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A Return Visit to Royal Tavern, the Best and Worst Hamburger I Ate in Philadelphia
After Robyn reviewed this place before, why is it being covered again? Royal Tavern is popular bar that serves food, but the quality has gone down immensely over the years. Wildly inconsistent kitchen.
The best burger in Philly is at the Standard Tap. Philly burgers tend to skew to gourmet pub style, so if that's not your thing you'll be hard pressed to find a Shake Shack style burger there to fulfill your wishes. Although Stephen Starr just opened his Shack rip-off Square Burger which might do the trick.
What I Ate This Week (Please Don't Tell My Mother)
Jim's Steaks are terrible. Most food on South St. is. The best cheese steaks aren't diced into tiny pieces, like Jim's, which dries the meat out, but rather are whole slices of rib eye. I'll go with Geno's any day.
'New York Post' on Di Fara's $5 Slices
@adam
I tried DiFara, I ended up hating it. For all the talk about the quality ingredients Dom uses, no one ever mentions that he puts so many on(particularly the extra virgin) that most of the crust, save the outside edge, is a sopping mess. Great crust is the pillar of great pizza and although it may potentially be great crust before he goes for the second, yes second, dousing of oil...it certainly isn't afterward.
As far as price goes, I would have no problem paying $5 for a slice of heaven, but I'm not going back to DiFara's whether its $5 or $1.
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
Everyone that voted for any type of soda over beer is a pussy, a 10 year old or both.
A Return Visit to Royal Tavern, the Best and Worst Hamburger I Ate in Philadelphia
After Robyn reviewed this place before, why is it being covered again? Royal Tavern is popular bar that serves food, but the quality has gone down immensely over the years. Wildly inconsistent kitchen.
The best burger in Philly is at the Standard Tap. Philly burgers tend to skew to gourmet pub style, so if that's not your thing you'll be hard pressed to find a Shake Shack style burger there to fulfill your wishes. Although Stephen Starr just opened his Shack rip-off Square Burger which might do the trick.
What I Ate This Week (Please Don't Tell My Mother)
Jim's Steaks are terrible. Most food on South St. is. The best cheese steaks aren't diced into tiny pieces, like Jim's, which dries the meat out, but rather are whole slices of rib eye. I'll go with Geno's any day.
'New York Post' on Di Fara's $5 Slices
@adam
I tried DiFara, I ended up hating it. For all the talk about the quality ingredients Dom uses, no one ever mentions that he puts so many on(particularly the extra virgin) that most of the crust, save the outside edge, is a sopping mess. Great crust is the pillar of great pizza and although it may potentially be great crust before he goes for the second, yes second, dousing of oil...it certainly isn't afterward.
As far as price goes, I would have no problem paying $5 for a slice of heaven, but I'm not going back to DiFara's whether its $5 or $1.
Dear AHT: Have You Ever Gotten Food Poisoning from a Burger?
McDonalds did to me once when I was a kid, 1990. Back before anyone really knew about e-coli. I was sick for about a week.
More Richman—This Time He Takes on Grimaldi's, Patsy's, and Di Fara
Spot on about Di Fara's. Sopping wet mess of a pie. They should serve it a bowl with a spoon.
The Big McFatty Melt
@wunami
Ummm, people already do go wild and eat anything they want, free healthcare or not. You did read this post, right retard? Nobody says to themselves "Man I want a heart attack so bad, but I don't have any healthcare!".
Blog Dedicated to Finding the Best Burger in Cincinnati
Cool site, but it has almost no burger porn. I mean, when a burger gets rated a "Rudy" or "Theo" it would be nice to see what made it so great.
Alan Richman Names Top 25 Pizzas in the U.S.
@nextgospel
99% of the world? Umm, sure....
And you do know that Ferran Adria is SPANISH, right?
And you wrote "one of the most important lines of all time"? Quite modest of you.
Alan Richman Names Top 25 Pizzas in the U.S.
Good to see Tacconelli's getting its due.
What Do You Think of Dijon on Burgers?
I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet, but the Burger Joint uses dijon. I've never seen anyone complain. I certainly haven't.
Restaurateur Stephen Starr Opening Burger Shack in Philly
Wow. Adam, didn't you do a whole post about a tour of La Frieda on AHT a long while back? I'm kinda surprised with your opinion, although there's nothing inherently wrong with it.
Restaurateur Stephen Starr Opening Burger Shack in Philly
As a former Philadelphian and current Brooklynite this doesn't surprise me at all. Meyer and Starr run the exact same play book style wise. The only difference is because Philadelphia is smaller than NYC, Starr has pretty much cornered the restaurant scene there. At last count I think he had about 13 restaurants there, all doing well.
That said, I'm very curious how about how Starr's burger stand will procure its meat. Shake Shack owes a large amount of popularity to the La Frieda blend and Starr is going to have to source something of equal quality to get people to venture into Franklin Square for lunch or dinner (I'd love it he could get a compelling blend from an Amish natural beef purveyor in Lancaster). Although the square was completely renovated a few years ago, and is in close proximity to Independence Mall, it's still in a pedestrian dead zone.
Still, can't wait to try it this summer.
La Villa's Focaccia di Nonna
Adam, I live in the Slope too and have enjoyed many a La Villa pizza. I would order it far more than my go-to (Roma) but the prices, especially the toppings, are way too high. I think they make a great product, but I also think they're a rip off.
In Videos: Rain's South Korean Pizza Hut Commercial
Back to back Pizza+Korea posts??
Cheeseburger from Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia
The answer is that it's not really a burger focused place....its more mussels and frites. They couldn't find the right potatoes to make traditional frites so the went to the source. Since they're not focused on burgers they just fell back on buying rolls, even the wrong ones, from a high quality local bakery.
Cheeseburger from Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia
I agree that the bun kills the burger at Monk's. The bun fail is an example of trying to hard to source the best local ingredients really. They use Le Bus bakery rolls, a local high quality bakery, but inappropriate for most burger applications. They would be better off just using some Martin's potato rolls. You made no mention of the fries though which is a shame, because they truly are some of the best fries in the city. They even get their potatoes from Belgium to make the most authentic frites possible.
Using inappropriate buns is a problem that falls on a lot of Philly's better burgers though. The archetypal Philly burger right now is definitely of the gourmet-locavore-thick-patty variety. It sort of fits hand-in-glove with the huge craft brewing culture that the city has built up over the last ten years or so. Whereas in New York while there's a variety of styles, the Shackesque fast food style (which I prefer) feels like it's ascendant.
All that said, I still think Standard Tap makes the best burger in the city...and they even use Le Bus rolls I believe! Although I don't think ciabatta.
Burger at Royal Tavern in Philadelphia
@roboppy
Enjoy this how-to-tacconelli's giude if you end up going. It's all true, except I would say your don't have to stick to the pie/topping recommendations at the end.
http://www.phoodie.info/2008/03/19/how-to-order-at-tacconellis/
Burger at Royal Tavern in Philadelphia
Monk's is where you go for mussels, fries and awesome Belgian beer...not burgers. Curious that someone recommends Nodding Head, which is a good micro-brewery/restaurant, because its owned by the same guys who own Monks!
For a long time the best burgers in city were at the Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. I haven't had one in several years, but I would most definitely guess that that's still the case.
As far as your vegetarian friend's go, go to Horizon's just south of South St. on 7th St. It's been voted one of the best vegan restaurants in the country several times over. It's the best vege/vegan food I've ever had, and as someone who could eat Shack burgers all day, and everyday...its just plain awesome whether its vegan or not.
Lastly, go to Tacconelli's for pizza already! I can't believe no one on Slice has done this yet. The best pizza in Philly....and perhaps the East Coast....yeah, I said it. Just make sure to order your dough a couple days in advance and bring you own beer/wine.
The Linkery Burger with 'The Lot' in San Diego
Great review from the west coast. I hope Damon take's some notes on being succinct from Colin.
Dear AHT: Boston Five Guys No Good
5 Guys will only offer you a franchise if you agree to open 5 restaurants (ingenious, right?). The franchisee then gets exclusive rights to a specific territory with the right to open more. What's causing John's problem is that who ever has the rights to the Boston area is a deadbeat. When you complain to 5 Guys, 90% of the time they hand the complaint to the franchise owner to handle the response. I know this because I've complained before and the response was handled via e-mail by the owner him or herself. So, he's getting no response because once again the Boston area franchisee sucks. I would send another note to 5 guys pointing out that you've complained before and that no one from the stores in question has contacted you to address your complaints.
Ed Levine on Txikito's Burger
It looks like they only serve this at lunch. :( Can anyone confirm if you can get it at dinner?
This Week's Tasty 10
Le Creuset are worth every penny.
In Videos: Hamburger Crushed by Stiletto Boots
Was this really worth posting on AHT?
McDonald's Cheeseburger vs. McDouble vs. Double Cheeseburger
I know folks who prefer the cheeseburger because it tastes better than the double cheeseburger.
I have to say the McDouble works for me because the one slice of cheese allows for the meat flavor to come through more than on the double cheeseburger.
I know this is off the subject, but the new Angus Mushroom & Swiss is good!
McDonald's Cheeseburger vs. McDouble vs. Double Cheeseburger
Hilarious.
I just happen to be eating a McD's Cheeseburger right now! I missed lunch and had the hubby bring me one, well actually two, to work.
Tastes pretty good when you're really hungry!
McDonald's Cheeseburger vs. McDouble vs. Double Cheeseburger
I want to know why the double cheeseburger was cheaper than the cheeseburger for a while. does anyone remember that? one was $1 and the other $1.29
What's the Best Cheese for Cheeseburgers?
It has to be French Doux de Montagne cheese. It says so here Pork cheeseburger with avocado :-)
Alan Richman Names Top 25 Pizzas in the U.S.
I wanted to set the record straight about Richman's top 25. The following is a link to my full review of Osteria on my Philadelphia best pizza blog, one of the only two pizza joints from Philly to make it on this list. A little hint: I was very disappointed. Happy reading!
http://www.bestphiladelphiapizzablog.blogspot.com/2009/09/osteria-philadelphia-pizza-review.html
Blog Pizza
'New York Post' on Di Fara's $5 Slices
@gabagool: Welcome back. Haven't seen you in a while. The size of a Di Fara slice is 1/8th of a pie about (from memory and without the benefit of ever having measured it) 16 inches, maybe 18 inches, across.
'New York Post' on Di Fara's $5 Slices
5 bucks for a slice of "the best pizza in the world" (opinion)
or 8 bucks for a 5 oz glass of wine? The 5 seems like a bargain to me.
It all boils down to two types of people. You either want quality or quanity.
PS Plus whats the size of a slice in NY? That would make a big difference. Is it a quarter of an 18" pie? IF so, that ain't bad at all.
Shake Shack UWS Madness On Tap: Let the Frozen Fries Start Flowin' in My 'Hood
I realize that I'm going to upset a lot of people, but I ate here last week, after reading the slew of favorable reviews and truly believe that this place is a triumph of hype over content. I'm from out of town, out of state, in fact out of country, but I've been coming to your fair city for almost thirty years now and I used to rate the burgers at the late lamented McHale's as the best in town, so was interested to try this company's much-lauded offerings. I ordered a cheeseburger, medium, with fries, a root-beer and retired to wait for the pager to buzz. (Side note to the owners: when there's a long line, it doesn't sit well with the other customers when a friend of the serving staff wanders in off the street, goes up to the counter, engages three of the staff in conversation and gets his burger almost immediately while people waiting on line are ignored.) By the time I got my order, I was pretty hungry and found a place to sit and eat. What I encountered was a mouthful of heavily salted greasy sludge in a cheap bun, with the cheese as a fatty and tasteless covering. The fries were also smothered in salt, but otherwise tasteless and if I hadn't already guessed that they were frozen, the guy wheeling the piled-high cartons labeled "Frozen Potato Products" or something similar around the kitchen would have given me a big clue.
The root-beer, despite far too much ice, was actually rather good, but the rest of the meal made me feel decidedly queasy. If this is really what you consider to be a great burger, then I fear for your nation's health. A better name for this place might well be Heart-Attack Shack.
(I should mention that I also find the burgers in Le Parker Meridien's Burger Joint to be overrated, but they don't seem to suffer from the same sort of mania that this place generates and they're far, far less greasy.)
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
...I guess I can't argue against 40% of AHT'ers
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
As a self procliamed burger connisour, and a beer enthusiast, beer should never go with food.
Beer (other than poor quality mass produced watery beers) have very distinct, in your face, uncomlimentary flavours. These characteristics aren't very good for pairing with foods.
Beer is not wine.
I truly beleive that beer should be drank by itself. and if drank with a burger, would totally ruin:
a) the taste of the burger
b) the taste of the beer
However, with that being said, I guess I can't argure against 41
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
I've found a glass of Syrah goes excellent with a nice homemade burger. Eating out it's generally a beer.
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
A sweet and milky iced coffee is my favorite, but I can handle it warm if needed. I got started doing coffee and burgers at Pie N' Burger in Pasadena and continued my tradition at Umami Burgers amazing CRU iced coffee. The only way to go!
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
Landshark beer if you like beer. Other than that, milkshake or Coke, I guess.
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
Ahhhh, two of my favorite things. Burgers & Beer.
If I'm cooking the burger I have a couple favorites. In my cast iron skillet, I'll drink a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA or Stone IPA. There is something about that citrusy hop bite that really cleans the palate in between bites. If I am cooking it on the gas grill in the back yard, I'll probably be drinking a Duvel Golden Ale. The Duvel has a bit more of an alcohol kick, but it just is so perfect on a hot day.
If I am getting the burger out, I can be satisfied with pretty much any IPA, but I do drink a pilsner with a burger from time to time. Victory, Prima Pils and and Pikeland Pils from Sly Fox are a couple favorites. They have a slightly dry finish that really complements the beef.
My final verdict is that beer and burgers go well together. Beer is more versatile in food pairings than wine in my opinion. So many options on both sides with beer and burgers. It would only be natural for the beer/burger pairings to reflect a wide variety of tastes. Don't be afraid to drink that Raspberry Wheat beer with a turkey burger or Marzen with a Bleu Cheese burger....
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
Normally I would sat beer but I had to go old school and say milkshake a thick, hand dipped one at that.
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
I so badly want a burger and a milkshake to be awesome together but to me they never are.
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
@twoshoes: I don't.
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
@roboppy: so how you get jrunk then?
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
@EazyB: Some of us don't like alcohol. I can't comfortably stomach any of it, unfortunately; the flavor is too bitter (yup, I've had lambics; by that point I'll just drink juice).
AHT Poll: What Drink Goes Best With a Burger?
Dr Pepper with Sonic Drive-In ice.
Would You Send Back an Overcooked Burger?
I'd be afraid of what would come back, so I wouldn't send it back, but I would not go back to that restaurant again.
Would You Send Back an Overcooked Burger?
Hell YEA I would send it back - I ASKED FOR RAW!
Gibbles Potato Chips
If you like a big crunch try Krunchers chips especially the hot buffalo wing flavor.
A Return Visit to Royal Tavern, the Best and Worst Hamburger I Ate in Philadelphia
I'm a Philadelphian, and as far as hamburgers are concerned, I think they're best when they're simplest -- a non-intrusive bun, good beef, a slice or two of American cheese. That's the best part of a burger and all I really want. Sometimes a slice of tomato or a strip of bacon on top.
As for cheesesteaks, try John's Roast Pork http://www.johnsroastpork.com/. They have fantastic cheesesteaks and roast pork sandwiches, the best I've had.
A Return Visit to Royal Tavern, the Best and Worst Hamburger I Ate in Philadelphia
it's not a burger if there isn't bacon on it!
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About EazyB
Website: http://www.schizopunditry.com
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Favorite foods: Burgers, Tacos, Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken
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Everyone that voted for any type of soda over beer is a pussy, a 10 year old or both.