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Business & Tech

Sweet Jack Daniel's Tops Friday's Signature Burger

If online attempts at matching the recipe are true, the sauce is heavy on pineapple and sugar, light on the whiskey

The calendar may say September, but this week marks the start of Oktoberfest in Germany, and to mark the occasion, is offering a few fall brews, including Sam Adams' Oktoberfest. This being a lunch column, however, we're going to stick to the food, albeit with a touch of booze: the Jack Daniel's burger.

Though the company line is that inside, it's always Friday – it is also very dark inside. All stores are modeled after the original, opened in Manhattan at First Avenue and 63rd street in 1965. Today, that original restaurant is no longer a Friday's, but the chain boasts 900 restaurants in 61 countries. Friday's claims to have sold more than 27 million hamburgers last year alone.

The Springfield location does a good lunch business, with a handful of tables occupied any time I have eaten there. Flat-screen televisions hang above the dining rooms, and the walls are eclectically decorated with old photos and advertisements, mirrors, accordions, street signs, even a long canoe spanning much of the dining area.

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On a visit last year, we eyed the classic burger but instead opted for a summer seasonal offering, a . This year, with summer safely behind us, we ordered the burger.

An ad outside announces lunch specials starting at $5.95, a good deal for a sit-down lunch at a restaurant that gives good portions. The lunch special menu has several tiers, and the Jack Daniel's burger is on the third tier, for $7.95. I ordered the burger, medium well, and an iced tea.

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The thick Black Angus burger is served on a brioche roll, open-faced, with a thin slice of provolone, two healthy strips of bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion and the signature Jack Daniels sauce – some on the burger and more on the side (ideal for dipping the seasoned fries). This is a tasty burger, not just because of the sauce, but the meat is quality and grilled on a fire. 

The sauce does not taste like whiskey, but is instead sweet, more so than a barbecue sauce. Later, online, I looked up recipes for the sauce, or at least attempts at the recipe, and I see why it tastes so sweet: In most recipes, pineapple juice and brown sugar dwarf the amount of Jack Daniel's whiskey.

This sweet sauce would also make a good coating for chicken wings or most grilled meats. T.G.I. Friday's serves several other menu items with the sauce, including a pulled pork that looked tempting.

Alas, it may be a while before I return. The burger contains a frightening 1680 calories 162 grams of carbs and 84 grams of fat. Ouch. But unlike a fast food burger, laden with as many calories, I can say I enjoyed every calorie. 

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