Hops Burger Bar with Alyzza May of the Greensboro Mural Project

Hops Burger Bar- 2419 Spring Garden St- It's like Burger Heaven. Creative Burgers presented like a works of art (Mine was 10 inches tall!) that are not lacking in flavor,  fun friendly service, as well as 3, YES 3 different Veggie Burger choices.  Hops brings their A game.....

Greensboro Mural Project - Building Bridges by Painting Walls. We talk with Alyzza May about co-ops and upcoming Murals. Let's paint this town.......

Alyzza May of the Greensboro Mural Project

      Alyzza May and I want to paint this town red....or blue or a rainbow of radiant colors in the form of awesome murals gracing the dead walls of our fair city. It's something we have in common, but something she and her cohorts at the Greensboro Mural Project are accomplished in. So awhile back when she mentioned she had been dreaming about a wall but didn't know who owned it, I went to the tax records to find out. Swish, Boom, Bam- Alyzza and the Greensboro Mural Project now have a new mural in the works on the Corner of Mendenhall and Friendly avenue. With a unique approach and two murals under their belt (The Children's Museum and the Interactive Resource Center) they got the bug now and I admit, I'm infected too. So we decided to talk more over burgers.  Alyzza is a Vegetarian so I asked here where the good Veggie Burgers are in town. "Hops has good Veggie Burgers" so on a gorgeous Wednesday, we headed down Spring Garden for lunch and to talk shop.
     

Custom Burgers or Build your own.

      Hops is built around the Burger and any place that hangs their hat on a single dish better bring the heat. Hops doesn't disappoint. Located in the Former Spring Garden Pizza Location and owned by the same people, Hops brought in some fresh talent for a redesign and created a fresh trendy Burger menu that is spot on. The look and feel of the menu and the hand painted sign on the side of the restaurant alone promises not just burgers, but BurgerArt.
     Using Certified Angus Beef, Local ingredients and unique topping combinations, Hops constructs BurgerArt like the College Hill Blues, The Spicy Goat, The Hawaiian, and the Asian Invasion. A "Wall of Fries" with equally unique fry selections like Bacon, Sour Cream and Chives and Parmesan Jalapeno create a fun fresh menu that makes me want to, like a Burgerholic, Keep Coming Back until I've had the chance to devour everything on the menu.
      If you fancy yourself an adept Burger architect you can "Build Your Own" with 20 different topping choices, 9 cheeses, 3 Special sauces (Including the Original Boar and Castle Sauce-- Greensboro LOVE!) and 4 different Buns.

North Carolinian with Nutty Patty- Vegetarian

    Alyzza's day job is working for the non-profit Fund For Democratic Communities. She is a Certified Co-op Developer. I admittedly know very little about Co-ops so Alyzza explains the benefits of Worker Co-ops to me as we scan the menu and dream of a co-op Burger joint. Little did I know anything can be formed as a co-op. "It's not just that thing hippies do" she says. Co-ops have a long history and the benefits include the opportunity to practice direct democracy and ownership to the workers who make the business run.
     Alyzza settles on the North Carolinian sanz bacon and with the Nutty Patty; one of the THREE Veggie Patty choices on the menu. The other two are Mushroom Cauliflower and Sweet Potato and Collards. She gives me a bite and it's awesome. The Nutty Patty has so much flavor! She said it was a bit on the salty side today maybe because of the sunflower seeds, but I definitely want to come back and get one. She also makes a great choice of Sweet Potato fries which come with a sweet Cinnamon and brown sugar type smear for dipping. Delicious.

     I get the Pickleback. Fried Red Onion Rings (that's what makes it so tall), Bourbon Marinated Pickles and Spicy BBQ sauce. This thing looks cra-cra and I was a little worried that it would be a pain to eat, but it's not. It smooshed down rather nicely and was more manageable than expected. The BBQ sauce did get all over the place including my notes I was taking, but hey, no risk no reward, and there were plenty of napkins...I used 7 total.
      Hops offers a choice of 6oz and 8oz patties and I go with the 6 oz. The BBQ sauce is good, not especially spicy, but with a good sweet zing. The Bourbon Marinated Pickles are like fireworks in my mouth offering up these great tangy, complex flavors that all of a sudden just explode in the mix of beef, bun and BBQ sauce mid chew. The Hand battered deep fried Red Onion rings add great texture and of course absolutely make the presentation.
      About the worst I can say is that they don't have Texas Pete (Booo!) I'm a Big Fan of Winston-Salem based Texas Pete and I am always disappointed when it's not available. They have Tabasco, a pale substitution. The bun was good, but could have been toastier or carried more flavor, but was a worthy palette, and carried the mountain of topping well with out getting soggy or falling apart.

     After lunch we head to the Historic Aycock Neighborhood. The Aycock Neighborhood Association currently has a RFP for a mural for the pedestrian underpass that connects Aycock to downtown going under Murrow Boulevard. It will eventually be right next to the Downtown Greenway and is a great opportunity for another Greensboro Mural Project. The approach on the other murals was one of intense community involvement.  The IRC mural was crowed funded via Kickstarter and community surveys were done to help guide the content.  For the Children's museum mural they surveyed 300 people and asked them, "What would make Greensboro a Healthy City?" The answers literally make up the content of the mural. This process really brings the community into the process and makes a mural that is reflective of the many diverse people and viewpoints that share our city. It also brings out the community's inherent creativity. One of Alyzza's favorite answers to the survey came from an older Greensboro resident who said we should shut down Elm Street every First Friday and have a huge 5,000 person dance party. Sounds awesome.
     As far as future projects, both Alyzza and I dream big. The 14 story former Greensboro Bank and Trust building on the corner of Elm and Washington would be an awesome place for a huge multi-story mural.