Fifty Fifty — Restaurant in Frederick

Fifty Fifty is a small smash burger joint located within Olde Mother Brewing in downtown Frederick, MD.

The location is a bit different than a normal burger joint, mainly because you need to walk through Olde Mother’s bar in order to get to the back of the building where you can order food. The atmosphere is somewhere between gastropub meets brewery meets burger place, with a stage in the back for live music and performances.

There’s a walk up counter with touch screen ordering, and you can see the food being made which is cool.

They’ve got a pretty good variety of burgers, sides, sauces, and drinks to choose from. I ordered the Fifty Fifty smash burger with caramelized onions and American cheese. Nothing too fancy. I also got a side of Cajun fries.

The burger itself was well-made and served up just a few minutes after ordering, but I was a bit disappointed with the flavors. Nothing about the burger blend stood out to me as being particularly tasty or exceptionally flavorful. It was just a solidly made smash burger on a Martin’s potato bun, although it was pretty greasy.

My friends got their burgers with the homemade bacon jam, which they said was delicious. When I go to a new burger place, I tend not to get anything too over the top because I’m interested in seeing what the base burger tastes like. Fifty Fifty’s was solid but not amazing.

The Cajun fries I ordered were actually a good bit more enjoyable than the burger, and reminded me a lot of a crispier version of Five Guys’ Cajun fries.

All in all, this is a solid burger joint with friendly staff and well-made food. It just didn’t stand out all that much to me from other burgers I’ve had elsewhere. The price felt a bit expensive, but that’s par for the course these days.

It was also a bit weird that the air conditioning was way stronger in the Old Mother bar, so we decided to eat there rather than the in the Fifty Fifty seating area.

It’s absolutely worth a stop in if you’re at Olde Mother already! If you’re really into smash burgers, definitely stop in to try out...

Atmosphere was excellent. The place is kids friendly. The burgers were a little raw. The fries way too salty. Beer was SUPERB along with the services at the bar. Service at the kitchen fell short. My wife is pregnant and her burger came out a little raw. I told her I will take her burger to go and to just order a new one and ask to have it cooked well-done. Guy finalizing the orders said all burgers are cooked well-done due to sanitary reasons and guy making the burgers said that it looks pink because of the bacon. I don’t know man… we all make burgers in our backyards and can tell when a burger is undercooked. I did a test bite of just the patty and it did feel and taste rare; which I didn’t mind. My daughter’s burger was a little raw as well and no chance in getting it cooked the way you want it even if you want to be cool and pay for it. I felt bad for my wife so I swallowed my burger, chugged my beer, and drove to the competitor. It was my birthday so at least I got to eat two burgers that day.

I believe a patty mixed with bacon should be completely brown if cooked well-done. Even bacon will turn brown when cooked at 160 degree temperature. I know you all know your temperatures so come on… look at the pic and tell me if it’s well-done. Don’t make me pull out my Thermapen ONE from ThermoWorks…brother.

Also, if you are going to have an open kitchen then at least have these guys act like they want to be there. Maybe have them throw a little fake smile when you turn down a much needed request from a customer.

Ps: DO NOT EAT these burgers if you...

This is a very casual burger place located inside Olde Mother Bar. When you go into the bar, walk straight to the back and turn left up the steps. Their touch pad to order was very easy to use and you have the option for customizations. The food came out pretty quickly.

We got a normal Fifty Fifty burger, and a customized one patty burger with Old Fashioned style bun (I'm not sure what this really meant but I think they put bourbon molasses since my burger was sweeter). The burger was nice and crispy, a great smash burger! The toppings were great and plentiful, and the bun did not get soggy, but it was a little greasy.

The side of old bay fries we got was not as good though. It seems they were out of old bay so we only got a little on our fries, and they were a bit soggy so definitely order it extra crispy if you get them. I also think I got a hint of cinnamon on the fries, which was interesting and have me a faint sweet taste. They were pretty normal thick straight fries, nothing special.

We decided to sit inside the bar since the AC worked better there. There was ample seating but the bench table and the high tops were a little small.

Overall, love the burger, come for the burger. Probably one of the best burgers I've had and would totally come back...