Doctor's Building Coffee Shop

Stop 12 on the burger tour:  Doctor's Building Coffee Shop

Overall Score: 73(C)

	Burger	Sides	Service/Exp	Value	SCORE
John	56	5	7	9	77
Russell	49	6	8	8	71
Mark	49	6	7	8	70

Mark

It's no secret to those who know me that I have been anticipating this Tour stop for some time.  They have a very high UrbanSpoon rating and the photo of the burger they have posted looks downright delicious.  Besides, this just seems like the type of place that a "from out of nowhere" burger might come from to surprise us all.  So how did the little Coffee Shop measure up?

Rather poorly I'm afraid.  This burger can hold it's own, but it's not going to knock your socks off either.  A nice patty with fresh veggies and a decent bun make it about as straightforward as any I've had on the Tour, but it needed something "extra".  They do get kudos for not using a frozen patty like North Chatt Cat and Porker's, but it was a bit on the dry side.  It's large size and small price makes for good value, but not enough to overcome it's lack of flavor. The sweet tea was on target and I do like the little pellet ice they serve.   The fries had very little taste at all; I sense these are just commercial frozen taters and honestly they looked better than they tasted.

I had the hardest time coming up with my "atmosphere" score for this stop.  It's a weird place, tucked in a weird building.  NPR was playing on the speakers and the decorations just somehow don't seem to fit.  A makeover could turn this into a really quaint little diner, but as for now, I'm not feeling it.  Service was fine.

This burger isn't bad, and if you are a UTC student, this is probably a good option for you because of it's proximity to campus.  I also think that maybe I might visit again sometime and try the daily special, but if I'm going out for a burger, this isn't going to be very high on my list.

Overall Score: 70 (C)

John

At the suggestion of one our many loyal readers, we added the Doctor's Building Coffee Shop to our list.  I didn't even know it had a restaurant, but I definitely remember going to the building when I was a kid.  There was an actual elevator operator.  That's how old I am!

Anyway, after Beth's recommendation and seeing the photo of the double cheeseburger on Urban Spoon, we got ourselves all excited again.  We may need to work on that.

I've read a number of reviews lauding Choco's burgers, but I thought mine was just average.  The bun and veggies were good, but the burger itself, while it started out good somehow got dry by the last few bites.  Maybe it was a fluke.

Frozen fries—nuff said.  Sad pickle on the side.

Price is certainly right.  I particularly appreciate the $1.10 price for the tea.

For lack of a better word, I have to say the experience left me unsettled.  It was sort of like a Twilight Zone episode.  Time has stopped.  Maybe in the 70's.  Dead plants lining the walls.  A live plant kept in shape with a chain.

 Grungy menus.  A hutch stacked with magazines of uncertain lineage.  A rotary phone (I'm not kidding you) on the wall.    What I can only describe as eclectic art posters on the walls.  But then the odd disconnects.  A Japanese owner/cook.  And perhaps the weirdest thing:  no TV, but Fresh Air was being broadcast with Terry Gross interviewing Tig Natory in 2012 about her cancer diagnosis.   Just a very strange lunch scene.

Exiting the building, we reviewed the directory.  Appears to be only one doctor left in the Doctor's Building; the uncertainty of his place reflected by his posting a note next to the elevator that his office is on the second floor. 

But I will say this.  It seemed as though there were a lot of regulars in the place and most were having the special of the day:  Choco's lasagna which looked good and everyone appeared to be enjoying.   I wouldn't mind going back, but maybe not for the burger.

Lemon bonus = 0.  It was pretty funny when Zack brought my tea with no lemon and I asked again and he brought the bottle of ReaLemon concentrate.  At least I didn't have to open the stupid little packets.

Overall Score: 77(C+)

Russell

This week's stop on the burger tour was the Doctor's Building Coffee Shop on McCallie Avenue.  This is a place that was suggested by one of our readers.  I had been here several times while I was in college at UTC.  I remembered from college that they had good food, but it had been many years since I had been.  I knew what to expect when I walked in, but I think John and Mark were a little weirded out.  It is a strange little place and we were entertained throughout our lunch by NPR playing loudly on the radio.  

The special for the day was lasagna and it looked really good, but we were there for the burger.  It started off bad when John ordered tea with lemon.  As most of our readers know, John is very picky when it comes to lemon with his tea.  The server brought our drinks and John did not have a lemon.  John asked the waiter again for his lemon and the waiter brought out a big bottle of lemon juice concentrate.  Enough with the lemon though... how did the burger stack up with the competition???

I thought the burger was pretty good, but it was not close to the burgers currently at the top of our list.  Lets just leave it at that.  If someone asked me where to go to get a burger, this would not be high on my list.  After having the burger, I had orderer's remorse.  I should have gotten the special for the day.

Overall Score: 71 (C)

Next stop on the tour:  Nikki's