The Burgers at Dallas Beer Kitchen are a Steal

There are a few things to know about the burgers at Dallas Beer Kitchen before walking through the door. There are two. One burger has a nearly-raw jalapeño, sliced into a canoe and chopped into big pieces, that delivers a punch across the face like Indiana Jones with heat. That one’s also double-pattied and covered with fresh, in-your-face chorizo. Anyone who eats it will need a water trough, all the napkins and an antacid the size of a hockey puck.

The other burger is $5, and it’s got to be one of the most surprising meals-for-a-deal in Dallas right now. It’s topped with cheddar, thin-sliced red onion, chopped romaine lettuce and tomato. Long, hand-cut fries are scattered on the side with a dill pickle.

Outside Dallas Beer Kitchen, construction is tearing into Greenville like a hungover dude diving into a Las Vegas buffet. The door is swung open, as though it hopes to suck in anyone on the narrow sidewalk.  The construction has forced Dallas Beer Kitchen to cut its menu, trimming it down to the bones to wait out the city madness. I’m taking a load off at the bar with a cold beer, and spicy meats are welcome. Five dollar burgers are welcome, too.

Abel Cisneros, general manager of Dallas Beer Kitchen and La Guadalupana Meat Market, tells me the price is a direct result of the construction affecting business. “I don’t think we make any money on that burger,” he says, chuckling over the phone.

For the $9 chorizo version, the all-beef patties, an “anti-lean” blend of 68 percent lean beef and 32 percent fat (no one's doing this much glorious beef fat), sear on the flat top. Their chorizo, their own bath-marinade of dried chiles, spices, vinegar and pork which is crumbled ultimately over the patties, is also made into a paste and folded into butter. That chorizo butter is spread on the patty while it’s on the flat-top. Then, they drape it with Oaxaca cheese (think mozzarella).

Explosive chorizo flavor follows.

The jalapeño bludgeons with heat. The flavors might play better with a griddled or sauteed jalapeño, but it’s getting the job done.

The “fatboy cheeseburger” is an even better deal. The patty has the same fatty blend. It’s a real two-hander cheeseburger, with an egg-washed Village Bakery bun. The beef is curtained by cheddar. My patty needs salt and pepper, but I may have been flavor-pummeled by the chorizo version. Crunchy lettuce and onion, which could have used some dressing, give good texture.

Good things are happening for under $10 at DBK. You can thank construction for your next burger. 

Dallas Beer Kitchen is at 1802 Greenville Ave., 214-484-2481. Ignore the construction: there's parking lots behind the spot, just off Matilda.