SoDo's Best Burger Is Made in a Strip Mall

"Where Are We?" By Seattlest Flickr Pool contributor SlightlyNorth.

We are dedicated to finding the perfect hot lunch in Georgetown. Top contenders thus far have been Smarty Pants' Troublemaker sandwich, a drippy cheesy mess stuffed with ungodly amounts of spicy chicken and bacon; the gouda fennel polenta at Georgetown Liquor Company, fried crisp and topped with a scrumptiously zingy and sweet apple balsamic reduction; and the perfectly crunchy, well-seasoned chicken salad sandwich at Georgetown Truck Stop, until that hut of heaven closed in fall of 2008. There's a new guy in town, though. The sourdough bacon burger at recently-opened Burger Madness, on 4th Avenue South (just north of Costco), just edged its way into our all-time favorite four hot lunches in SoDo/Georgetown.

The meat, the all-important foundation of any good burger, tasted just like the hamburgers we've grilled in our backyard during warm, lazy summer evenings. This is not your round, small, medium-rare, kinda hoity-toity patty; this is your thick, huge, juicy, hand-shaped, ever-so-slightly-charred burger friend. A thick-cut slice of Swiss cheese, a few still-crisp slices of tomato, and grilled, buttery onions were heaped on top of two slices of large, toasted sourdough bread slices slathered with mayo. Add the burger friend and two long, toothsome slices of smoky, salty bacon, wrap up that flavorful sandwich in paper, and what you hold in your hands is hands down the best burger we've ever had in SoDo or its vicinity (yes, including Skillet)--all for only about $5.40.

That, Seattle, is the truth. We're just sorry we didn't get a photo.

Burger Madness // 4117 4th Avenue, Seattle, 98132 // (206) 623-3178