Zuzu's on Saint Simons Island, Georgia Has Amazing Hamburgers

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We are on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, a lot, and we have many favorite restaurants. If we want seafood, there are three or four that we frequent. For pizza, there are only three that I like, although one stands out. But, if we are in the mood for a burger, there is only one destination: Zuzu's in the Village. The service is always fast and friendly, and the burgers are truly amazing.

I know when you read the headline, you thought of your own favorite burger joint. Some people like the new chains like Shake Shack and Five Guys, and those are okay. Or you may be thinking of your local pub that produces the massive half-pound burger smothered with cheese, bacon, and a half-dozen other toppings. I have one of those also, and when I go there, I usually get a burger.

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But there is something special about the burgers at Zuzu's. These are like the burgers you got at a diner or drugstore when you were a kid. Where the cook took a portion of fresh ground beef and smashed it on the griddle with his spatula. Maybe some grilled onions got thrown on top. And as they worked the other orders and kept an eye on the fries, they would flip the burger, giving it a good whack with the spatula for good measure. Finally, it got slid onto a toasted bun and placed in a basket along with an order of french fries still dripping from the hot oil.

And when you bit into it, you were in heaven. The grease dribbled down your chin, and the cheese burned the roof of your mouth. The fries were hot, crisply on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

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This.

This is the burger experience at Zuzu's. Everything is still there like you remember it. Stools against the counter with booths on the opposite wall. Behind the counter, a griddle, deep-fryers, and a milkshake machine. What else would you need?

Speaking of french fries, the fries at Zuzu's on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, are hand-cut and fried to order. None of that sitting around in a warming pan nonsense. And even though the fries are great, I have to get the onion rings every once in a while. These are also hand-cut and battered. I can't stand it when a server tells me how great the rings are and what shows up are those pre-breaded frozen things that are completely tasteless.

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We only discovered Zuzu's about five years ago, but they've been around for 15 years in the same location. They have a lot of other sandwiches. My wife likes the BLT or the pimento cheese occasionally, and one of our table mates will get the chicken salad or fried green tomato sandwich.

But I'm a burger guy. If I wanted a fried green tomato, I'd order the Fried Green Tomato Burger, one of almost two dozen varieties. About half the time, I'll opt for the plain old cheeseburger. It's a classic for a reason.

Food at Zuzu'sImage by Author

If I want a little more zing, I go for the Buffalo Burger, the Black N Blue Burger, or the 007. The Buffalo and Black N Blue are great treatments of the ones you could get in other places. But the 007 is topped with jalapenos, grilled onions, bacon, pepper jack cheese, and A1 sauce. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, Zuzu's suffers from the same problem as too many other restaurants on Saint Simons Island, Georgia - too much food. And this makes it difficult to enjoy one of their hand-spun milkshakes or a couple of scoops of ice cream. They keep at least a dozen flavors on hand, and they are all good. For this reason, most days require two separate trips to Zuzu's.

If you find yourself on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, and in the mood for a burger, your best choice by far is Zuzu's in the Village.

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