Only Limited to Your Imagination

Last night my dear friend Mari came to visit! She and her dad are driving from Boston, MA to Austin, TX (!!). Mari and I have a lot in common. She loves to run, she has endured many running-related injuries, she’s a Craigslist enthusiast, and she graduated from college last year feeling directionless.

Needless to say, we always have plenty to talk about when we’re together.

Mari was one of my many flatmates when I studied abroad in London (8 girls in one teeny tiny flat). We interned at the same company over there too. We immediately hit it off and became very good friends. I’m not kidding when I say our flat (AKA apartment) was teeny tiny. I’m pretty sure it was a fire code violation. We were jammed in there like sardines. You can see a photo of our Harry Potter closet-of-a-room in my London Study Abroad Photo Album.

(Please don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining about the size of our living quarters, simply commenting. All 8 of us grew to love our flat a lot. After all we were students living in a posh area of the city–we were lucky to even have beds to sleep in.)

Here we are with two other flatmates while touring Cambridge University.

I stayed with Mari when I went to Boston for the Healthy Living Summit in 2009. You can read about our adventures here and here!

Oh yeah, and she was my partner in crime on Halloween back in 2008 .

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Onto the food.

We went out to The Counter last night for dinner with my parents. The Counter is the 21st century’s bold answer to the classic burger joint….burger options are only limited to your imagination.

We got some coupons in the mail so we decided it would be a great night to try out the restaurant.

To be honest, as of a couple weeks ago, my parents and I thought this place was just any ol’ burger place. Boy were we wrong!

We snapped a few photos while waiting for our table.

My dad looked over the menu.

The menu is actually quite simple. You choose what you want: protein, cheese, toppings (so many options!!), sauce, and a bun or greens.

The Counter uses humanely raised and handled meat.

They also have already brainstormed menu options to choose from.

We started off with a trio of sweet potato fries, regular fries and crispy onion strings.

It came with three sauces: BBQ, Ranch Dressing, and Apricot Sauce. I added ketchup to that plate!

I ate my fair share of sweet potato fries and crispy onion strings. They were phenomenal.

Mari and my parents snuck bites as I was trying to get a good photo .

Peter appears to be very excited to have the night off from his chef duties at Peter’s Kitchen. Perhaps a little too excited?

Mari ordered a Greek-inspired burger with 1/3 lb. beef, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, olives, greens, and tzatziki sauce.

My Momma ordered a 1/3 lb. beef burger with brie cheese, jalapenos, roasted red peppers, greens, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.

My Dad ordered a 1/3 lb. beef burger with lettuce, tomato, red onions, cucumbers, applewood smoked bacon, Danish blue cheese and honey mustard sauce.

To take advantage of the coupon, I ordered a Asian Veggie Signature Burger Bowl. It came very close to what I would have selected had I built my own bowl.

1/3 lb. Housemade Veggie Patty, organic mixed greens, carrot strings, chopped red onion, grilled pineapple, roasted red peppers, scallions, with a ginger soy glaze on the side.

I’m gonna go ahead and say this is the absolute best veggie burger that has ever entered my mouth. It even surpassed the amazing veggie patty from Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant–in fact, it kicked it off my veggie burger radar, completely.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I was blown away. I wish I had saved a bite so I could’ve brought it back home and analyzed the ingredients. I must go back and order this again!

Dim lighting=Fuzzilicious photos.

…but I want you to see how real it is!! No weird/sketchy ingredients.

Demolished.

So so stuffed…but in the best way possible.

We came back, chatted like old times, reminisced about our London days, and then hit the hay.

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Tell me: What is the best burger (meat or veggie) that has ever entered your mouth? Did it come from a restaurant? A box? A fast food joint? I don’t judge burger preferences…honestly, I don’t at all .

Happy Friday!

Tagged as: Bleu Cheese, Brie Cheese, Burgers, Carrots, Cheese, Dressing, Fries, Onions, Pineapple, Red Onion, Red Peppers, Salad, Scallions, Spring Mix, Sweet Potato, Veggie Burger