
The burger: Three cheers for the $5.75 burger at Tap Society. That price is not a typo. Isn't it refreshing to encounter a fresh, made-to-order hamburger at that everyday price? Especially inside the prosperous 55419 ZIP Code?
Owner Mike Fritz spent a decade traveling around the country for Macy's, building restaurants in the company's stores. Along the way he also did his fair share of eating, observing and taking notes for the day when he would step out on his own.
Fritz test-drove his burgers-fries-shakes concept for several months via a series of Sunday and Monday night pop-ups at Cave Vin. Tap Society debuted last month, moving into the 46th-and-Grand storefront that most recently housed Kings Wine Bar. He's just getting started.
"The idea is to get this first one up and running and get it right," said Fritz. "Then we'll build upon that with more locations. Down the road, there's the possibility of franchising."

This is one of those what-you-see-is-what-you-get burgers. No extraneous bells and whistles.
"I wanted to keep it classic," said Fritz. "And I wanted to keep it simple from an execution standpoint because I wanted to keep prices low."
What a blessing in this world of $15 burgers. The framework is uncomplicated: a thin-ish, 4-ounce patty, one that cooks on the flat top grill in about four minutes, until the exterior develops a bit of caramelized crispiness and the interior lands on a no-nonsense medium. Size-wise, the patty doesn't quite reach the bun's outer edges, but the meat-bread ratio remains well within acceptable boundaries.

Minimalism is the theme here. The bun – soft, warmed and nicely toasted – is baked at Denny's 5th Avenue Bakery in Bloomington.