My good friends Andrew and Scott at RUB BBQ have been talking about their plans to create the perfect burger for years. The one item missing from their extensive barbeque menu was only going to get there after much trial and error in the kitchen. Every once in a while I'd get a call from Andrew saying, "Come on in tomorrow, we are doing a tasting of our new burger," only to be followed up the next day by, "We're not ready, yet. We'll call you." Fast forward to this past October when they suddenly started serving up the fabled burger without warning ONLY on Monday nights. I finally found a way to be there this past Monday and I'm sure glad I did.
The burger at RUB is made with a 'secret blend' that they are grinding in-house, smash-cooked at a super-high temp somewhere around 500 degrees on a plancha, and served on a toasted white squishy bun. The options are hamburger, cheeseburger, and an unnamed signature burger that is topped with cheese, pickles, sauteed onion, and a spicy mayo. I opted for the latter and was presented with a perfect specimen - a hot, oniony, soft, salty burger exploding with flavor that had ample griddle crunch.
Did I mention that the burger is NOT on the menu? Just shy of a secret handshake you'll need to be in-the-know to get a burger there, which is to say, only on Monday nights. "We sold a few on the first Monday, 40 the next, and 80 last Monday, all word of mouth," Andrew told me.
The reality is that Andrew and Scott are friends of mine. Honestly, if the burger was bad I wouldn't give it a bad review, I just wouldn't write about it at all. Fortunately, all those years of searching for the perfect blend and cooking method have paid off - this burger kicks some ass.
