I always found it sort of odd when a restaurant piles the adjectives onto their menu items. Post Street Ale House is a good -- or, as it is, bad -- example of this, with their best ever cheeseburger. I get it. Playful. But, to me, it is just a promise that you know will go unfulfilled.
Our experiences with the downtown spot have been less than stellar in the past. It's somewhat of a stretch to call yourself an ale house when you serve beer in frosted glasses. Either way, good on Post Street for having Red Chair on nitro, if nothing else.
But, I digress. The burger, the best ever cheeseburger. An unfulfilled promise indeed, although it was at least somewhat better than I had feared.
This was actually the first burger we've seen on this great chase that 100% properly came to order: Two medium-rares, one medium. Good job on that.
We were told the patties were made off-site (you know, the way Gordon Ramsay hated it, until he started doing so himself) which I suppose isn't the end of the world. They weren't particularly flavorful, mind you, and the «Ale House sauce» ended up doing most of the talking.
Actually, possibly the best part of the burger were the pickles, and I don't mean that in a snarky way. They were quite tasty, and I'm usually not a pickle kind of guy.
So, not a bad burger, or at least not until you get to the bun.
I've said it before: the bun can make or break a burger, and for Post Street it all went downhill here. The baseline test was, as always, a comparison with Franz's, one that Post Street failed. I can only assume the buns come from Sysco or whatever. Flavorless, dull, almost stale. A complete letdown.
And therefore I have a hard time recommending this $10.50 (add a buck for bacon) burger. It was pretty average, if the bun wasn't in place. If you're forced to hang at Post Street Ale House, this is a safer bet than some of their other choices.
It's not the best ever cheeseburger, then, and not one that places high on this Great Burger Chase of ours.
Photo courtesy of the Great Burger Chase’s official photography studio, Erick Doxey Photography.