Rye Delicatessen

Today's cheeseburger is from another relative newcomer to the Minneapolis restaurant scene, Rye Delicatessen. Housed in the former Auriga location on Hennepin near Franklin in the Lowry Hill neighborhood, Rye's specialty is Montreal-style smoked meat. However, continuing my tradition of going to places with specialty items and then ignoring said items for cheeseburgers (see: Anchor, Lyndale Tap House), I decided to see if their burger was up to snuff.

The description for the burger was mostly promising: the beef they use is a blend of chuck and brisket, both flavorful, fatty cuts (and we all know that fat = delicious). Their "Well Built Burger" adds Widmer aged cheddar, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and homemade ketchup to the 1/2-lb patty, all set on a toasted bialy bun. The bun gave me pause -- a bialy is a fine piece of carbohydrate, but I was worried that the dense chewiness of that sort of bread product wouldn't work well in a burger. When I ordered the burger, I was given a choice of "rare, pink, or no pink" -- I chose pink, figuring that would be closest to my preferred medium doneness level. The burger is served with a side of their cole slaw (with a vinegar- rather than mayo-based dressing) and a pickle spear, which I declined, for $9.50. I also ordered a side of fries ($2 during their happy hour, $3.50 normally) because...french fries.

When the burger arrived, it made quite a dramatic entrance, speared through the top with a large steak knife. The patty was large and irregularly-shaped, clearly hand-pattied, with a good sear and a nicely melted cheese atop. The caramelized onions were piled on generously, along with a decently thick slice of tomato and some leaves of, sadly, iceberg lettuce. The bialy bun was covered on top with onion bits and poppy seeds, and was a fair bit smaller than the meat. Cutting it in half showed that the patty was overcooked, with barely a trace of pink to be seen.

With the first bite I knew my fears about the bun were completely valid. It was, in fact, too dense, requiring a lot of pressure to bite through and squeezing the contents of the burger out the back end. This combined with the relative sizes of the bun to meat resulted in a very messy eating experience. I wouldn't complain so much about this if the rest of the burger made it worthwhile -- but, frankly, it didn't wow me. The meat was slightly underseasoned and somewhat on the dry side (no surprise given the doneness level), and was so loosely pattied that chunks of burger fell off as I was eating. On the positive side, the caramelized onion really came through, and the toasted onion topping on the bialy added a nice bit of crunch And Rye's house-made plum tomato ketchup was also quite good -- a far sight better than the swill they called ketchup at Republic.

I think the choice of bun really brought this burger down a notch. If I do come back (and again decide not to order one of their 'signature' items), I would probably try the patty melt instead of the burger -- as it's served on grilled rye rather than a bialy.

Rye Delicatessen
1930 Hennepin Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55403

(612) 871-1200

Republic

Republic is a relative newcomer to the Twin Cities scene, taking over the space formerly occupied by Sgt. Preston's in the Seven Corners area. It is yet another of the area's burgeoning local- and craft-beer-centric establishments, but the food takes on nearly the same importance as the impressive beer selection. Furthermore, it is quite reasonably priced, with nearly all items on the menu coming in at $10 or less.

Republic offers a few decent cheeseburger choices, all made with high-quality 1000 Hills grass-fed beef. I usually try to order the plainest cheeseburger possible at a particular establishment in order to determine the quality of the underlying ingredients without being overwhelmed by any additions. At Republic, this was a bacon cheeseburger with aged cheddar and caramelized onions. Here's the problem: Bacon is cheating. It covers a multitude of cheeseburger sins as it covers the patty, adding salt, crunch, fat, and a smoky flavor, among other things. I decided (on the advice of my clever wife) to order it with the bacon on the side (cooked medium, as usual). Total cost: $9.

It arrived looking fairly promising, with a small mixed-green salad on the side and a dish of what seemed to be house-made ketchup. Nicely melted cheese? Check. Well-seared meat? Check. Toasted bun? Check. Little pile of caramelized onions atop the middle of the patty? Mmm...check. The bacon was one strip cut into two pieces, no additional toppings (lettuce, tomato, etc) were supplied, and the pickles were two small cornichons tucked into the salad at the edge of the plate, nowhere near the sacred burger and henceforth ignored. The cross section showed a patty cooked perfectly medium throughout. Check.

Unfortunately, the promise of burger perfection gave way to the reality of burger slightly-above-averageness. The meat, while cooked properly, seemed completely unseasoned and had, surprisingly, almost no flavor. And while it wasn't dry, per se, it was less juicy than I expected of a burger cooked medium. Both counts indicate a patty made with too-lean beef. And it just gets worse. The caramelized onions, which tasted great sampled alone, just get completely lost amongst the mass of unseasoned beef. And the cheese was so subtle that it similarly was hard to detect its contribution to the overall flavor profile of the burger. The bun: while otherwise fresh-seeming, it was inexplicably somewhat dry. The house-made ketchup was, to me, a miss -- overly sweet and without the vinegary kick of regular ol' Heinz.

Of course, adding the bacon back into the mix changed the whole thing completely. That underseasoned patty was now perfectly complemented by the salty, crunchy pork leading to each bite being a harmonious balance of flavor and texture. The onions and cheese, of course, weren't helped by the addition of the bacon, but I just didn't care at that point.This burger was clearly designed to be a bacon cheeseburger and not just a cheeseburger. Still, bacon alone is not enough to make up for the other fundamental issues with this burger (not juicy enough, too-subtle onion and cheese, dry bun).

In the end, come for the beer but don't expect cheeseburger nirvana.

Republic
221 Cedar Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 338-6146

Acadia Cafe

The Acadia Cafe is located in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis (actually right at the intersection of Cedar and Riverside, just south of the 7 Corners area). It's not so much a cafe, I'd say, as they also have a full menu and bar (with an enormous beer selection) and live music nearly every night, but the name is a holdover from when they used to be a bona-fide cafe in their previous location on Franklin Ave. But the name's not important -- what I really care about are the cheeseburgers.

According to their menu, The Acadia makes their burgers "fresh each day from humanely grown, all-natural, hormone and antibiotic-free cattle" -- promising indeed. They offer a few burger option, but as per my normal modus operandi I stuck with a relatively basic cheeseburger -- meat cooked medium, cheese of some unspecified variety, lettuce, tomato, and onion. And luckily, the menu even mentioned that pickles were included, so I asked to omit them. Total with a side of fries was $7.55.

The burger arrived looking promising -- a nicely toasted bun, fully melted cheese, a few half-circles of red onion (always my preference when eaten raw on a burger), a large tomato slice, and a nice big leaf of green-leaf lettuce. The patty looked to be about 1/3 lb and was nicely seared. I noticed that the bun had a slight yellowish tint, perhaps implying some sort of egg bun, as well as some onion baked into it -- interesting!

The cross-section was slightly disappointing. Where I had ordered medium I instead found medium-well to well-done -- just a hint of pink in the middle, and most of the meat was cooked fully. The first bite confirmed my suspicion -- the meat was dry and, worse, seemingly completely unseasoned. The promise of the menu's copy touting the quality of the beef was, frankly, not fulfilled as the meat, though fresh, was bland. The 'unspecified' cheese was unspecified for good reason -- it was basically unnoticeable in this burger, aside from its texture contrast. The one highlight of the burger was the bun, with its fresh sweetness and chewy yet not overly-dense texture.

In the end, though, a burger lives and dies by its meat, and this one was bit of a disappointment. The Acadia Cafe has a lot to offer, but I'd go somewhere else if I was craving a cheeseburger.

Tracy's Saloon and Eatery

Tracy's Saloon and Eatery is a neighborhood bar in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Despite being a bar, it has a pretty wide-ranging food menu, including, of course, burgers.

I bellied up to the bar and ordered myself a "California Cheeseburger", which is to say it had mayo along with the usual lettuce and tomato and was topped with Wisconsin cheddar cheese. With a side of tater tots, it was $10 even (regular french fries are $0.50 less). I wasn't given a choice of doneness level (insert ominous music here).

The burger was delivered and, wonder of wonders, not a pickle in sight! The cheese was nicely melted, the meat was well-seared, and the toppings (the lettuce and a single large-diameter slice of tomato)neatly covered everything. The patty looked to be something like 1/3 lb. Cutting it in half revealed what I had surmised would be the case -- well done.

With the first bite I knew it was a decent but not exceptional burger. The good: The meat was seasoned perfectly, the cheese was great, and the bun (from the Franklin St. Bakery a mile or so down the road) was soft and fresh. On the other hand, the outside of the patty was seared so much it had a hint of that acrid burnt taste -- no bueno! And the patty was pretty thin, which gave the burger a pretty low meat-to-bun ratio. And, of course, being so well-done, it was pretty dry. Try as it might, the tomato could not make up for the meat's near-complete lack of molten fat. The above-average acoutrements aren't enough to make up for the sub-par beef (though I should note that it's not necessarily sub-par in terms of quality, just cooking).

In the end, I wouldn't come here specifically for a burger. BUT...if I happened to be here anyway on a Monday night, when some (most?) of the burgers are half price, it would take some convincing to get me to order something else.

Tracy's Saloon and Eatery

2207 East Franklin Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55404

(612) 332-1865

Pat's Tap

Pat's Tap is a relative newcomer to the Minneapolis scene, opening late last year on Eat Street at 35th and Nicollet Ave. It joins the Twin Cities' growing ranks of so-called 'gastropubs', offering something beyond the standard bar fare as well as a moderate but nicely curated selection of local and non-local beers. But...can they make a good cheeseburger?

As per my usual, I ordered their "Big Cheese Burger", which is advertised as having "Cheddar, tomato, garlic dill pickles". Given the option of doneness, I chose medium, as is my standard. The pickles were ordered on the side (and subsequently bequeathed to my wife upon their arrival with the burger). Total cost, with the chips upgraded to their Belgian-style pommes frites, was $14.

The burger arrived a little different than I had envisioned -- but not in a bad way. The "tomato" turned out to be a thick slice of a green tomato (possibly an heirloom variety that covered the entire top bun. And the cheese was not only laid on thickly, but also uniformly browned on top as if the whole thing had been held briefly under a broiler after assembly. The meat had a nice sear to it, and the bun was also lightly toasted. Cutting into it showed that the meat was a little on the rare side of medium in the very center but with most of the meat showing a perfect medium doneness.

Biting into it, I knew I had found a winner. While the patty isn't as intensely beefy as The Anchor's grass-fed affair, everything in this burger just works. The beef just straddled the border between being undersalted and perfect, but with the large slab of melted cheese on top no additional seasoning was necessary. The patty was deliciously juicy, and the cheese -- let me tell you, whoever decided to brown the cheese deserves a raise, because it's goddamn brilliant. The tomato provided a nice textural contrast to the meat and cheese but not a lot of flavor (hey, it's March in Minnesota, we can't expect miracles), and the bun, while fresh, was content to just stay out of the way of the more flavorful elements of the burger.

All in all, this is a burger worth making a trip for. It's not my all-time favorite (that honor still belongs to The Lyndale Tap House), but it's definitely up there.

Pat's Tap
3510 Nicollet Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 822-8216 ‎

p.s. The ambiance was a bit raucous when we were there, with lively conversation, relatively loud music playing on the stereo, and the sounds of billiards and skee-ball (!) caroming off the hard, sound-reflecting walls, so be aware. And, the fried cheese curds are fan-frickin-tastic -- I don't know how they did it, but they somehow made battered and deep-fried cheese into a concoction that was light and almost delicately fluffy. Alchemy, I say.