The Palms had a problem: no place to eat. Sure, there’s fantastic fine dining at Alizé and N9NE Steakhouse, but if you wanted to grab a bite without making a big deal of it, you were stuck between food court and coffee shop.
Problem solved. The hidden bar and patio spaces attached to the short-lived Heraea restaurant have been converted into Back Room Burger, the perfect place for a casual poolside noshfest, day or night. Shareables like shishito peppers, fried dill pickles with jalapeño-spiked ranch dressing and a trio of spicy Buffalo chicken sliders ($11) make a fun group meal by themselves, supplemented by a boozed-up custard shake like the Grand Marnier-spiked Dreamsicle ($12).
Our numerous burger joints are constantly trying to out-do each other with outlandish flavors, and BRB is no different. The Tex-Mex Border burger ($11) is a monster, a thick patty topped with rich, spicy New Mexican red chile pork, Jack cheese and a crunchy salt blast courtesy of Fritos. If the eye candy at the pool inspires a leaner choice, check out the bison BLT burger ($14), a healthier but still tasty buffalo patty augmented with smoked bacon, arugula, tomatoes and red onion. It’ll make you feel better about ordering that unnecessary but delicious side of thick-cut onion rings.
Back Room Burger Palms, 702-942-7101. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight.