Burger Photo Gallery (click pictures to enlarge)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

THE JOINT

Village Whiskey is a classic American bar located in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA.  The bar opened in 2009 and is owned and operated by James Beard (and Iron Chef America) award winning Chef Jose Garces.

If you’ve asked the question, “What’s the best burger in Philly”, you’ve probably heard “Village Whiskey” as the answer more than once or twice.

Right before my recent trip to Atlantic City, I dared to ask that same question on Twitter. This sparked a spirited, but  twitter-brief  “best burger ” debate, but one of the constants that got tweeted was Village Whiskey.

As the tweets flew in, I took notes and made an official “Philly Burger” list in my Clear iPhone app, and decided Village Whiskey would be my first stop once I got off the plane.

The cool, smallish, whiskey laden bar was packed on the Thursday evening I went there with my Philly friend and fellow burger lover, Stuart (@vacord) from Vacord Screen Printing. The host quoted us a wait time of about an hour, so we gave them our cell and they setup a cool automated system to text us when our table was ready. No janky pager with limited range for Village Whiskey. Although we only went across the street to a coffee shop, it was a nice way to not feel tied to hanging around the restaurant door, looking hungry, waiting for a table to be ready.

THE BURGER

 
Their coup de grâce menu item is their Whiskey King burger with maple bourbon glazed cipollini, bleu cheese and foie gras.

This time I decided to play it safe and go with the Village Burger with Jasper Hill Cheddar, smoked bacon and a fried egg. Their beef comes from sustainable, farm raised Angus cattle from Maine and Chef Garces owns his own local from just outside of Philadelphia called Luna Farm. Many of the fresh produce for his 7 area restaurants (and one food truck) come from his own backyard, so to speak.

I ordered my burger medium rare and they delivered it nice and hot and cooked perfectly to temperature. Ordering medium rare is sometimes a risky endeavor if you aren’t sure how the meat is sourced. Luckily, Village Whiskey used top quality beef that allowed the natural meat flavor to shine through when cooked to just the right temperature. The flavor of just the burger was pretty outstanding really. Even with my fried egg, bacon, and cheddar on top, I could still appreciate the beautiful burger taste that was the star of the sandwich.

The cheddar, bacon and egg combo made the burger nearly irresistible. I generally like to get more photos of the burger, but each bite was so super juicy, that I couldn’t hold back from scarfing it down right after my “cross section” photo. Although the bun looked a little fun (it looked more like two top buns than a top and a bottom), it tasted bakery fresh with a nice chewy texture that held the juicy cheeseburger together throughout the meal.

I also ordered the much talked about “duck fat fries”, but I think mine might have been overcooked. When I tried them, there wasn’t anything standout worthy about them. I expected a nice crisp outside and a melt in your mouth buttery-ness inside, but what I tasted seem more like regular french fries to me. The french fries from Spruce in San Francisco (which they swore were *not* duck fat fries) still top my list for the best fries ever.

THE VERDICT

 
Great burgers start with great beef, and this is one of those burgers that would’ve been great plain on a bun or even some sandwich bread from your local grocery store. Add to it some fresh toppings, nice smoky bacon and a fried egg and you’ve got yourself a premium burger offering that was definitely worth the wait. Of the burgers I’ve tried in Philly, this is one that I would make a point to go back for to have again and again. I’ve still got a few burgers on my “to do” list for Philadelphia, but I can see myself heading back to Village Whiskey on my next trip to Atlantic City.

Tags: bacon, featured, fried egg, philly