First Impression

John: If you've never seen Back to the Future Part One, you might want to just skip my first impression (which is what half of you do anyway). When you walk into Flippin’ Out – the restaurant name will actually make sense if you keep reading – you’ll feel like Marty McFly did when he traveled back to 1955. Old-time diners are known for serving milk shakes and burgers and this is exactly what Flippin’ Out specializes in. As a matter of fact, if there wasn't a 40-inch flat screen television hanging on the wall, someone could have probably convinced me that it was 1955. Now for the bad news: the restaurant is tiny and there aren’t a lot of tables. So if you’re there during peak eating hours, you may not get a seat right away. Or ever. On the other hand, the atmosphere is laid back, the service is prompt and the music playing in the background is 1950’s stuff that will confuse your kids.

Tim: I don’t know if Breech was wearing his multi-colored 3-D glasses when he looked around, but this place is not exactly like a 1950's diner. There are no booths, no jukebox, and it's not a reconstructed dining car from a train. So don't whip out your pomade and poodle skirts just yet. However, there is definitely a throwback feel to it in that it does have a bar (an old diner staple), the music is all oldies all the time, and you can get a beer for less than $4. It's an old idea with a new twist. Kind of like building a time machine out of a DeLorean.

John: 8
Tim: 6

Appetizers

John: Now that we’ve switched our grading system (if you’re a first time reader, up until two weeks ago, we used a letter grading system), I think it’s about time I noted something else. For our appetizer at Flippin’ Out, we had onion rings and sweet potato fries. Now, if I give the onion rings an eight, and next week we have an ahi tuna and I give that an eight, that doesn’t mean the onion rings and tuna are the same. The onion ring eight means that the onion rings at Flippin’ Out are better than most places that serve comparable appetizers. There, I hope that clears things up, because I really liked the onion rings and I really wanted to give them an eight and I don’t want anyone to think that I think onion rings and ahi tuna taste the same. 

Tim: I don't normally like onion rings, but when we do these reviews I force myself to be a big boy and take at least one bite of everything, for the sake of science. This plan has backfired on me many times (hello, veggie pizza!). However, I think I ended up eating more onion rings than anyone else at the table. That's how perfect they were. They had a light, crispy fried coating, and there was just enough onion to let you know that it was there, without killing the vibe by being too onion-y. I don't know how they could have been any better, which is my guideline for a perfect 10.

Everything I just said about the onion rings also applies to sweet potatoes (except the "onion-y" part). Another pleasant surprise. Not perfect, but delicious nonetheless.

Onion Ring: John 8, Tim 10
Sweet Potato Fries: John 8, Tim 8

Entrée

John: We went all out with our entrées. We ordered a burger, a chicken sandwich and a cod sandwich (The Socialite, the smokehouse and the Drunken Cod are what they’re called in case you like to order the exact same thing we do). For the burgers, you have two choices, you can get them Flipped Out (charcoal grilled) or on the flat top (flat top grill). However if you ask me, there is no choice, get the burger charcoal grilled. Our burger had plum jam on it and it was covered in a generous amount of goat cheese. I’m talking probably three goats worth of goat cheese. I love goat cheese, so this was a pleasant surprise. I’ve been to nice restaurants where they are stingy with goat cheese (it’s a semi-expensive ingredient), not Flippin’ Out. The plum jam adds a sweetness that’s a perfect contradiction to the tartness of the cheese. As for the cod, kind of like the UGA football team over the past two years, it was average. You won’t rave about it when you leave, but you certainly won’t be complaining. I won’t talk about the chicken sandwich other than to say I think I liked it more than Tim.

Tim: Breech always leaves the dirty work to me. Let's get the bad part out of the way. The chicken on the chicken sandwich tasted like it had been fried for about two minutes too long. The only thing that salvaged the sandwich from being completely too dry was the bacon and the barbecue sauce, and that's not a good thing.

The cod was okay, but when you open up your menu at Flippin' Out, I suggest you go straight to the burger section. This is where the deliciousness is. They've infused (good food word) their menu with a distinct California influence, hence you get burgers with plum jam. If that sounds weird, that's because it is. But it is also a fantastic reprieve from the typical bacon-mushroom-cheddar combo that you can find everywhere. If you're over 30 it's time to start being bold with your burger choices and branch out a little bit, and Flippin' Out is the perfect place to do it.

Socialite Burger: John 8.5,  Tim 9
Drunken Cod: John 7, Tim 6
Smoke House Chix: John 7, Tim 4

Dessert

John: When Tim and I looked at the dessert menu, we got more excited than teenage girls at a Miley Cyrus concert. It’s not too often that you can walk into a restaurant now-a-days and order a banana split. Flippin’ Out has banana splits. Now the banana split only consists of a banana, three scoops of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) and some whipped cream, but, not only did I love it, I loved that it was on the menu. They also had an interesting array of milkshakes. We went with a Rolo milkshake that provided a great ending to a good meal.

Tim: I think Rolo is a very underrated candy. They don't do a lot of weird commercials (I'm looking at you, Snickers) and you don't hear about it all that often. But every time I have a roll o' Rolos it's one of the most rewarding 500 calories of my day. You can't ever go wrong with caramel and chocolate, particularly when it's in a good, old-fashioned milkshake.

Milkshake: John 9, Tim 9
Banana Split: John 8.5, Tim 8

Final Impression

John: According to my GPS, Flippin’ Out is exactly 1.1 miles from my house. I only say this because they have an outdoor patio that seems like it will be a great place to be this summer. Nothing says summertime like burgers, milkshakes and sitting outside. Oh and I definitely need to add one thing: if you’re a mom or dad who likes to drink something that’s not a milkshake (think beer), this is the place to do it. Domestics are $2.50 a bottle (Coors Light, Miller Lite, Bud Light and Yuengling), everything else is $3.50 (except for Guinness which is $4.50). This means you can probably get a beer and a burger for under 10 bucks. Or for 10 bucks you can forget the burger and just get four beers.

Tim: Flippin' Out's menu is made with all natural, never frozen foods. I recently read about someone who bought a Happy Meal from McDonald's and kept it on her shelf for a year (an entire year!) and the thing didn't get moldy or seem to change in any significant way, presumably because there are so many preservatives and other crap in there that mold won't even go near it.  I don't know if that actually happened, but it certainly seems plausible. Anyway, Flippin' Out is the opposite of that. The food is real, and for the most part it's quite tasty. Also, our service was great. I usually don't go out of my way to mention the service, because it usually doesn't warrant it. But everything was accurate, prompt and personable without being awkward and overbearing. As a former server, I know that's not easy to do. Here’s some advice: don't be a square and check this place  out.

John: 8.5
Tim: 8