I’m not the obvious candidate to write a blurb about Ann Arbor’s “Best Burger.” I am, after all, a vegetarian, and have been for essentially the entire time I’ve lived in Ann Arbor. So maybe not the best qualified to judge the delectability of a beef sandwich. But I have something else to offer, something less orthodox that maybe someone without my background wouldn’t think to mention.
The Black Bean Burger.
Frita Batidos might be best known for their other menu items, but their Black Bean Burger has to be hands-down the most delicious vegetarian beef burger-alternative I’ve run into over my time in Michigan. Everything about it is done just right — the seasoning, the thickness, the texture. It obviously doesn’t hurt that, like all their burgers, it’s stuffed full with shoestring fries of just the right crispiness. Add a fried egg to top it off and it’s a sandwich unlike any other. It’s good enough that I’ve been inspired to try replicating it at home, always to disappointing effect. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about theirs that I just can’t do myself. And I suppose that’s the charm of it. There’s only one place you can find that burger in the whole world, and that place is Frita Batidos.