It was 5:45 in the morning, on March 2, 2010, when a fire began to gut Terilli's on Lower Greenville. It spread quickly, becoming a nasty, four-alarm beast that ate Hurricane Grill, Mick's and one of Dallas' oldest bars, the Greenville Bar & Grill. The only reported injury, according to the DMN, was a firefighter who suffered from heat exhaustion fighting the blaze. Rohst filled the spot, then the big fish and chips dishes of The Londoner, and now Greenville Bar & Grill is back.
Right now the place is a stripped-down Londoner, with the dark wood and a few pieces of taverny decor remaining. Sitting at the bar, which is front and center at the restaurant on the first floor, the muted tavern feels a little dark and eerie -- like there might be a ghost on the second floor pacing around.
The exec chef is Richard Sipovic from The Libertine, and he's got pig all over the menu. There's a tiny ham thing sleeping on the filling of the deviled eggs. Ham cheeks, ears, and ham concerns are there too (OK, not the concerns.) The friendly bartender let us know the burger had a blend of kobe and "Texas cow," which prompted a few questions like: Which Texas cow? Was it Roger? Roger is probably good. Or was Texas Cow the cow's name?
The GbG buger comes old-school with shaved lettuce, tomato, thin slice of red onion, "GbG sauce" and a big seeded bun. Bread and butter pickles were speared on top. I asked for medium rare on the Texas cow because Roger is best with a little red.
Good things are happening on the juice level of the kobe blend, but it came with a nut punch of salt. Cheese was hugging the burger nicely. It gave the burger that creaminess you need in a good cheeseburger. Somewhere between the shredded lettuce and tomato, things were a little bland. It could use a kick of pepper or a punched-up sauce to tie everything together. Aside from the seasoning, the burger itself was big on meat and juice. You could see the coarse, juice-packed chunks of beef on the cut through, which makes for burger smiles.
I'm not sure what explains the new wave of 12 bucks and over burgers, but this version felt a little too pricey for what you get. If the plate was a clock, 4:00-12:00 was covered in just-all right french fries. Compared with the classic, just damn beautiful burgers at Keller's, for example, the GbB felt like too much what it was. Even a little ham would be welcome.
It certainly doesn't suck, but it's not great yet.
