A visit to Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar at The Shoppes at Mandalay Place can be a cerebral exercise. Given the seemingly endless number of permutations your meal can involve, there are an infinite number of different meals at your disposal.
Your burger adventure starts with the meat, selecting from a six-pack including Angus, Australian wagyu and dry-aged beef. If beef isn’t your thing, pick a veggie burger, salmon steak or chicken breast. After selecting from seven buns, then come the toppings—about 45 of them. The selection ranges from standards, including eight cheeses and three bacons, to the exotic. How’s a grilled half lobster sound? Pesto sauce perhaps? And smoked Gouda makes everything taste better.
But wait, there’s more, because what’s a burger without fries? You have eight choices, of which half technically aren’t fries but are fried. Along with skinny, fat and sweet potato, you can order zucchini, onion rings or spicy pepper jack balls. And then there’s the secret menu item—truffle fries. Just don’t tell them you heard that from me…
Fat fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings
Because fries are made for dipping, there are the house-made sauces. Spicy ketchup is made with piquillo peppers, while the white barbecue sauce—which is actually more brown than white—includes mayonnaise for an addictive concoction. Truffle mayo delivers umami, while the hangover sauce is an adult version of McDonald’s secret sauce.
If you’re just not in a decision-making mood, then look no further than the chef’s burgers, where the decision is already made. The eponymous Hubert Keller burger layers a buffalo patty with caramelized onions, baby spinach and blue cheese, and a red wine and shallot reduction for a contrast in flavors and textures befitting the chef. Even more immaculate is the Rossini burger; the epitome of decadence layers foie gras and black truffles on a wagyu patty alongside black Périgord truffle sauce.
In a nod to the soda shops of yore, Burger Bar rolls out an impressive milkshake lineup. There are a half-dozen ice creams with 14 toppings and five sauces each to pick from but, most importantly, you can select from 15 different liquors. Elevate the Nutella—a trio of chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and sauce with Nutella—with Frangelico or spice up the salted caramel, which includes fleur de sel, English toffee syrup and caramel sauce, with some butterscotch schnapps.
Pumpkin spice milkshake
Burger Bar also brings the beer. The venue’s 26 taps are a thoughtful, eclectic collection—a recent highlight was a pinot-noir-barrel-aged Moa Imperial Stout from New Zealand—and more than 100 different beers, including an impressive selection of vintage bottles for those wanting something exceptionally different.
Keller is, if nothing else, a fan of democratic choice. Support democracy with a visit to Burger Bar and choose your path unfettered.
The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Fri.-Sat. 702.632.9364
