You've Been Eating Burgers Wrong Your Whole Life, According To TGI Fridays
It's a sensational allegation: Americans eat enough hamburgers every year to stretch around the planet 32 times, per VinePair — but what if we're astronomically wrong about how we eat them? At least, that's what restaurant chain TGI Fridays wants you to think.
As part of a new campaign, the chain's burger experts say you should actually be eating your burger upside-down, per the New York Post. Why? The top bun is often thicker, they tell the Post, so "flipping your burger means that there is more bread underneath to absorb the juices and flavors from the burger and toppings as you bite into it."
The idea that there are better ways of eating classic foods isn't without precedent: While a viral photo of Justin Bieber eating a burrito wrong was a prank involving a celebrity lookalike (via The Verge), fellow musician Lizzo has controversially said we should all be eating burritos starting from the middle rather than the end, per TODAY.
From bananas to bacon, there's no shortage of foods you've been eating all wrong. But when it comes to how we should approach our next piled-high cheeseburger, what's the certified Angus truth?
Should you really flip your burger before digging in?
The flip-turned advice from TGI Fridays is not actually the first time the upside-down burger theory has hit the internet. A burger blogger made a similar case to Insider a few years ago — but other food writers were not convinced. "This is dumb," declared Kevin Pang (via The Takeout). "You look like a doofus eating a burger upside down in public."
To back himself up, Pang turned to "The Sporkful" podcast host Dan Pashman, whose informative, food-buff-worthy show takes on the ideal order of burger toppings as a recurring topic (per The Sporkful). Pashman noted easy solutions for restaurants building a better burger: Besides recommending a toasted bun, his top tip to The Takeout was to place the cheese beneath the patty so it helps seal in the juices without turning the bottom bun soggy. Plus, he said he's concerned an upside-down burger would cause your tongue to first hit tomato, lettuce, and onion, which prevents the burger itself from being the star. The order of your condiments can also help secure slippery items like tomatoes (via The Kitchn), so flipping an intentionally crafted burger could get messy.
Whether you subscribe to TGI Fridays upside-down burger theory or not, there are actually plenty of other ways you're eating your burger wrong, from how you hold it to pressing down on a tall sandwich — so maybe it truly is time to flip your burger-eating game on its head.