Great Burger!! (McCormick, SC)

Cruising the back roads of America, away from the Interstates and the big cities, has led Laurie and I to many happy surprises over the years…interesting people, great scenery, nifty attractions and great food… During our recent trip to South Carolina, we once again proved our premise…Back Roads Are the Best!

So...here we are in McCormick South Carolina. (McCormick is one of Laurie’s family names) This is a photo of ‘Fannie Kate’s Country Inn’.  The Inn was built in 1882 in conjunction with the coming of the railroad.  It operated as an Inn until 1974 and remained closed for 20 years until it was remodeled.  It reopened for business in 1994.  The Inn has 7 guest rooms, a restaurant and an English style pub.

Here’s a photo of the restaurant portion of the Inn.   We arrived a bit after 1 pm on a Saturday…looking for lunch.  The menu included 3 sandwiches…pulled pork, French dip and the sub of the day…plus 8 different burgers.  We both ordered burgers…

Laurie and I both like our burgers pretty much ‘straight-up’…leaving off the tomatoes and lettuce.  Laurie ordered the Bleu Burger with a side of potato salad.  But, after looking at these photos, we’ve decided that the ‘add-ons’ make for a much more appealing picture.  Never-the-less, we must tell you that these hamburgers were the BEST!  Certainly, we would both rank them among the top 2 or 3 burgers we’ve ever had…!

I had the Bacon Cheeseburger with French fries.  As with Laurie’s burger, the sides were OK…but the burger was terrific!  It was all about the melding of the key elements…the seasoning used in the very high quality ground beef, the toasted buttered buns and the crispy edges the chef created on the patties themselves.  Damn Good!

The next time we go through McCormick on our way to Savannah, Charleston or Beaufort, we’ll try to stop at Fannie Kate’s for dinner.  Appetizers on the current menu include the usual…plus breaded cod, fried pickles and Hawaiian Sliders.  The latter are described as grilled sweet onions, Swiss cheese and pineapple aioli on Hawaiian Sweet Bread…interesting!  Three dinner salads are available as are 3 pasta dishes…plus a daily special.

Fannie Kate’s Country Inn is at 127 South Main Street in McCormick SC.  They are open from 11 am until 9 pm, Monday through Thursday and from 10 am until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.  The restaurant is closed on Sunday.  Phone: 864-852-0210.  Website: www.fanniekates.com.