Brown Bag Burger smokes competition, winning Best Burger and Best New Restaurant
Written by Gail G. Collins
Americans eat 50 billion hamburgers a year. It is incredible to comprehend. We obviously love a good burger, but some added discernment might be in order considering that number. So, what is it that takes a good burger to great?
Obviously, it’s about the meat, quality protein with enough fat for flavor. Chefs advise going light on the seasoning, handling the patty as little as possible and grilling over pan frying. Toast your buns and you are well on your way to happiness.
Brown Bag Burger knows this and much more and proving it to win awards for Best Burger and Best New Restaurant. The Prescott-based original location was a longstanding standard under changing ownership, but when, Ian Burns bought the shop in 2020, he defied the advice and the odds.
“The previous owners told me not to change a thing,” he said. “Keep the burgers big, but sub-par (as he saw the quality), but my goal was to change everything.”
He hired a French-trained chef to create new sauces and secured an upscale meat vendor. “The beef is Angus, custom-blended by a Scottsdale butcher for us, so it super fresh,” Burns said. “The seven-ounce patties contain no preservatives and are cryo-frozen. We don’t cut corners.”
Read more: Best of Flagstaff 2023Change is hard, and previous customers complained about the new creations, like the best-selling Hangover, which won accolades at Taste of Flagstaff. The burger is layered with hash-brown style fries, a fried egg, pepper jack cheese, pickles and chipotle mayo. Another winner, the Hawaiian, piles on grilled pineapple, lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese and a secret sauce to satisfy island dreams. Third in line goes Cajun with a blackened patty, cheddar cheese, coleslaw and remoulade. These top three burgers are smeared with house onion jam.
Some customers noted their frustration with the novel upgrades at Brown Bag every time they ate there. As Burns pointed out, “But I’d already won the battle—the customers kept coming back.”
Burns has a broad background in in the food industry from front of the house to bartending to sales and event planning and general management. The pandemic might have sidelined him temporarily, but it was the catalyst for bigger ideas.
Traffic, sales and praise grew, encouraging expansion. With the highest burger ratings in Prescott, Brown Bag Burger was invited to join a successful footprint in a commercial development project in Flagstaff. The location opened in 2023, and the 3,000-square-foot space seats 60-plus guests.
The Prescott shop outgrew its location and moved to a brewery on the historic main street with Master Brewer John Allen in charge. His prowess won Brewer of the Year in 2022 with his bitter, Irish red, Saison and festbier.
Chefs at Brown Bag are highly trained to grill perfect products. Each burger is finished with smoked butter and served with a choice of fries or side salad or make the upgrade to onion rings, sweet potato fries or fried pickles.
Vegan patties are made in-house with brown rice, Chinese black forbidden rice, oats and black beans along with a classified blend of spices. The buns are made on the premises with no additives to take each burger to the next level.
A handful of regulars come in almost daily endorsing the Best of Flag wins. “We put a lot of effort into the feedback and loyalty that got us to where we are,” Burns said. “The love we’ve received, good employees and customers create a family we enjoy.”
According to Burns, a great burger tops fresh buns with local meat and scratch sauces to build mouth-watering burgers people can’t stop talking about. Brown Bag Burger strives to be the place where burger lovers unite. “We did something well and people noticed.” BofFLG