The second location of NFA Burger opens on May 15 in the former Rina space at Avalon in Alpharetta. It’s a slight anomaly for the development — Avalon’s restaurants lean more full-service than fast-casual, with the closest comparable tenants to NFA Burger being Gusto and Chick-fil-A.
The Avalon opening comes sooner than expected. Last month, NFA Burger founder Billy Kramer and COO Brett Crowder took the opportunity to withdraw from Truist Park food hall Outfield Market in exchange for accelerating Avalon’s timeline.
Kramer insists NFA Burger at Avalon won’t differ much from the original location inside a Dunwoody Chevron station. He’s already plotted out which points in the new space will fill the necessities established by its Dunwoody counterpart.
Diners can expect counter service, a simple bar program, and a nearly identical food menu. (Instead of Schmoops cinnamon sugar twists, the Avalon location will serve cups of frozen custard.) For drinks, think margaritas, and down the line, a bourbon cream, but nothing gimmicky — that’s just not how NFA Burger operates, Kramer said.
“There’s nothing that’s going to be on the menu that is something I don’t personally enjoy or approve of,” Kramer insisted. “We’re not just going to bring in turkey burgers because there’s some element of society that wants us to have a turkey burger. If I ever thought I could make the world’s best turkey burger, which I think is not possible, then we’ll do it.”
That means NFA Burger will continue to offer what it does best: Billy’s Classic smashburgers (seared double-beef patties, American cheese, mustard, pickles, and “sassy” sauce on a Martin’s potato bun), hot dogs, tots, fries, and waffles.
“You’re not there for anything other than the burger [in Dunwoody], so [we won’t] change that here,” he said of the new Avalon location. “We’ll have milkshakes and drinks, and you can sit down and watch a game [on the TVs]. We just want to keep as much of the [NFA Burger] system there as humanly possible.”
With much more space to work at Avalon, this location features both indoor and outdoor seating. The restaurant’s interior will seat the same number of customers as Dunwoody’s outdoor picnic tables, not including the extra bar seats and the reservable table in partnership with Giving Kitchen. There’s also a walk-up window for to-go orders.
Kramer said food doesn’t leave the kitchen at NFA Burger “unless it’s perfect,” a commitment that didn’t come from his years in sales or sudden pivot to the restaurant industry, but from an unaligned triple steak burger he once ordered.
“One patty was to the side and the cheese just to the right, and then the second patty was in the middle, but the cheese was to the left,” he said. “I turned to my son and I said, ‘It takes as much effort to make this perfect as it does to screw it up. So just make it perfect every time.’”
A Dunwoody resident, Kramer first began popping up with his smashburgers at area restaurants before opening a permanent location of NFA Burger six years ago inside the Chevron market on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Construction continues on a stand-alone kitchen for NFA Burger beside the Chevron station. The gas station burger joint will relocate to the new space upon completion.
NFA Burger has been recognized by national and local publications over the years, including Garden & Gun, Atlanta magazine, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
NFA Burger, 3180 Avalon Blvd, Alpharetta. Opening May 15. Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
