Best Burger in Aiken Part 7 - Malia's

Location - Malia's, 120 Laurens St, Aiken, SC 29801
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Fridays are the perfect days for a burger challenge. Well, I guess any day ending in a "y" is a good day for a burger challenge, but there's just something about it being Friday and you are just like, "HELLOOOOOOOO WEEKEND!" And that makes the thought of a big ol' juicy burger that much better. It's science.

So, earlier in the week I was thinking about my next stop and I was pretty dead-set on keeping up with the trend of new burgers. I only have two places left that I have eaten at before so that's not too hard. The hard part, is choosing the location. But, during the week for lunch I have to stay pretty close so I can't go out to a few of the ideas because of my time crunch for lunch.

One of the more intriguing options left to me is Ray's. Now, I've heard some stories about Ray's from a couple of places and it sounds like it would be a fun and interesting experience. I won't share those stories with you for now, because, well, I didn't get to go to Ray's. As I was coming up on it today,  I had to turn around and find another option. "But why?" you ask?

So, my buddies John and Ryan wanted to join me for this burger. They arrived a few minutes before I would have and noticed that there was a chain in front of the driveway. It appeared to be closed. I don't mean to diss, but who in the world is closed for lunch on a Friday?! I have to say I was pretty dejected by this unfortunate turn of events, and reluctantly began thinking of an alternative.

I was obviously so distraught over this that I failed to think of my options that were close enough for my hour-long lunch, now down to 40 minutes by this point, to allow. I was going to hit up the Aiken Brewery, but then John suggested up Malia's.

Malia's! I hadn't even thought of them. Or Magnolia's! Geeze. My brain must have been fried from the devastation of not getting to enjoy the unique experience that is Ray's. Either that or I'm already in weekend mode and I don't plan on doing much thinking when I'm off work. But, John was able to get through to me and so we met at Malia's to give their burger a try.

Malia's is a bit late to the party in that they were not mentioned until I had already started things, but I was guaranteed by a friend that it was a great burger. Alright, I'm sold on that idea. Now, before I get further into the experience, let me show you what they are working with just down the street from both Brew Pub and Betsy's on the Corner, and just around the corner from Playoffs and City Bs:

Right off the bat let me say that this is the probably the most unique burger I have tried for this challenge. What you are looking at is their only burger on the lunch menu and it does not have all the normal "fixin's" you expect. There is tomato,  mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil mayo and I requested some ketchup to add to it. You can order it either on a ciabatta, brioche or wheat roll; what you see in the picture is ciabatta. Notice this burger is not weighted down with lettuce, onions, mustard, pickles, ketchup, olives, peppers, jalapenos, or anything like that.

I can hear a few of you thinking, "That's just un-Ameircan! 'Merica!" But trust me, that certified angus beef patty made it plenty American. I really liked the difference the mozzarella cheese adds because it is a different flavor that you don't get from cheddar or American cheese. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you can set yourself apart, you're doing something right.

This burger also stood out because it seemed like the biggest patty I have had, yet. The picture may not do it complete justice, but I am pretty certain it was the tallest patty and it was the first time I was asked how I wanted it cooked - medium well, for record.

I was not surprised to be asked how I wanted the burger cooked because of the type of place Malia's is. If you've been keeping track, I've described each place a bit. But really, they've all been pretty similar. Betsy's and Red Shed were homey-feel-good places that made you think you were either in another time period or at Grandma and Grandpa's out in the country. Blue Top and City Bs were dive-like places that have not changed over the years, and Playoffs was a small-town bar. But they were all casual. For Malia's I felt under-dressed because I have always seen it and thought it was more about being slightly dressed up. At least slacks and a golf shirt. Not shorts and tennis shoes like I was in. But I wasn't turned away despite the ambience being classy, semi-fancy.

Now, back to that burger.

The burger was a bit of mixture of how I felt and how the place feels. It's beef. It's red meat that is about as American as you can get, but the ingredients class it up a bit to fit in with the ambience of the place.

John joined me by getting a burger as well and we both ordered the ciabatta bread. I tried to change mine to the brioche roll, but I guess the waiter didn't catch it in time. No biggie, I was actually really happy with the roll I received. This burger also sets itself apart a bit because it was served with chips instead of fries. Or you could do a side salad (which I considered heavily considering my diet the past couple weeks with this quest) or soup (they have a New England style clam chowder on there that I really, REALLY want to try. Guess I'm going back!).

Time for that first bite.

It was really good. The burger, because it was a nice size, was cut in half when delivered which was really good because I didn't wan to have to tackle this thing all at once. The meat was as good as advertised, as well. If I had to rate just the patty, I would say Malia's is at the top with how juicy, well-cooked, tender, beefy, and big their patty is. The burger as a whole, was very good, as well. The mozzarella cheese was nicely melted, but I would like to taste a bit more of the basil mayo. I really couldn't detect it, honestly. I know, you're not supposed to mask the beef, but I wanted a bit more from that particular condiment.

Price - $13.00 and some change (burger, side of chips or salad or soup and a water)

Ambience - Kind of fancy, but not over the top. It's a bit dark in there, especially for a lunch time crowd, I felt, but it's not horrible. The rest I have already described above.

So, if I had to rate it, I'd say it is now in third:
1) Betsy's on the Corner
2) Playoffs
3) Malia's
4) Red Shed
5) City Bs
6) Blue Top

It really is very close between second and third because that patty was so great, but the price is what does it for me to lower it a spot. At $13 and some change, this is the most expensive burger so far. Not by an obscene amount, I know, but I also didn't do sweet tea (went with water, instead) which could possibly add another dollar to $1.50 or so onto it so then you're looking at almost $15 compared to $12 at most of the others.

The good news, I walked away stuffed. I am sure my cholesterol and fats intake would make my doctor shake his head and order me onto a diet of salads with no dressing for a few months. Oops. But, you only live once, right? Why not die fat and happy.

As I stated before, I saw some other things on the menu that I am interested to try another time, so now that my first time visiting is over, I can go back again and try some other dishes.

As always, thanks for reading. This thing is approaching 700 views which is just awesome, in my opinion. Please feel free to share and try these places on your own. Let's see where I end up next.