Tasty burgers can be found near, on campus

We here at Technique have decided that there is a most critical piece of information which we have yet to impart unto our valued readership: where to get a decent burger in and around the greater Tech area. What follows is in no way, shape or form, a comprehensive list of the best burger places around, but it ' s a good start complete with mini-reviews for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.

First on our list is The Vortex, with locations both in Midtown and Little Five Points. The Vortex is what you might call a thoroughly enjoyable hamburger experience. Averaging about $7 for a burger and $6.25 for a plain old original, it ' s definitely well beyond the range of your average Big Mac, but then again, you ' re not exactly going to an actual sit-down restaurant because you want something cheap that won ' t kill you.

The burger itself was, all in all, a fine slab of ground beef on a bun. It was large and, as all decent burgers should be, nice and thick. Also, the fries it came with were crisp and plentiful, and the toppings were fresh and, where applicable, crisp.

Also notable was their selection, easily the widest of the restaurants surveyed. The Vortex is home to the the epicure ' s hamburger menu, sporting no less than 20 different types. There ' s more than enough variety to keep even the pickiest satisfied.

Probably the only really bad thing one could say about the Vortex is that, for its price tag, it tries a little too hard to convince you that it ' s secretly your own, personal dive.

The place is basically done in the style made popular by the Hooter ' s and Applebee ' s of the world, only the people behind The Vortex seem to think that if they just do it more they can somehow affect a sufficient degree of street cred.

Whatever, they can keep their tragically forced decor. So long as they keep making good burgers, I ' m not one to complain.

Next up is the Highlander at the end of 10th St. which is a pub after the old English style, excepting, of course, its serious punk overtones. So, when all ' s said and done, it works out to be something more along the lines of some sort of commentary on the old English style.

Regardless, whatever they do works, and the overall effect is that of the local pub for the community of the tragically hip. But in a good way.

Unlike the Vortex, the Highlander is not primarily in the burger business. So, they ' ve got a quite a bit less variety, but plenty of personality to spare. Their primary burger, one of only two, has quite a fairly nice feel to it.

It ' s billed as a Cajun burger, apparently meaning that it ' s incrementally spicier than your average hamburger (though, in its defense, I ' m known to have something of an iron tongue, so your mileage may vary) and that its preferred condiment is mayonnaise rather than good old fashioned ketchup.

Minor oddities aside, it ' s still a great burger, if a little greasy and is well worth your valuable time. Plus it comes with steak fries covered in red pepper, which is a nice change of pace from the rest of the list.

The price tag here is, once again, not comparable to a fast food burger. My burger weighed in, yet again, at $7.25, with its veggie alternative being $6.25. Still, it ' s not a bad price tag for such a good burger, especially if you ' ve got some vegetarian friends.

Next on our list of must-dine hamburger cooking establishments is the pun-happily named Jock ' s and Jill ' s which is just a little ways east on 10th St. from Tech and a sports bar if there ever was one.

Pound for pound, this one probably gives you the least overall bang for your buck, which is not to say that the burger isn ' t still worth checking out.

The first major strike against Jock ' s and Jill ' s is that they don ' t have free parking. It ' s entirely possible to blow five bucks before you ' ve even gotten your drinks if you come at the wrong time.

Once you ' re in the door, there isn ' t a whole lot to alleviate the throbbing pain in your wallet. Their basic burger, the " All American, " costs $8.25 ($7.75 if you specifically ask for no cheese), and on average their offerings are going to run about $9 each. So come ready to spend some money.

Granted, the burger itself is quite good, and the portions just about make up for the increase in price. However, the question lingers as to whether or not it ' s a whole dollar ' s worth of extra food over the next highest competitor.

It ' s definitely the biggest burger of the crowd and the quality is top notch, but if it weren ' t for this last point, one would be hard-pressed to include Jock and Jill ' s on this list.

The big thing this place has got going for it is that it ' s a sports lover ' s paradise. At any given moment, every major sporting event of the day will probably be playing on the restaurant ' s seemingly infinite number of TV screens.

Jock and Jill ' s is definitely the restaurant on this list that most appeals to not only the meat-lover in you, but also to the sports nut.

Ah, Junior ' s. If our other three entrants are the connoisseur ' s red meat eateries, then that would have to make Junior ' s the restaurant of choice for the carnivore on a budget.

When you consider that a regular old burger basket there will run you a whopping $3.95 - that ' s including the drink, by the way - it ' s not hard to see how you could walk out of Junior ' s having paid less than half what you would have at the other three.

Also, looking at the quality of their burgers - solid, but with an expected drop from the ones that you have to drop nine bucks for.

With their poor man-friendly prices, it ' s not hard to see that Junior ' s just took its more natural competition, McDonald ' s, Burger King and that ilk, and kicked them right in the proverbial face.

Unless you ' re so broke that you ' re living off the dollar menu, Junior ' s is by far the most natural choice for good but cheap hamburgers.

Finally, Junior ' s is well within walking distance from nearly anywhere on campus, particularly East Campus. This makes it the ideal eatery for freshmen and just about anyone else without a car or who doesn ' t want to pay for gas.

That is, of course, unless you ' d rather suffer through yet another evening of dining hall food, but that ' s your call.

Did your favorite burger joint fail to make our list? Tell us what you think: nique@gatech.edu.