Patty Shack

The always fabulous Groupon has led me to another burger joint, this time in Grand Prairie.  Patty Shack is on Avenue K, right off of 360.  It is a small, neighborhood hangout kind of place.  It's the kind of place where you seat yourself and the staff can be very attentive because of its small size.  Our drinks were never empty and a couple of different manager-types checked on us throughout the evening.

This wasn't an official BB outing.  More of a reconn mission with my friend Mandy.  The turn around time to get our order was the average wait time, probably about 10 mniutes.  Mandy ordered the Chowboy (BBQ sauce and cheddar, topped with relish and shack sticks) and I ordered the Shackadelic (bacon, swiss, and mushrooms).  Here's the twist with burgers at the Patty Shack.  They do the mix-in thing.  Instead of my burger being topped with Swiss cheese, bacon, and mushrooms, it is all mixed into the 1/3 lb. fresh sirloin patty.  Even though I had seen the section "Build Your Own Dang Burger," for some reason it didn't click with me, so I was a bit disappointed when my burger arrived.  It's just one of those things.  You know, you're expecting one thing, and something else comes along.  The first couple of bites were fabulous.  As the menu says, the flat top grill is definitely well-seasoned.  But, about halfway through, I was done.  Not that it wasn't a good burger, it just wasn't my kind of burger.  And there were a couple of other logistical things.  I don't understand shredded lettuce on a burger.  It falls out and makes a mess.  And, while I appreciate a hearty patty, I don't want it to be measurably larger than the bun.  That just makes for a burger that falls apart.  I'm already pretty likely to make a mess all by myself, so I don't need any help in how the burger is constructed.



Shackadelic!


We ordered sweet tater fries and seasoned curly fries.  Both were very solid and good, although not unlike the fries you would find in other places.  Now, Mandy's burger came topped with Shack Sticks, breaded jalapeno and onion slivers; she gave those two thumbs up!  Totally missed seeing the fried pickles on the menu.  That would be a definite on the next visit.

 My overall impression of the Patty Shack?  A good neighborhood burger joint with a friendly staff and a lot of choice when it comes to building your burger.  The sides are good and you will definitely leave not hungry.  With its proximity to the Ballpark and Cowboy Stadium, it would be a great before or after the game pitstop.  Not sure that I'll add it to the Burger Babes list, although I would encourage everyone to try it out if they are in the Grand Prairie/Arlington area.



Chowboy



Village Burger Bar.

This month we went to the Village Burger Bar in West Village.  We got there early enough to grab some seats at the bar.  Luckily, a table on the patio opened up right as we placed our order, so we headed outside to enjoy a gorgeous evening and some people watching with our burgers. At VB Bar, you grab your own seat and then walk up to the bar when you're ready to place your order. 

Having frequented Village Burger earlier in my youth, I knew the thing to order was the Blue Burger.  Just listen to this line up: bacon, avocado, blue cheese crumbles, baby greens & dressing.  How can that not be good fabulous?  It took about 15 minutes for our small group to receive our burgers, but a burger at VB is definitely worth the wait.

Isn't this just beautiful?  Look at the thickness of that patty!  And can you see the top bun glisten with a touch of butter?   I think avocado and bacon makes just about anything better, but it does put this burger over the top.  Super creamy avocado and numerous strips of bacon piled together for a flavorful crunch.  If you're a fan of blue cheese, you know that to order a blue cheese burger can sometimes be a dicey move.  I've had burgers where I had to scrape half of the blue cheese off and it was still too powerful.  But this Blue Burger is just right.  Crumbles sprinkled on top of the patty, right next to that bacon and avocado.  Now that's flavor!


If you know anything about the Village Burger, you know that they have some of the best fries anywhere in Dallas.  We all ordered different kinds to share, which is the Burger Babe way.  You won't go wrong with either the fries flavored with truffle oil or the sweet potato fries, seasoned with a touch of honey. The onion rings are pretty good too.  They make those super thick ones with a fantastic crunch.  I couldn't figure out the seasoning, but it did give those onion rings a bit of a bite.

The Village Burger Bar does have one of the best blue cheese burgers around and overall, it's in my top 10 burger joints.  Add that to a great patio with a laid back atmosphere where you can hang with good friends deep into the night, and you just can't go wrong.