McAvoy’s Café burger
The smashburger is making a splash in Flowery Branch. And, according to amateur cooks, these smashburgers are extremely difficult to replicate.
Stone Jacob has concocted a variety of smashburgers on the menu at McAvoy’s Café at the corner of Atlanta Highway and Phil Niekro Boulevard close to downtown Flowery Branch. From the OG basic to the Alpine Smash dressed with Swiss cheese, spicy tomato relish and arugula, each has its own distinct flavor combinations to suit anyone’s palate.
Stone is the mastermind of McAvoy’s Café and his father Chris is quick to give him all the credit.
“I was thinking of offering a full line of regular burgers, but Stone had other ideas,” says Chris, a long-time caterer who owns Iron House Catering in the metro Atlanta area and based in Flowery Branch. “He said, ‘hey, let me fix you a smashburger,’ and once I tasted it, we never looked back.”
Everything is made from scratch – 100 percent Angus beef burgers, pimento cheese, onion bacon jam and a variety of desserts, including cookies, cheesecake and other tempting sweets.
Chris has been in the restaurant business since the early 1990s. Starting out with his father and brother with Blimpie stores – his family opened the first one in Alpharetta when he was 19 – he worked in management for Hooter’s, Golden Corral and Panera Bread before launching Iron House Catering.
“I mastered various parts of the restaurant business as I went along, and eventually learning how to prepare for volume service,” he said. “Once a client hired us to serve 600 people a buffet meal and asked that the service be complete in 20 minutes. We set up four buffets with lines running on each side, so eight lines, and we did it.”
In 2015, Chris connected with the owners of the Flowery Branch consignment antique mall at the corner of Atlanta Highway and Phil Niekro Boulevard. He was asked to prepare breakfast on the weekends. When the antique mall closed, he made arrangements to continue using the kitchen for his catering business.
The building has changed purposes several times, most recently for two years. The major part of the space will be home to Remedy Distillery, which moved to Flowery Branch from Gainesville.
“One of the biggest changes for us was finally getting a separate entrance,” he said. “It’s right behind our sign toward the west end of the building. You come down a hallway and there we are.”
McAvoy’s is Chris’ mom’s maiden name. “We all decided since she only had sisters that we would keep her family name alive by naming the restaurant after them. It just seems to fit.”
McAvoy’s is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 pm. Dine in and takeout are available.
Chris’ favorite? “The Hangover with hashbrowns, fried egg, pimento cheese and onion bacon jam. It just hits the spot.”
McAvoy’s Café is located at 5540 Atlanta Highway, Flowery Branch. For more information, call McAvoy’s Café at 678 828-8033 or visit the Facebook page at McAvoy’s Café.
Photo: by Pamela A. Keene
