Burgers are, in many ways, the perfect food. I mean, you can get all of the food groups in one bite. That practically makes them health food, right!? Yes? Of course. But, as easy as it is to justify stuffing a burger in my face, finding a stellar burger is not always easy. Here at The Broke Baker, “good” is not good enough. Leave the “good” burgers to the amateurs. We’re looking for the kind of burgers that you talk about for days afterwards. We want burgers that make us dislocate our jaws to bite into while we try to keep the juices from dripping down our arms.
That, among other things, was the reason I decided to take a drive to Boca Raton and try M.E.A.T. Eatery and Taproom. Another reason was the pictures of their truffled lobster burger that happened to be floating around social media for a while. So, off I went.
The burger joint’s layout is a bit different. It’s inside of an office building.
Once inside, the restaurant seating is inside the building’s lobby.
The inside is narrow, with a bar and some stools. There’s plenty of beer, and they also make their own soda.
You order at the bar counter, then take a seat. They bring the food to you. They have Daily Specials, so I ordered the Cowboy Burger from the Daily Specials menu. I paid the extra $2 or so to upgrade my fries to truffle fries.
Take a moment to let the burger sink in. That’s an 8 oz beef patty topped with three types of cheese (provolone, cheddar, and Bleu), house-made bacon, crispy onion strings, and house-made BBQ sauce. First off, I need to point out that the bacon was folded under the bun like an accordion. It wasn’t two strips of flimsy bacon forming an X across the burger. It was a LABYRINTH of bacon and onion underneath that bun. And, the patty was cooked to a perfect Medium. Just the right amount of pink. Just imagine the symphony in my mouth when I took a bite and felt the crisp of the onion strings, the smokiness of the bacon, the creaminess of the cheeses, and the savory juiciness of the patty all at once. This was my first time ever having Bleu cheese on a burger. It won’t be the last, though.
As amazing as the burger was, the fries were a bit of a letdown. They sounded very promising, since they are cooked in duck fat. Sadly, they were kind of bland and underwhelming. The parmesan cheese that they were topped with tasted like canned parmesan cheese. That was very off-putting.
Would I drive to Boca for a burger again? Possibly. I would certainly stop by if I am already in the area. I will leave the fries alone, though.
For more information about M.E.A.T. Eatery and Taproom, visit their website at http://www.meateateryboca.com/