Flip Burger Boutique (Birmingham)

Flip Burger Boutique
220 Summit Blvd.
Birmingham, AL 35243
(205) 968-2000

On our way back to Memphis, we stopped in Birmingham for lunch. I was thrilled when Urbanspoon alerted me to the fact that there was a Flip Burger Boutique. It was on our list for Atlanta, but hadn't made it. It was located in the burbs in a very shwanky, Carriage Crossing type mall.



It had great outdoor seating overlooking the mountains, but we decided to sit inside.



The inside was very posh, but not stuck up. The staff was exceptionally friendly and the place felt very welcoming. We were seated in the middle at a family style table since most of the booths were full. The appeal of the booths is that there is a second, mirror image booth hanging from the ceiling.



I liked our table because I had a great view of the guy making shakes with liquid nitrogen and the guy in the kitchen dressing buns. Satchel liked the fact that he could see the mountains out of the window.



Jiro was sitting next to me and couldn't look at the shakes and not want one. I told him if he ate his lunch, I'd get him one. Our (cute & tattooed) waiter told us that there wasn't a kid's menu but that they would make a burger anyway they wanted. Good enough. I got them each a basic burger with ketchup and pickles and an order of fries to share. Warren and I had a much harder decision to make. There were several burgers we wanted to try. Eventually he settled on the country fried chicken burger and I got the grilled shrimp.

While we waited for our food we did some eavesdropping on the people next to us (they were engaged and lunching with family), took in the ceiling (it was covered in a very graphic pattern with hidden images) and attempted to answer questions such as "How many more miles to Memphis? How many more minutes? How many more seconds?"

Our food came out really quickly and looked fantastic.

Jiro's basic cheeseburger came with homemade pickles, which he rejected.



Their fries were hot & crispy and had ketchup and a smoky mayo for dipping.



Warren's burger was piled high with tasty curried pickles and seasoned with sriracha. Those are zuchini fries on the side.



My grilled shrimp burger was actually a patty. I don't know why this surprised me, but it was a happy surprise. Since they had the option of getting it with a lettuce wrap, I did. Once I figured out how to wrap it up, I was quite pleased with it. (Do places in Memphis do this? I know it was popular when the Atkins Diet took off.)




It was seasoned with Crytsal hot sauce and topped with a fried lemon. Genius! As a side, I got the candy cane beet salad, but as you can see they had golden beets that day. It was really good with the goat cheese and almonds. The Asian rice cracker mix was a little overkill, in my opinion.



The kids had no problem polishing off their burgers, but needed help with the fries. Warren and I were happy to oblige.



Then we were tasked with deciding which shakes to order. We decided to split two. Among our choices: Orangecreme, pineapple upside down cake, Cap'n Crunch, and Nutella with burnt marshmallows. (I've seen other seasonal menus featuring Krispy Kreme donut shakes and even fois gras shakes!) We went with the orangecreme and pineapple upside down.



They came over smoking from the nitrogen and we were instructed to wait for the smoke to clear.



I can safely say that they were among the best shakes I've ever had. Maybe the best. That pineapple was killer.



Our total bill was $59.95 plus tip, which is definitely way more than we'd typically spend on lunch. But it was totally worth it as a treat. If we lived in Birmingham I think Flip would have to be a special occasion place. (Or a sneak over without the kids place.)

A final note, the bathroom was just as shwank as the rest of the place, but had no changing table. A lady who was in there with me commented, "That's the craziest sink I've ever seen." Our dentist has the same sink, so I wasn't as impressed as she was. I did, however, take a picture of the placard on the door.



Boobies! I won't tell you the conversation Warren and I had after seeing this, but let's just say it's a good thing he didn't design the matching placard for the men's room.

When we were about ten miles away, I realized there was a Lululemon store in the mall just across from the restaurant. I was so sad (and relieved--at least for my wallet) that I didn't get to pop in. (I googled Lululemon to see where else they have stores and saw an article saying they were opening in East Memphis in June above Ben & Jerry's by the Paradiso. Is this true? I've driven by since and it doesn't look like anything is there.)

Still, I'm thinking of reasons to go back to Birmingham...hmmm...maybe a I could do a race there? Too hilly?