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Atlanta's Blue Ribbon Burgers: Ann's Snack Bar
By Don Spruill
 Ann Price has been making burgers for 43 years. (Photo by Don Spruill)
Ann’s Snack Bar is in a sort of blue-collar, car-parts, car-detailing part of town. When you walk in, you’re in a cross between the soul-food place from the old TV show In Living Color and The Varsity.
Well, here’s the real scoop. Ann Price has been cooking sandwiches for 43 years – 34 of them at her own place. She only allows a certain number of people inside at a time (10 at stools and three or four more standing), because the fire marshal has warned her that only a certain number of people can be “in the house” at one time.
Everybody else has to stand outside (yes, it’s cold this time of year). She doesn’t always have help with the cooking and serving of her delicious fare, and that means you must tell her your complete order when you place it (if you want fries, order them with your burger or hot dog, not later). Ann hand-forms each burger herself.
Along the lines of Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi,” Ann has posted eight rules on the wall:
Anne’s Snack Bar - Rules & Regulations for Service. Please do not...
•Lay or lean on counter
•Consume alcohol or smoke in snack bar
•Sit or stand babies on counter
•Illegally park in lot
•Allow children to slide on rails
•Stand at counter if seats are available
•Curse in Snack Bar
•No shoes - no shirt - no service
Ms. Ann’s specialty is her “World Famous Ghetto Burger,” although some of Ann’s aficionados maintain that her best sandwich is her hot dog. The Ghetto Burger at $5.50 is worth every cent and is composed of this delicious combination of ingredients: Two large patties of hamburger (perhaps as much as three-quarters of a pound of meat before the fat cooks out), chili, bacon (grilled first, then deep fried with the potatoes), lettuce, tomato, lots of onions, a slice of American cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and lots of seasoned salt.
So, how was it? It was awesome, incredible, unbelievable. I’m running out of adjectives!
You’ve got to try this wonderful burger. It was so big, I was only able to eat half of it – had to tackle it with a fork – and I took the other half home for dinner the same night.
Mike, my partner in all things burgers, and I gave it an 8 1/2 – just under the king-of-the-hill, Six Feet Under.
Go soon to Ann’s Snack Bar, because she said she plans to retire by the end of 2006. There should be a “rule” against that!
Ann’s Snack Bar, 1615 Memorial Dr., (404) 687-9207.
Editor’s Note: Since September, Atlanta INtown has been publishing dispatches from our four Burger Guys who have been weighing in on the city’s Blue Ribbon Burgers. This month, they were so enthusiastic about Ann’s Snack Bar they said it deserved its own review. There are still plenty of burger joints on their list to visit in 2006 – including Chops and McKendrick’s. If you have a spot you want them to visit, e-mail susan@atlantaintownpaper.com .
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