is well suited to its Columbia College environs, an industrial space with high ceilings hung with designy white lamps of various sizes and shapes, walls painted with bold abstract graphics, bright orange plastic seating made from recycled materials, and two flat-screen TVs showing a Japanese art film with the sound turned down. You order at a back counter from a concise menu: burger, turkey burger, chicken sandwich, portobello sandwich, egg-and-pepper sandwich. Shakes, malts, and smoothies are made at a separate counter with a few stools for seating.
No doubt because of all the hype on the menu, the back of which is printed with “Epic Rules” like “The bun is the beginning and the end,” I was initially a little disappointed. Both buns, baked fresh locally, were so puffy as to overwhelm the burgers, which though hand shaped, were on the thin side and consequently cooked to an institutional medium. We didn’t find a trace of horseradish in the Havarti, and the vaunted Epic sauce didn’t do much, but once I’d applied some Gray Poupon (bottles of Heinz organic ketchup are also on the tables) and got my burger smooshed enough that the brioche bun wasn’t so assertive, I was pretty well satisfied–the pickles and grilled onions are a nice touch. Tasty fries, too–worlds better than at other fast-food joints, though not in the realm of Hot Doug’s. A good-size bag of them, plenty enough for two, is $1.99.
