Ann's Snack Bar
1615 Memorial Drive
Atlanta, Georgia
404-687-9207

After the Wall Street Journal named Ann's "ghetto burger" the best in the nation last year, a slew of newbies arrived. Almost every single one incurred Ann Price's notorious wrath by barging into her eight-seat grease shack before being sent scurrying to wait on the patio like everyone else. "Ms. Ann," the salty, elderly burger artist who has spent half her life methodically assembling each sandwich by hand, seats only eight people at a time. When they're done, another eight come in. Most customers, feverishly hungry by the time they're seated, go all-out and order the ghetto burger, an immense, gooey double bacon chili cheeseburger. What makes it so good? It's not the ingredients, though Ms. Ann deep-fries her bacon, and there's some kind of sharp cayenne seasoning on the bun. Something about the whole package is irresistible, and part of it, naturally, is the mystique. If you curse, or your cell phone rings, or you manage to alienate Ms. Ann...well, tough luck, Skippy. Follow her rules, though, and you get the prize -- not to mention the right to chuckle with your seven newfound friends at the counter stools when the next poor uninitiated fool strolls in.

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Photo: Inge Winters