Craigie on Main

After being thoroughly impressed by the off-menu burger at 'drink' one night, I made it my mission to eat off as many secret (and sometimes not so secret) menus around town as I could discover.

Through some good ol' fashioned Internet trolling, I discovered that Craigie on Main had what was slated to be another epic burger. I finally made it over there last night to decide for myself. Apparently this 'secret' barside-only burger is so popular that it's typically sold out within minutes of the restaurant opening, and patrons line up before the restaurant even opens to bum rush the bar and get their hands on one. Cragie opens at 5:30pm on Saturdays and I arrived at precisely 5:31.

As soon as I arrive I'm greeted warmly by the staff who inform me that there is a wait for a seat at the bar with one person ahead of me and that every single person there plans to eat. After waiting around for about half an hour I take my seat.

While I was waiting, I saw at the top of the bar there was a series of 'single village' mezcals that I had heard to be truly exceptional. In particular, they had the Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal with it's absurdly limited production, high price tag, and recommendations strong enough to grab the attention of even the most die hard anti-tequila people such as myself. I began to chat up the barman about it and he offered to pour me a free dram.

The nose was heavily smoked, full of green fruit, citrus, and very rich. Upon tasting the same flavors carried through but with a lush arrival of apple, notes papaya, cedar, allspice and nutmeg. It really is worlds apart from the swill that you (and I) remember from spring break.

With a fresh pour of the mezcal in hand I immediately note to the barman that I will be having the burger (of which there are four left at this point) but that I'll probably get an appetizer first. I notice that they have some beautiful sounding grilled Spanish octopus, which I order along with my medium rare burger (with fried egg on top), and some fried brussels sprouts.

The octopus hits the table and is accompanied by some cippolini onion, bulgar wheat, and a chorizo puree (which was really more like a choirzo oil). I take a few sublime bites of this exceptionally tender and smokey grilled octopus, mixing it with the acidic salad just as the spice from the choirzo oil began to coat the entirety of mouth. A bite of bulgar wheat arrives and adds some much needed textural contrast to the dish. At some point, I did get one or two grainy bites of octo which was a bit disappointing but that was definitely overcome by the fact this was delicious overall and it seemed that there were many smart choices underlying the dish.

Finally my burger arrives along with the veg

The sprouts are great, but nothing I couldn't get at any other really good restaurant. What I really came for was their elusive burger - which did not disappoint. Perfectly cooked and screamingly tender, this burger is luxurious. There is an unctuousness that comes with each bite - I had heard somewhere that they put bone marrow somewhere in it - which totally explains why I had to hold back from moaning with each bite. If you're a punctual person you need to go here and eat this as soon as possible. The fries that came along with it were good too - but just barely. Crispy on the outside, but not crispy enough. Fluffy on the inside, but again, not fluffy enough.

At some point along this ride I ran out of mezcal and asked the barman to prepare me something a little bit more interesting. I told him that I really like Islay's but that I wasn't looking for a penicillin. He tells me he's got just the thing.

Maximilian Affair
1 + 1/4 oz mezcal
3/4 oz st germain
1/2 oz punt e mes
1/4 oz lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, strain, and serve into a well chilled martini glass.

The maximilion affair was everything I was looking for in a smokey-scotch cocktail but somehow contained no smokey scotch. Sweet, sour, smokey, floral and complex. Overall, there seem to be some really smart and creative people working behind the bar and behind the line and Cragie on Main. 8.5/10.