Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Kilburn's Tavern and Grille

Kilburn's Tavern and Grille was nowhere near our list of places that we were planning on reviewing anytime soon. Why? We don't do a whole lot of bar burgers. In fact, the only place that I can think of off the top of my head that was more bar than restaurant is Christian's Tailgate. Plus they spelled Grill wrong. Why did we go? Last minute hunger pains and a last minute recommendation by a friend. We piled into the nearest Toyota Tacoma and burned rubber out into the boonies to Kilburn's #2, which is at Grant Rd and Malcolmson.

Having never been, and walking into a bar in a strip center, we didn't really expect the place to be the classy, slightly upscale British pub atmosphere that was presented. The place was warm, welcoming and stocked to the brim with an almost barbaric selection of hooch. There are plenty of tables if you want to go there to just eat or you can belly up to the bar and go right to work. As a note, the restaurant is family friendly all day with the only exceptions being after 9pm on Friday and Saturday and any time that I'm in there. Bring yo' kids!!

Burgers? Yes, please. What is in a standard burger at Kilburn's? The menu describes a half pound beast that has been spoiled since birth that's been hunted down on a farm, killed, carefully inspected by the USDA and ground into Kobe beef. The beef is hand formed into patties with a blend of smoked sausage and "Kilburn's Special Seasoning" that's all put through a shotgun wedding by a sourdough bun. I opted for the blue cheese burger and Nick threw down on a Texas BBQ bacon cheeseburger. If there are any questions about that, this meant that mine would have blue cheese and onions while the BBQ burger had bacon, a tangy barbecue sauce and two very large onion rings.

In strict adherence to the rules, we had beers from the state of Texas with our meal. Kilburn's immediately found it's way to my heart by having Saint Arnold's Christmas Ale on draft. You can never go wrong with having the best Winter warmer in existence fresh out of a keg, and they even got bonus points for having oversized pilsner glasses ready to go.

The burgers themselves were incredible. It begins and ends with the patty. If you were to put their seasoning in a can of Purina One dog food, I'd probably consider still eating it. Their special seasoning is a peppery blend that is far from hot but not short at all on flavor. I thought I had tasted mild, pickled jalapenos but I was quickly corrected by the owner, who as it turns out was sitting two bar stools down from us the entire time we had been there. What is it? Chipotle peppers... among other secret flavors.


The seasoning was the main attraction, but that's not the only part of this burger that deserves any praise. The lightly toasted bun was flavorful and did a fantastic job of holding together where most buns that go up against a sandwich like this go down like Kimbo Slice, leaving you with a choice of forks or fingers. The french fries were all sorts of incredible. Wedge-cut, seasoned perfectly, crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. It was a near perfect example of a wedge fry.

It's hard to find anything to complain about. The price is a little higher than most places, but that certainly doesn't keep the burgers from flying out of the kitchen all night. It's also a great place to have a few drinks, which made this by far the most expensive burger review I've ever done, and also the first one that's ever resulted in needing a few ibuprofen's the next morning. Yes, I used a designated driver. You stay safe out there.

In closing, Kilburn's is awesome. Did we decide it hits the top three that we've ever had? Nope. Does that mean it isn't a fantastic creation? Absolutely not. You should shut down your computer and go grab yourself a chop house burger and slam a few beers as soon as you get your next craving. Our bartender for the night, who must be under witness protection with a name like "Princess", summed it up best:

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