Hamburger options number 300,000

26 toppings, 10 cheeses, 4 patties, 17 sauces feed the imagination, stomach

By OSKAR GARCIA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTA MONICA — Forget the Big Mac song. Try singing this one: Two-thirds-pound turkey patty, apricot sauce, grilled pineapples, mixed baby greens, herb goat cheese spread, black olives and a fried egg on an English muffin.
The burger menu at The Counter restaurant in Santa Monica has options — 300,000 of them. With so many dizzying permutations available, can a customer ever leave satisfied? Does anyone ever order a burger with caramelized onion marmalade without wondering about the ginger soy glaze that got away?

McDonald's and Carl's Jr. built empires churning out millions of uniform burgers with few or no options. The Counter is hoping for success based on an opposite business plan: Give the customers more options than they could ever use.

Head burger-builder Ken Brown says the business goes through 2,500 pounds of beef a week, up from 500 a week when it started in 2003. Founder Jeff Weinstein said 60 franchises are scheduled to open in California over the next few years.

"People want choice, they don't want to be another sheep that's led down a path of unhealthy food and lack of choices,"Weinsteinsaid."People should be able to choose exactly what itis that they want."

Food franchises have shifted to respond to picky customers, who were raised to think "Why not?" says Amy Bannon, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based International Franchisers Association.

"Think 31 flavors. Buffalo wing franchises with 40 different sauces," she said. "Now we're just completely option-oriented."

The clipboard menu at the restaurant looks more like a list for monthly shopping or options on a new car. Five steps later and the burger is ready to go. The key to making it memorable is to slowly branch out from your personal favorite toppings, says Weinstein.

"Start slow, start easy, start with things you know," he said.

"And then slowly start to explore the more premium toppings and try the unusual combinations."

If you fancy bacon and relish, you could keep the bacon, substitute peppercorn steak sauce and add dried cranberries.

Customers can choose from four patties, 10 cheeses, 26 toppings, 17 sauces and three buns. The average cost of a burger is about $9.

But for those with an appetite and some extra cash, there's always a mammoth 1-pound burger with everything on the menu that would cost nearly $50.

Food options can be an infinite deathtrap for some people. Every gourmet cheese and premium sauce adds an extra pitfall.

"When there's so much, somebody comes right up to you and asks what you want, unless you've been here a few times and you know the combination that you like, it's not easy," said Dianna Riffone, 41, who finally went with a two-thirds-pound veggie burger salad that left off the bun but included carrot ribbons, gruyere cheese, roasted corn and black bean salsa.

There are five preset combinations and a burger of the month.

For those who worry peanut sauce might not go well with hard-boiled eggs, Brown encourages culinary audacity.

"The more flavor areas you hiton your palate, the better theburger is going to taste," Brown said.