more fizzling than sizzling eats. devoured by the billions daily, the humble hamburger is undeniably among the most revered and exalted american foods. as such, nearly every restaurant serves a burger. but with such massive production and consumption rates, it's hard to find one that sets itself apart from the ever growing desert of unexciting, ordinary ground beef sandwiches. fizz, with its list of house-made toppings and condiments, looks to step outside the generic fast food and casual dining hamburger experience. but before we get to the cuisine, there are a few hiccups you should be aware of with the service side of the restaurant. set squarely in the casual dining category, you'll enter to find the bar. during my visit no host/hostess was present to guide guests to a seat, which is a bit of a problem when there are few seating options available. to worsen the problem, the entire bar staff stood by and watched, unhelping, as my fiancee and i, soon followed by another pair of diners, entered and waited patiently to be seated. the two gentlemen behind us gave up after nearly ten minutes and left, while my companion and i stuck it out. eventually, a, well, let's politely call him an 'uncouth' man asked if we would mind sitting out at the patio dining area. we said no, we wouldn't mind being seated outside...and he walked off to the kitchen, without another word. unsure of what was expected, we seated ourselves and a waitress eventually found us, realized we weren't offered menus, and promptly brought them. with the initial non-foodstuff related issues behind, the remainder of the service was on par for an informal grill (though other patrons who had to address the man from the front were having similar issues). the 'bottles' portion of the name refers to the large inventory of interesting sodas and smattering of alcoholic beverages on hand, which the wait staff will describe if you have a taste for a unique drink. after choosing a soda each, my consort selected the spicy burger and i opted for the house burger, both 1/4 lb and with fries on the side. fizz offers a multitude of sauces for french fry dipping, so, naturally, we decided to sample them all. a few on there menu managed to avoid making it to our table, butgarlicaoili, roasted garlic, spicy ketchup, ketchup, ranch, and zesty mustard made an appearance. roastedgarlicwas by far the best, a black peppery mayo withgarlicenough to make its presence known but not overcome the palate. thegarlicaoli was an odd texture, a bit gummy and tart; more than a hint of lemon had apparently made it into the recipe. zesty mustard was good, a sort of blend between the sweetness and back end bite of honey and dijon mustards. spicy ketchup was also good, giving standard ketchup a little extra kick. the others were typical bottled fare. as it turned out, the variety of sauces was quite a blessing; the fries were rather bland, dry, and starchy. the main attraction, unlike the helping of fried spuds, was robust and flavorful upon arrival. and by main attraction, i do not mean the burger. both were fair; the patty formed loosely to retain a soft texture and cooked just slightly past the requested medium, but still moist, though not particularly well seasoned. the undistinguished beef allowed the toppings to steal the limelight. my house burger came armed with the roastedgarlicsauce taste-tested previously on fries, and also the standoutgarlicdill pickles, perhaps the best part of the meal. the mayo got a bit lost as it was lightly applied, but the crisp, definitive flavors of dill, vinegar, andgarlicwere enough to bring the entire burger up a notch. spicy burger, with its smoked pepper mayo and monterey jack cheese, outdid the house. though by no means spicy (try the 'extra hot' version if you go), the cheese and roasted pepper flavor from the mayonnaise give the mouth a nice tingle and lend themselves well to the accompanying tomato and red onion. overall, there are some considerable bumps in both service and food to smooth out, but if fizz directs the same attention to detail toward those areas as they do their trimmings they have the potential to roll from hum-ho to out of the ordinary.