America is burger-mad, so the idea of an upscale burger joint in the heart of the Strip seems like a no-brainer. Perhaps that’s why Paris Las Vegas replaced Ortanique, a good Caribbean restaurant that never quite caught on, with Le Burger Brasserie, the new, hip burger palace that has been doing a brisk business from the jump.
Let us not complain if the concept is derivative. Name any major American city, and you can come up with places that locals swear serve the best burger in the land. Atlanta has The Varsity. LA has Father’s Office, where the chef Sang Yoon does an oft-imitated burger of dry-aged beef served blood rare, topped with cooked onion, Gruyere cheese, bacon, arugula and tomato compote, on a roll that cracks like a whip.
Then there is DB in New York, where chef Daniel Boulud came up with the idea of putting short ribs and foie gras on a burger, which led to Burger Bar, chef Hubert Keller’s idea of what a Vegas burger should be, or rather, the build-your-own-burger-from-luxury-ingredients concept, which is essentially what Le Burger Brasserie has copied.
It’s unusual when the sequel comes up to the standard of the original, but this could be the best one of these places yet. Designers have opened up what was a dark, undefined space with masculine wood and cut glass, adding plasma-screen TVs to give it the feel of a ’90s sports bar.
Service is performed by a team of scantily clad, flirty women, which, one guesses, contributes to the testosterone rush provided by a half-pound ground-meat patty. I don’t mean to disparage the spirit of this place. In fact, I was won over from the first moment by an unreasonably thick milkshake topped with a scandalous amount of whipped cream.
If you’re into one-upmanship, or theater of the absurd, order the $777 Burger, an outrageous concoction composed of Kobe beef and Maine lobster, topped with imported Brie, caramelized onion, crisped prosciutto and 100-year-old aceto Balsamico. This doesn’t justify the price, of course, so with it comes a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose or an ’82 Chateau Latour. Fellas, this is cheating. How much for just the burger?
Oh, who cares? Especially when these options are practically all winners. All burgers include a choice of house-baked rolls, which are chewy, fresh and delicious. Which one you choose may depend on how you build that burger, and with which meat. I tried the oven-dried tomato ciabatta with l’agneau, a grilled lamb patty, and it was terrific. My wife, meanwhile, went the classic route, with a black Angus beef patty and a sesame seed bun that would have made Ray Kroc weep with shame.
One of my guests, meanwhile, who doesn’t eat red meat, had something from the list of burgers under the heading Le Poulet—chicken to us Anglos. This beauty is a combination of white and dark meat ground to order. Her selection, called Sonoma, was inspired, with cranberry jam, goat cheese and mixed greens—Thanksgiving on a bun.
I’ve also tried the good vegetarian patties here: Le Legume, textured soy protein; and the wild mushroom patty called Le Champignon. The truth is, when either is piled with toppings like an egg frittata or any of the dozens of options that include grilled onions, avocado or deluxe fare such as foie gras or smoked salmon, you won’t miss the meat.
There’s far more than burgers to this brasserie, though. What would a burger without fries be? Not to worry. There are three terrific versions, my favorite being a waffle cut, but the skinny and fat fries are both fine, too, and you can order one of the 11 sauces to eat them with if ketchup alone won’t do. (Lemon aioli is one idea, and a creamy ranch dressing is another.)
Yes, there are sliders, four to an order, with the obligatory Thousand Island dressing; and an excellent shrimp cocktail, five huge shrimp on ice with a horseradish and tomato-based sauce. Chicken wings come spicy, medium or mild, and there are salads like Cobb, or La Tomate, heirloom tomatoes with feta and green olives. The one misstep is Patriote, a pasty clam chowder reputed to be New England-style.
I like all the desserts here, but the star beyond a doubt is brioche doughnuts, made from buttery dough filled with rich vanilla custard, four warm, yielding orbs splashed with mixed berries and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Le Macaroon is a chocolate coconut cookie covered in frothy chocolate mousse and caramel peanut sauce.
If all else fails, there are always those milkshakes; root beer, banana, Brown Cow, etc. Eat all the French pastry you want, but there’s no place like home.