My quest for burger bliss brings me back to Shrewsbury Street to the Vintage Grille. Formerly Junior’s, this unique restaurant setup occupies and old garage and mechanic shop. The garage bay doors still function and offer open air seating during the summer months. Being the tail end of summer, the doors were still open with the Red Sox game on the flat screen TVs surrounding the bar. I had been to the previous restaurant (Junior’s) several years and remembered a similar theme for the restaurant, but it had an renewed sense of purpose and attitude about it; from the unique automotive signs hung on the wall, to the menu and the wait staff. I had a Landshark Lager to whet my whistle and then took to the menu to figure out what I wanted to devour for dinner.
Throughout my burger ventures, I have not really had a burger that was crazy or out of the ordinary. While I have come across some delicious burgers, they were all of the generic meat-between-two-buns variety. The burger I ordered was called the Bumper-to-Bumper burger ($11.99). This burger was topped with minced red onions, lettuce, pickles, Thousand Island dressing and served between two grilled cheese sandwiches! I was in the mood to be adventurous and this burger seemed to fit the bill. When the waitress served me my dinner, the burger was massive; I was going to have to pull my best anaconda impression and unhinge my jaw just to bite into it.
The burger was cooked to a nice medium consistency, however could’ve benefitted from some additional seasoning in the meat. The red onion gave a nice crunch and spicy bite to the dish. The best part about the burger was in fact the grilled cheeses. The bread was more buttery than a normal burger roll usually is. The edged were crispy and the interior was light and fluffy. The slices of bread for the grilled cheese weren’t overly thick, so it didn’t make the burger completely inedible. The cheese was fully melted within the grilled cheese and was more plentiful than a regular burger would have. There was always more, ooey-gooey cheese in each bite when you wanted it. The fries were thick cut steak fries that were seasoned nicely and fried to a golden brown consistency. A nice, hearty potato side to accompany a hearty burger.
As if all of this food wasn’t enough, we decided to taste their unique take on a Fried Fluffernutter sandwich for dessert, topped with whipped cream, chocolate and strawberry drizzle, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The PB and Fluff was warm and creamy. The bread was fried perfectly to create a decadent crust on the exterior. If you want a dessert that is out of this world, I suggest you stop by for this classic!
Where will my burger adventure take me next? If you have suggestions of any great burger places, tweet me @EDioufUC5 and your suggestion just might make my short list. Until next time…
