Beef Fit for a King

The Pitch

Our previous review having all but ruined burgers for us, we wanted to close out the year on a higher note.  We had never been to Burger Royal before, but heard very good things from a few friends.  The promise of "farm to table" and everything prepared fresh and in-house kept our hopes up…

The Mood

The small, casual space features a dozen tables and an open kitchen.  The décor follows a pop art theme with a couple references to Pulp Fiction's famous "royale with cheese" line (which probably influenced the restaurant's conception).  We were fortunate enough to grab the last free table around 8PM on this Friday night, as a lineup of sorts formed shortly after.

The Food

Although loosely labeled a "burger joint", Burger Royal's menu actually contains several extras such as hot dogs, chili and mac n' cheese (with many variations of each) in addition to two pages of burgers (beef, chicken or vegan).  We wanted to sample a bit of everything, but unfortunately they were out of their natural beef hot dogs for the night.

In the end we went with three different burgers, a bowl of chili, a mac n' cheese and cokes (those come in glass bottles, score!).  The burgers were simply awesome; made with some of the tastiest and best cooked patties we've had in a while.  The chili was average and needed more kick.  However, it actually worked nicely atop the mac n' cheese (oh no we didn't!), which was otherwise great by itself.

Main

Main

$9

$9

Blondie Burger (1/3 lb)

"cheddar cheese, lettuce, pickles, Royal mayonnaise"

Main

Main

$12

$12

Pulp Fiction Burger (1/3 lb)

"guacamole, chipotle mayo, monterey jack cheese, red onions, tomato, lettuce, jalapenos"

Main

Main

$14

$14

Royal Fumé Burger

"smoked meat, swiss cheese, coleslaw, pickle, mustard, Royal mayonnaise"

Side

Side

$10

$10

Mexican Chili

"ground beef, spices, tomatoes, red beans, cheese sauce, guacamole, jalapenos, sriracha"

Side

Side

$8

$8

Mac n' Blue Cheese

"homemade béchamel, aged Quebec cheddar cheese, blue cheese"

tagged:  YOU MAKE ALL THIS?

The Service

With the hot dogs making up a significant portion of the menu, we would have liked it had our waitress informed us of their unavailability from the outset.  That would have saved us having to reconsider our order after having already spent a while choosing from the long menu.  Other than that, everything went without a hitch.

tagged:  WE'RE OUT

The Verdict

Tonight's experience was all about that freshly-ground local beef!  Those patties were so perfect we would throw Burger Royal in the race for best burger joint in town.  However, we don't want to jump the gun and award it a high score in our scale based on the first visit (we still need to test those hot dogs).  That being said, we are very impressed so far, and our faith in good burgers has been restored.

tagged:  DESERVES A RETRY

Price per person:  $18.67