Burger Down finished third out of four burgers reviewed in an Aug. 22 Welcome Week Edition article, “Which E.L. burger is the king?”

Slocum said the article was written in a “young and punky” manner.

“It’s one thing to criticize a business, but it’s another thing to get beat up because our burger was messy,” Slocum said. “A burger is supposed to be messy. What that article said was that we were crap, crap, crap.”

The burgers were not all that was messy about the restaurant, according to an April 30 inspection conducted by the Ingham County Health Department.

The inspection found 17 instances of “critical” violations for storing raw meat at unsafe temperatures, employees handling meat with bare, unwashed hands and food making contact with unclean surfaces.

Robin Lewis, a sanitarian in the department, conducted the April 30 inspection, which prompted a follow-up inspection more than one month later.

“Our findings from six months ago didn’t have anything to do with their closing,” Lewis said.

“That was a business decision on their end and there is no correlation between previous violations and their closing.”

The violations found in the first inspection were corrected when the department returned to the restaurant in June, Lewis said.

Slocum said the violations were not an accurate reflection of his restaurant.

“You can walk in there right now and eat off the floor,” he said.

Burger Down replaced Jersey Giant about a year ago, which Slocum also owned. Slocum said business may have been slow because he charged higher prices for his burgers.

“Students primarily go for what’s cheap,” he said. “Twenty years ago, students would pay for what’s good, but this generation is the McDonald’s generation, or the value meal generation. They wouldn’t know quality if it hit them in the face with a baseball bat. I don’t blame them, because that’s how they were raised.”

Lansing Community College student Chris Purdy was about to tug on the back door of the restaurant Wednesday before signs informed him it was closed.

Purdy said Burger Down was a favorite among him and his friends.

“I’m sad they’re gone,” he said. “This was a great burger joint and I really don’t know if there’s any better one in town. I guess I’m going to have to find one.”