100 Favorite Dishes, No. 15: The Life-Changing Patty Melt at the Parlor on Commerce

Leading up to this month's Best of Dallas® 2017 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year. It was a quiet Sunday night in Deep Ellum. The Cowboys had just lost — or rather,...

By Beth Rankin

September 20, 2017

Just look at this patty melt. Just look at it. Nick Rallo

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Leading up to this month's Best of Dallas® 2017 issue, we're sharing (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes, the Dallas entrées, appetizers and desserts that really stuck with us this year.

It was a quiet Sunday night in Deep Ellum. The Cowboys had just lost — or rather, the Cowboys had just been annihilated — and the few patrons watching the game at bars along Commerce Street were filtering out. In this quiet moment, we found ourselves sitting at the bar at the Parlor on Commerce, sipping La Fin Du Monde while we waited for a patty melt that's become downright famous in the neighborhood.

When we finally took a bite, we instantly understood the hype. Buttery, griddled Village Bakery sourdough surrounded the most relentlessly juicy, perfectly cooked beef, and melty American cheese and sweet caramelized onion blanketed the burger patty. With American cheese both above and below the patty, every bite is a beautifully cheesy moment. It was one of the best burgers we've had in Deep Ellum since we lost Luscher's Uncle Herky (although the burger at Junction is a close second).

This simple yet beautifully indulgent sandwich is the best possible bar food, and in the era of over-the-top rooftop patios and multimillion-dollar buildouts proliferating rapidly around Deep Ellum, it was refreshing to eat a straightforward sandwich in a straightforward bar. Food this good doesn't need a view.

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Beth Rankin is an Ohio native and Cicerone-certified beer server who specializes in social media, food and drink, travel and news reporting. Her belief system revolves around the significance of Topo Chico, the refusal to eat crawfish out of season and the importance of local and regional foodways.

Contact: Beth Rankin

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