This is like Burger Club: The Lost Meating. I apologize for the terrible delay with the last of these. I believe this will be the last time I have to apologize for this though. I’m excited to announce that there will be a new reporting system. It should allow me to get these report cards posted more quickly. Here’s to a speedier burger reporting delivery system!

TRENDS:

TOP HITS:

1. Fries (shout out to truffle mayo as well)
2. Excellent service
3. Appetizers: especially Korean tacos and goat cheese cigars
4. Tied: Burger bun/Cocktails
5. Beer list

TOP GRIPES:

1. Tied: Burger was dry and underseasoned

IN SUMMARY

This was a highly anticipated Burger Club meating. When it was announced that Chef David Ansill would take over the kitchen AND that he was planning on serving a bone marrow burger topped with short rib, I knew this was a place for meat loving Burger Club members. I will admit I have a deep fascination/love for meat on meat combos. That doesn’t quite sound right but you know what I’m getting at, right? Ugh that somehow made it even worse I think. Moving on.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the space at Ladder 15. It is a great space; modern, warm and open.The staff were super friendly and kind enough to reserve some space in the back of the first floor. Sorry for the iPhone quality picture but it was great to see all of us sitting together in burger loving harmony.

We started off on the right foot, or should I say the best kind of foot ever in all the world, with Ansill’s famous Korean tacos. Having had the original, I will say that these are an excellent interpretation. During happy hour this tasty delight is only $4.

Braised short rib Korean taco

Here is a true meat lovers burger. It’s a prime sirloin patty, topped with braised short rib, red wine mushrooms and grilled red onions. Served alongside it was bone marrow and truffle sauce. It had all the makings of an exceptional burger. Unfortunately, a number of burger club folks found their burgers to be underseasoned and dry. Even my patty, which came out nice and pink just as I had ordered it, didn’t have a lot of juiciness that I enjoy in a burger. I would have loved to have  seen some burger juices seeping into my bun. I will say that with all the rich burger toppings the burger did not feel heavy. The high quality of ingredients was evident. I just didn’t get as much flavor from the different components of the burger as I would have liked. It seems a lot of BCP agreed. As one member noted, “Lots of rich ingredients but not a ton of flavor.”

Burger 15

As you can see below I had some trouble keeping my burger intact. The short ribs were very tender but made it difficult to keep the burger together.

Burger 15 innards

There is also a basic burger available on the menu, with your choice of cheese.

Classic burger

The fries were a big hit with the group. They were the perfect combination of crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The truffle fries were especially good. Just enough truffle flavor to enjoy but not overwhelm the fries.

Truffle fries with truffle mayo

Overall we all had a great time at Ladder 15. High marks for the great beer list, fantastic service, excellent appetizers and fries. Big thanks to the folks at Ladder 15 for being so great to us and for the wonderful service we received.

RESULTS BY BURGER:

Burger, medium with cheddar and bacon: “I’m a big fan of a well seasoned burger that is juicy and thick. I got the thickness in this burger but it was very dry. In addition I had to salt and pepper the burger twice. Beer list was amazing, fries were well seasoned and crispy. Appetizer was great. Service was great and friendly.” GRADE: B

Classic burger with cheddar cheese: “The best ingredient was the sharp cheddar cheese. It was delicious. I would suggest that they make sure the cheese covers the whole burger. The bun was good as well. Something about the burger meat made it dry. I am not sure if it was the quality of the meat or the way it was cooked. Overall it was a tasty burger and very satisfying.” GRADE: B+

BURGER NOVICE, Classic burger with provolone: “Burger was a little dry but tasty and fries were good. Service was terrific. Also tried potato/goat cheese cigar, very good!” GRADE: B+

Burger 15 and “Wild Night” cocktail: “Drinks were tasty. The burger lacked a punch of flavor but very rich.” GRADE: B-

Ladder 15 burger, medium rare: “Overcooked, too dry, bone marrow was the only shining star on the plate and I could have just eaten that on its own. Short rib was overkill. Needed salt. Good fries. Great service. UNBELIEVABLE PORK BELLY KOREAN TACO. SERIOUSLY. GO FOR THE TACOS.” GRADE: C+

Classic burger, medium well: “While the fries (+ truffle sauce) were phenomenal the burger was slightly dry, not as seasoned as it could be. But great service, good presentation.” GRADE: B

Classic burger with cheddar: “Excellent service, exceeded expectations. Loved restaurant design atmosphere. Great simplicity, soft bun. Large patty was under seasoned. Needed some more salt etc. Ordered medium but no pink at all. Fries were amazing. Truffle may to die for. The dirty martini with stuffed olives is a winner!” GRADE: B-

Ladder 15 burger, medium rare: “Bun was bit dry, but smooshed well. Texture great but patty needed more flavor. Marrow didn’t add to burger as much as I hoped it would. Outside of patty was over-charred though burger was juicy. Service was lovely and deserves special mention.” GRADE: B

15 burger, medium rare: “Good patty but overdone. Lots of rich ingredients but not a ton of flavor. However, if this was taco/cocktail/beer club: A+” GRADE: C+

Burger 15 and Classic burger with gruyere, medium rare: “Loved the spare ribs and au jus on the Burger 15. Classic burger was a little dry. Really good fries. Price a little high but good quality. Very accommodating staff, good happy hour specials.” GRADE: B

Classic burger: “Pros – it was a burger. Cons – it was an ok burger.” GRADE: B-

Burger, no cheese: “It was no Ugly American.” GRADE: C

Burger 15: “Awesome. Waited for medium rare burger but well worth it. Loved discovering the piece of short rib even though I preferred the perfectly cooked  fresh sirloin. Loved the gravy and wasn’t  listed so very nice surprise. Loved the truffle mayo but fries were under cooked, hence too greasy. Loved Chef Ansill hanging out in the dining room.” GRADE: A

Burger 15: “Hoped for it to be a bit more texture. Medium rare, cooked closer to medium but like the short ribs and beef. Blue cheese would have  be well as a standard cheese to accompany it. Bone marrow was awesome.” GRADE: B

Classic burger, medium rare with bacon and gruyere: “This burger was ok. The good news is that it’s made me realize how important burger cohesiveness is to me. Unmanageable height gives me agita. But the appetizer was great!! As was service!” GRADE: B-

Classic with fontina: “A decent burger but the appetizer (goat cheese cigars) was much better.” GRADE: C+

Classic burger, medium well with cheddar: “Not bad, but not particularly memorable. Meat texture was good, but flavor was bland. Fries were fine but nothing special. For the price, not that great. Terrific appetizers (goat cheese cigars and Korean tacos) and really great, friendly service. Would come again, just not for the burger.” GRADE: B+

Classic burger, medium with fontina: “Patty was perfectly cooked to order but was a little bland w/o ketchup. Bun was delicious but too big for the patty. Burger was a bit too tall and hard to manage…but proper pressure applied fixed it right up. Service was G-R-E-A-T! Presentation and environment is good too. Goat cheese cigars were great too!” GRADE: B

Classic with goat cheese: “Burger too dry. Came out medium but ordered medium rare. Not seasoned enough. Goat cheese was great though!” GRADE: C

Burger 15: “Truffle jus added to flavor of said burger more than marrow.” GRADE: B+

During one of our recent visits I was surprised to see an extensive burger list. Some of them even sounded kind of exotic, French burger anyone? I joked about having burger club at Oscar’s but I feared for the safety of my burger club lovelies. So I did it myself with a small group of fearless burger eaters: SouthernArchivist, MarcRecords and Slosh. I have changed the names to protect the not-so-innocent.

I kept it simple and ordered the bacon cheeseburger. I would say it was a 6 or 8 ounce patty. Cooked super well done so it was a bit dry but actually had a nice char which added something to it. The bacon was crispy and the burger was topped with tomato and raw onion. It was served on a kaiser bun, which is my least favorite kind of bread for a burger bun but it worked with this burger. It was a good quality kaiser roll.

MarcRecords wins a metal for bravery, he ordered the French burger. The burger was described as being topped with baked ham, swiss cheese and a burgundy wine sauce. While I saw the ham and the cheese, I did not detect any of the burgundy wine sauce. I was strangely disappointed. I had a bite of the French burger but didn’t really get much flavor from the ham or cheese. Bummer. I would probably just stick with the plain cheeseburger or bacon cheeseburger. SouthernArchivist kept it super simple with a plain burger and Slosh got the cheeseburger and it might also have had bacon on it. Thanks you guys for playing along!

When at Oscar’s stick with the cheese fries. Super crispy and topped with Cheez Wiz. Have I mentioned my love of Cheez Wiz? Oh I haven’t. Well when you’re parents divorce at 8 and you live with your dad, you learn to love Cheez Wiz. We ate that shit on everything and it was awesome. Thanks dad! Back to the fries, we often get 1 or 3 orders of these things because after a few monster glasses of beer you need cheese fries. It’s simple mathematics, I’m sure there is an equation for it.

At the end of the day would I order a burger from Oscar’s again? Probably not. Especially now that 500° just opened right down the street. I’m pretty excited about it. I will continue to visit Oscar’s to get together with my library pals, drink cheap beer and have a good time.

1. Find a dimly lit bar with a big window to watch the snow. Bonus points for having a sweet jukebox.

The Royal Tavern has both of the above. Dimly lit but has a big window so you get a feel for the snow without actually feeling the snow. I still hate being out in the snow, but I definitely like it better when I’m sitting in a bar.

2. The bar must offer some kind of warm drink involving whiskey or rum.This is also a warming mechanism. I have found that having a small amount of whiskey flowing through my veins this winter has made me a warmer person. Oh and drunker. Funny how that works.

In this instance The Royal offers a hot cider with rum. Oh and a cinnamon stick which some of my friends may or may not have taken home with them to reuse. Weirdos.

3. Indulge in some kind of comfort food. Preferably a childhood classic and a large serving of french fries. Winter = carb overload. Don’t worry, you will walk it off when you realize that Septa has shut down and you must walk most of the way home.

Vegan Sloppy Joe at The Royal. Look I can eat vegan, I swear! It was good but not great. I think I like my Sloppy Joe a little more on the sweet side. This was more on the spicy side. I still ate the whole thing. CARBS! Their fries are excellent.

4. On the second day of daytime drinking, keep it close to home. You will be exhausted from your previous snow day. Drinking indoors can be exhausting work.

Many of my wonderful South Philly and West Philly compatriots met me at my favorite bar in the city, Johnny Brenda’s. Yes it’s my favorite. You can quote me on that.

They were offering an emergency brunch. I really appreciated this because I was craving something breakfasty.

5. Move to the more brunchy cocktails. You need to slowly sip on these so take it easy. You will be marathon brunching. So have a few cups of coffee and enjoy a mimosa or Bloody Mary. Also hydrate with some water. Basically you will have like 20 beverages in front of you. This is ok.

6. Eat only dishes containing pork and potatoes. Protein for energy and carbs to absorb the booze. Right? Ok, it’s just a good combo. Also alliteration.

Do you see how much pork they have on this menu? Love. You can also get 3 different kinds of potatoes. FRENCH FRIED POTATOES, SMASHED POTATOES, AND GRATIN POTATOES.

One friend followed my strict rules and ordered the Cubano. This is a must try at JB’s. Hot pressed sandwich with pork and cheese. Fries = potatoes, in case you forgot.

Unfortunately, not all of my friends could heed my advice. Vegetarian friend got the french toast. Very good and if you prefer a sweet breakfast this will do it for you.

This is the perfect kind of breakfast for me, ham and cheesy grits. I have mentioned my love for JB’s grits. And again I will beg them to BRING BACK YOUR SHRIMP AND GRITS. COME ON!

Crispy ham, creamy grits and yolky egg.

7. Make sure you do all of the above with awesome friends who will travel miles in the snow for you and brunch for 3 hours.

This is what you get when you play around with my camera while I have stepped away. Ok clearly this logic is false because none of them were holding the camera but still they were accomplices.  Seriously though, thanks dudes for making my snow days so epic.

The Pour House is a bar and restaurant located just over the bridge in Westmont, NJ. While I was able to get a ride there, I think it is relatively easy to get there by the PATCO. They have a pretty extensive beer list. They also have 10 different burger options ranging from tuna to two different veggie options. You can find them here on their menu (PDF).

I stuck with the Pourhouse Burger because it’s the one Collingswood Dave recommended. It seems to be their basic burger but there is nothing basic about it. It comes with this beautiful white cheddar and caramelized Guinness onions. Have I mentioned my love of cooking with beer before? Well I do. Cooking with beer is great and I am a big fan. I just noticed on the menu that lettuce, tomato and onions are available upon request. I did not request those so they were not on my burger, I suggest you do the same. The burger is good just the way it came.

I also suggest that you fork out the extra $4.99 for the Famous Fries. I think it was that much extra but don’t quote me on it. No matter what the cost, what you will get will make you very very happy. I appreciate the different options for fries.

Below is the Pourhouse burger and Famous Fries. Do you see those crinkle cut beauties? Do you see what is next to them? White. Cheese. Sauce. Just like the one’s you can get at Chickie and Pete’s Famous Crab Fries, which I wrote about here. I was totally not expecting these so they were a happy little surprise for my belly. They were just as good as the real deal.

My burger came just as ordered with a pink middle. The toasted Le Bus brioche bun was squishy and held the burger together well. I really enjoyed the subtle sweetness that the caramelized onions added to the burger. I would say the patty was about 8 oz. and very juicy. This is the kind of burger that doesn’t need any addition of condiments.

I am grateful to Collingswood Dave and his enthusiasm for the Pourhouse burger. I am happy that our neighbors across the river have a bar with a great beer list and solid burger and fry options. I might just leave the comfort of Philadelphia to eat that burger again. That’s saying a lot.

By now I might be the 100th blogger to write about PYT. Do I win a toaster or something. Burgatory did a great job of listing all the write ups so I will just forward you there. Tommy Up is a PR genius. Everyone has been talking about PYT. Hell I stalked the place on 4th of July weekend. It didn’t surprise me when I showed up, albeit with two other food bloggers, to find many food bloggers dining there this past Sunday. It was nice to see them all in person, we really all do exist.

After we put in our order we were offered their cherry soda or cherry coke. I was delighted by this option and went with a cherry coke. It was a good start to the meal. The cherry syrup wasn’t overpoweringly sweet and had just the right amount of cola.

We also started with some of their famous boozy shakes. I ordered the Jack Rabbit Slim (pictured) with chocolate ice cream and a healthy dose of Maker’s Mark. I will say that while this was very very good, the table winner was the Jon Valdez which had Kahlua and Patron XO. Don’t let the name fool you like it did me. Patron XO is a coffee liqueur made with tequila so it packs a punch but isn’t super sweet. This is so much better than my morning cup of joe.  Oh and you also might spy a couple of Philly food bloggers in the background.

To the burger! Take a minute and just look at it.

Isn’t this a gorgeous burger? It tasted as good as it looked. It’s the PYT burger. I loved the presentation, it was like a work of hamburger art. The ingredients were fresh and the bacon was crispy. The patty was well seasoned and while it was a little closer to medium than my requested medium rare, it was very juicy  so I was happy. Their special sauce seemed a bit more mayo based than tomato so it was a little less tangy and more creamy, than a traditional special sauce. I am a sucker for  a good special sauce and this did the trick. Did I mention their bacon was perfectly crisped? And finally they use Martin’s Potato rolls, one of my favorites, and they toasted it. Two thumbs up! It is clear that they did their research on West Coast burgers and I am sure glad they did. I appreciated that they gave their own spin to it. In the past I have lamented at the lack of West Coast style burgers and I am so glad to have many choices in Philly now.

We also got an order of their fries for the table. They were definitely fresh, not frozen, hand cut beauties.

Before we left we were treated to a strawberry mojito. They substituted the simple syrup with strawberry spiked prosecco. It was a really nice way to end the meal. I can see myself drinking a lot of these this summer.  I left PYT with my belly full burgery goodness and slightly buzzed. I will definitely be back again.

When I was offered a chance to see the Phillies for free I was so excited. Not because I am some big baseball fan, I’m not, but because of the F O O D! I think at some point in the game I asked if they had scored a goal. Yes I am sportsdumb. I blame my father. He only watched drag racing and boxing. Interesting combination. No? But in all seriousness I love Citizens Bank Park. It’s beeeautiful and has a lot of good eats.

Here is a little photo essay of the game.

What’s awesome is that we were totally greeted by the Schmitter! I had never had a Schmitter before so I knew I had to start with one of these. This is a fun diagram of the sandwich, which will explain what it is if you are not familiar with it.

I shared it with the dude but I could have definitely eaten one all on my own. I loved everything about this sandwich. I loved the sauce and melted cheese. The bun was perfect and held the messy sandwich together.

Oh here is our view. We had pretty good seats right? I think this is the closest I have ever sat at a baseball game. We spent a lot of time watching the outfielders. It was fun to study them. I guess you had to be there.

And then we got hungry again.

CRAB FRIES!!! With respect to Philly food things I wait in line for, this is one of them. I actually didn’t have to wait this time, the dude was kind enough to do the honors but I would have. He also picked up 3 cheeses because you never have enough cheese for these things. For those of you not in the know, they are crinkle cut fries generously doused with Old Bay seasoning and served with a white cheese sauce. I’m of the opinion that everything is better with a little cheese sauce. A good cheese sauce and this is one hell of a cheese sauce.  My love for them is never ending.

And we still might have been hungry…

His and her’s pork products in a bun. I don’t remember the name of the stand but it was by the crab fries and they only served hot dogs and Italian sausage. What I really liked about this place is that you could get onions and peppers and they served them on these awesome rolls. I got the sausage. It was pretty tasty. The hot dog look equally delicious. It was also for giants. Look how big that hot dog is. It’s about the same size as the sausage.

Oh look someone is digging into their dog. Big thanks to this lovely lady for sharing her tix with us. This really isn’t much of a thanks by posting this pic but she did let me take the picture. I’m sorry I have a thing for taking pictures of people eating. You have been warned.

And then we watched the game some more yada yada and the Phillies won….

FIREWORKS! Might have been the best fireworks show I have ever been to. Even though I’m not into sports I will always jump at the chance to visit Citizens Bank Park.  I didn’t even get to the different hoagie/cheesesteak/roast pork sandwich options. I’ll save that for next time.

When I read Burgatory’s review of Elevation Burger and saw what their burger looked like I became a women obsessed. I couldn’t stop rereading the post and visiting their website. The potato bun, thin patty and special sauce are three things that make my favorite kind of burger and Elevation Burger has them. Luckily, my birthday is coming up (it’s July 14th, if you want to send a present!) and my good friend E at Foodaphilia wanted to treat me to a birthday burger so she took me to Elevation. All these lovely pictures are from her btw.

Elevation Burger’s philosophy, as seen below, is “Ingredients matter” and it shows. Everything is fresh and a lot of care is put into creating a beautiful burger. I especially love their mention of the bun, “finished with a bun that compliments the burger rather than competing with it.” Here, here! It’s a potato bun, my favorite kind. It was squishy and it held the burger together nicely.

I ordered the Elevation Burger, which has two patties. If you want one patty just order the cheeseburger.  You can choose your own toppings. I kept it simple by getting lettuce, tomato and Elevation sauce (their special sauce). You can see my burger on the right, in the picture below. At Elevation, they only offer cheddar cheese. My burger came out with the cheese super melted. The patties were well seasoned and juicy. The bun was toasted. I would say that my rather minor complaint about the burger is that I prefer American cheese. Sorry. It just melts better. I totally understand and respect why Elevation uses cheddar and it won’t stop me from going back again and again and again.

You definitely want fries with that shake. See what I did there.  They were perfect.  A great combination of crispy, good potato flavor and lightly salted. I would suggest you get a side of Elevation sauce to dip them in. I couldn’t stop eating them. Oh they serve your burger and fries in these sweet metal trays.

If a great burger and awesome fries isn’t enough, they make shakes! Can I give a woo for that. Woo! This place seriously made my day. I was giddy. I kept it simple with a chocolate shake. They offer three flavors of ice cream (chocolate, vanilla and coffee) and then have a number of toppings you can have added in. The shake was thick and obviously made with good ice cream.

Look how happy I am here. I was actually waiting for my food so this is pre-burgershakefries. This place definitely satisfies my simple burger needs. It is very reminiscent of In-N-Out. Elevation Burger fills a hole in the Philly burger scene. I couldn’t be more excited about revisiting them. If their current location in Wynnewood is deterring you from visiting, don’t let it. There is an R5 station right across the street. Their website does mention 2 locations coming to Philly at some point. This will be very dangerous for me. Dangerously delicious, I can’t wait!

UPDATE:  Here is Foodaphilia’s review!