Despite what one may think of Spike Mendelsohn’s colorful personality as a contestant on Top Chef, it is undeniable that he has great culinary ability and chops, which kept him around until the end of the season. During the filming of the show, Mendelsohn was already in deep planning and preparation of his first venture as a restaurateur, a high-quality, fast food style burger joint in Washington, D.C. Named Good Stuff Eatery in tribute to his grandfather, the restaurant achieved almost instant success due to Spike’s television popularity and the great location atop Capitol Hill.

A larger than life size poster of Spike greets customers as they first enter the store, explaining that the name is derived from a saying his grandfather used to use when biting into a cheeseburger. The layout is reminiscent to Five Guys Burgers, another D.C. original with a long line that wraps in front of an open kitchen. Thick, red burgers line the griddle where they are cooked one way – medium and then passed on to an assembly line of cooks who create the 10 specialty burgers offered on the menu. Fresh toppings are constantly being cut and prepared, while a rainbow of condiments in squeeze bottles are tossed back and forth. After placing an order, diners are handed a pager to notify them when their made to order burgers are ready.

Groups of people dot the stairs leading to the second floor dining room, anxiously waiting for a table. We were seated in under five minutes, but waited almost twenty for our pager to go off. The vibration on the table immediately ejected me out of my seat, and I waded through the hungry crowd to collect my order. Signs remind you to not miss the “Mayo Dipping Bar”, a line of pumps boasting several infused versions of the condiment including Old Bay, Sriarcha and mango. We immediately noticed that after making it clear that we would be dining in, our order was wrapped and placed in a bag for take out. The tight folding of the wax paper around the burgers wins points for keeping the messy contents inside, but loses even more for squashing them flat.

The “Prez Obama Burger” (as shown above) has a smear of horseradish mayonnaise on the top bun, which leads way to a deliciously sweet and tangy onion marmalade and nicely cooked Applewood smoked bacon. It’s topped with Roquefort cheese making this quite possibly the ultimate burger for blue cheese and bacon lovers. The “Colletti’s Smokehouse” which swept the judges at Burger Bash is topped with fried Vidalia onion petals, sharp cheddar, Applewood smoked bacon and a house made chipotle barbecue sauce. Sweet and spicy flavors lent well to the down south, smokehouse theme and the fried onions added a perfect crunch. For those who prefer an alternative to red meat, any burger on the menu can be ordered as a farm-raised grilled chicken breast, but there are no vegetarian options yet. The fries which were tossed with thyme and rosemary were overly greasy but delicious. Also be sure to check out the hand spun milkshakes, the signature Toasted Marshmallow tastes just like that, and it will leave you perplexed just how they achieve that straight off the campfire flavor.

Forget the wait and the slightly mangled burgers and it’s obvious that this really is not only good stuff, but probably even great stuff. Spike has made it clear that he hopes to soon expand to several other locations in the area before taking Good Stuff Eatery national in the next few years. If he can manage to keep the quality of ingredients and preparation consistent, we can’t wait for a Philadelphia location to open soon enough.

Gallery: Good Stuff Eatery – Washington, D.C.

Good Stuff Eatery
303 Pennsylvania Ave SE Washington, DC 20003 (Google Map)

Last week, hordes of people piled into Rachael Ray’s Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival to gorge themselves on red meat done up right by some of the best restaurants in the country. Top Chef season four contestant Spike Mendelsohn took home three of four awards for his “Colletti’s Smokehouse” burger. The prize-winning creation which can be found on the menu at Mendelsohn’s Good Stuff Eatery in D.C. is topped with applewood smoked bacon, sharp cheddar, onion rings and chipotle BBQ sauce.

Unbreaded will have to get down to Good Stuff Eatery to try the burger ourselves. Meanwhile can anyone say Sandwich Smash – Fall 2009?