People always ask me, “Hey Cheese Sandwich Guy!  What’s you’re favorite veggie burger?”  That’s actually a difficult question, as different veggie burgers are good for different reasons.  For instance, you may like a veggie burger because it has a texture similar to a real burger.  I don’t personally, as I think those “fake” burgers taste like eating a rubber tire.  My personal favorite veggie burger is really a burger that uses portobello mushroom instead of a burger.  Simple, “meaty”, and works really well if you get a fancy burger with cheese and other fixins.  For those of you who like the vegetable patty style burger, there are different styles and ingredients which are good for different reasons. Probably my favorite vegetable patty would have to be from the Druid (though they have nothing else vegetarian on the menu there).  A strong second would have to be Four Burgers in Central Square.

Four Burgers has a really ingenious concept, serve four really delicious variants of burger, that are very high end and charge exorbitant amounts of money for it!  A typical burger costs about 7 dollars, and with fries and a shake you pay around $16 for a meal!  And it is designed to look like a nicer McDonalds.  The premise of Four Burgers is that there are four burgers: a regular burger, turkey burger, salmon burger, and veggie burger (which is vegan).

The problem with this format is while it is simple, you can’t really play around with toppings and ingredients, and the servers scowl at you if you try to make things too complicated.  But if you want a simple burger and fries and no fuss, this is the place for you!  For my liking the black bean burger is pretty tasty, and is served with salsa and guacamole (i.e. western style), but the combination of flavors is pretty simplistic, and I feel like something is missing flavor-wise.  The food is all quite mushy and salty and buttery, but it would be nice to have a contrasting flavor/texture, though I still am not sure what exactly that would be.  Perhaps tortilla strips mixed in with the salsa, and/or fried jalapeno slices?  I think this would provide a little bit of heat to make the burger more flavorful (the salsa, guacamole and burger are all a little bland, and adding Cholula just makes it taste like Cholula).  The sweet potato and regular fries are pretty average and nothing to write home about.  And I can’t get ranch dressing to dip my fries into, which is not a good thing for a quasi-obese Southerner like me.

Overall, Four Burgers is a simple tasty, yet expensive restaurant.  I have eaten here a few times and have enjoyed it every time (though my wallet did not).  Considering the concept is so simple, you’d think there would be a way to make the food cheaper.  But I think that’s the price you pay for quality food, and local ingredients.  My one critique is that I think I could make a tastier veggie burger by modifying the toppings, and Four Burgers doesn’t let me have it my way (the one thing Burger King got right).  So, I’ll give Four Burgers four cheese sandwiches, as that feels appropriate.

*This has been asked once to me, but I prefer hyperbole. And they did call me “Cheese Sandwich Guy” despite knowing my real name.

Four Burgers
704 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139 
(617) 441-5444