Best Bets: Turkey Burger

Photo by Michael Donahue // Buy this photo

The Turkey Burger at Sky Grille.

Kay Mims, who works in my building, turned me on to the Turkey Burger at Sky Grille.

She loves them. "And I don't even like turkey burgers," she said.

I don't think I'd ever eaten a turkey burger until I tried the one at Sky Grille, which is where the old Quetzal coffee shop/restaurant and bar used to be on Union Ave. I remember eating some kind of mock hamburger made with oatmeal or something. If I remember correctly, it tasted and looked like mud.

I tried the Sky Grill's turkey burger one evening, and it was delicious. It has all the fixings of a hamburger except the ground beef. It's also got a spicy Cajun flavor. You can get a cheese Turkey Burger, too. It may be the closest you're going to get to a hamburger that's not a hamburger.

I thought my Turkey Burger was a little salty, but the next morning (before lunch) I craved another one. They're addictive.

The Sky Grille Turkey Burger is the creation of the restaurant's owner, Tim Wilson. "I raised three kids as a single dad, and I brought what I cook at home to here," he said.

He came up with the Turkey Burger because of his oldest son, Micah. "I used to rodeo. He was getting into rodeo and eating healthy."

Micah was trying to stop eating things like red meat, so Wilson ground up some turkey meat. He prepared it like ground beef, but he added a Cajun-Creole seasoning he learned from his ex-wife, who is from Southwest Louisiana.

You can get the Turkey Burger, which sells for $8, with homemade fries or commercial baked potato chips. I chose the potato chips in keeping with the healthy-eating theme.

Wilson accidentally brought me the fries, but I told him I'd rather have the chips. He took the fries away and brought the chips.

I immediately regretted my decision. Those golden fries might not have been the healthiest thing to eat, but they looked awfully good.

Sky Grille is at 668 Union; (901) 521-9778.

-- Michael Donahue: (901) 529-2797; donahue@commercialappeal.com.

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