Late Night

“If the melting pot exists, the cheeseburger may well be its most palpable product; to take a bite of it is to take a bite of history…”

-Elizabeth Rozin, Primal Cheeseburger

Who could argue with that statement? Checked out Delux Burger today; Delux is a burger joint that gets some serious buzz and numerous Best Burger awards from the local media. They are also a late night favorite since they serve food until 2 AM. This gives them street credit in my opinion.

The mystery dining companion, otherwise known as L. joined me for this burger excursion this evening; we arrived around 10:00 PM for a late supper. The seating is a bit cramped in the dining room and the patio. The Delux menu is very nicely limited, meeting my personal rule for just do what you do best. We both ordered the signature entree, the “Delux Burger”($9.5), starring a half-pound of freshly ground Harris Ranch beef; supporting cast includes a toasted demi baguette topped with Maytag and Gruyère cheeses, sweet caramelized onions, applewood smoked bacon and organic arugula. We also ordered the Combination Fries “a la cart” ($6) which came out before the Burgers. The fries were fantastic! They were served in a mini shopping cart (making them easy to share) and included french and sweet potato fries. Two sauces were also included with the fries, a standard ketchup and a house aioli which resembled a thousand island type sauce with some kick. My apologies for the pictures, but the lighting was very low and I did not want to be disruptive with a flash.

The burgers came out shortly after the fries. They were impressive looking before we took the first bite – robust in size and the beef was perfectly cooked. Delux recommends to order their burgers at medium rare allowing them to showcase the juiciness of the beef; L. and I ordered our burgers medium and they were prepared perfectly. As we bit into these works of art, the beefy goodness oozed wonderful flavor onto our palate. The beef truly is the star of this show, however supporting cast complements it nicely without taking away from the magnificent flavor of the beef. This burger really hit the spot.

I was able to command and conquer this burger, however L. was only able to master one half and took the other half home. Adam from Man Vs. Food would have been so disappointed with her. A few other good factors that Delux offers: Good service, fantastic beer selection, which are primarily microbrews from across the country, and reasonable prices. If Delux has a weakness, it’s an atmosphere that’s a bit trendy and possibly even slightly pretentious, but the burgers are so good that it’s overruled.

Overall, a fantastic experience… and another bite into burger history.

Adam would be so disappointed...

Delux
3146 E Camelback Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 522-2288
http://www.deluxburger.com

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{ 3 comments }

Late night eating in Phoenix is lame. Besides fast food and chain diners, it’s pretty much non-existent. Most of the local restaurants close between 8 PM and 10 PM, even on Friday and Saturday nights. Because of this, I was initially excited when I found Philadelphia Sandwich company, since (1) I am usually up late on the weekends, and (2) I consider myself a cheesesteak connoisseur. Unfortunately, my excitement and hope for finding a quality cheesesteak crumbled after visiting Philadelphia Sandwich Company.

Philadelphia Sandwich Company is located right in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale. It’s surrounded by high end bars and clubs, which being open 24 hours gives it the clear advantage to cater to all the drunkards stumbling out after 2 AM. My dining companion and I arrived before the madness, around 11 PM. When we walked up to the counter to order, the girl behind the counter acted like we were inconveniencing her by patronizing the establishment. I don’t know, maybe she could smell my “east coast upbringing” and knew that I didn’t fit the Scottsdale profile? Anyway, we ordered 2 cheesesteaks with wiz and waited for a few minutes. The restaurant really only has a few stools and some counter space around perimeter of the dining area so when our food was up we took it outside where they have a few tables and chairs. Oh yeah, I don’t know what kind of club music they had blasting there, but it was absolutely annoying. If I want to hear that crap I’ll go down the street to one of the clubs.

Getting right to the crux of the matter, the cheesesteaks were not up to par. the bread was some sort of thick, dry, crusty french bread; completely the wrong kind of
bread for a cheesesteak. Not only was it the wrong kind of bread, there was too much of it. Another point: the portion of meat was rather small for a $7.50 sandwich and was bland, fairly chewy, and full of gristle. Maybe after 15 beers this thing would have tasted like ambrosia of the gods but being completely sober I found it to be pretty lousy. I will say this however, that the people watching on the Scottsdale sidewalk was a lot better than the sandwich I was eating! I thought I was in some sort of open casting call for a B movie about an invasion of pretentious, shallow children. The women had more plastic than a mannequin factory and I lost count of how many douchebag men with frosted hair walked by me. I had to stop at a Walmart on the way home just to cleanse myself of the snobbery that oozed all over me while I sat out on 5th Avenue.