Early June
Looking to entertain an out
of town guest, we decided to scale up this operation. Geoff and I were joined by his wife and
father for a sweaty, Sunday afternoon burger feast. Fortunately, everyone was in a sharing mood,
so we got to try several burger options.
Service and Setting
A prohibition-style bar situated on the Riverwalk, it is an easy recommendation for a tourist, and worth the trip downtown for a San Antonian. Paneled with velvety wall paper and lit with Edison bulbs, this bar maintains a pretty swanky vibe. Service was attentive. Water glasses were laughably petite, and kept our server busy refilling them.
Menu
A prohibition-style bar situated on the Riverwalk, it is an easy recommendation for a tourist, and worth the trip downtown for a San Antonian. Paneled with velvety wall paper and lit with Edison bulbs, this bar maintains a pretty swanky vibe. Service was attentive. Water glasses were laughably petite, and kept our server busy refilling them.
Menu
It’s a good menu with lots
of choices for proteins – from bologna to lamb to bison to beef. Good range on their flavors, and they are
certainly proud of the local purveyors whom are featured prominently in the
dish descriptions and at the end of the menu.
Prices are in line with most of downtown dining, that is to say, expensive. A cheeseburger with egg and fries will set
you back $18.
Beverage
I had first heard of Esquire
in mentions of the city’s best cocktail bars.
I had previously been to their downstairs parlor on a weekend night, and
it is indeed a great prohibition-era bar.
Their cocktail list is city renowned with reason. They also have a good list of Texas beers on
draft.
Patty
Among the group, we got the cheeseburger,
lamb burger, and bison burger. This is
the first restaurant to ask our burger doneness – we all went with medium. I started with the bison burger. It had that great lean flavor you expect from
a bison burger. Really one of the best
tasting patties I have had in a long time.
The lamb had good spice and was well-balanced by the tzatziki sauce, but
was a bit thin. The burger had good
flavor as well, and was cooked appropriately.
For the bad, the most glaring feature of all three burgers was that
there was no puddle of burger juices on any of our plates at the end of the
meal. All three were just a little dry
and missing juiciness. I added an egg
and the other sauces helped with some of that necessary wetness, but did not
fully compensate.
Dress and Bun
The house-made sesame bun
had great flavor and the freshness really showed. Unfortunately, it was a bit too thick,
especially for a burger that is lacking in juice.
Sides
Chili-salt fries were very
good, nice a crisp with a good amount of potato skin. They were good enough to eat without ketchup,
which would be a shame since the ketchup tasted house made as well and was very
good.
The Verdict
We argued on this one. After my first bite of the bison burger, I
was ready to bestow the elusive 5-spur rating.
As the meal continued though, the issues of dryness and expense teetered
us back to a 4-spur. This was a great
meal in a great restaurant, and I will be back. I think a few small changes to
make a juicier burger on a smaller bun would put it in a category worth
traveling from outside city limits. For
now, we give it
4 spurs.
