The best burger in West Palm Beach
August 3, 1:40 PM West Palm Beach Restaurant Examiner Mia Farland
On a budget, a person tries a lot of hamburgers as they go around town here and there.
Not surprisingly, it has gotten more and more expensive for a decent hamburger. What used to be around 6.50 at O'Shea's, John Bull or Sunset Bar and Grill - are all up around 8-11.00 when the burger has not really changed (or gotten worse). The biggest surprise of all price-wise, was Bradley's. It was always a place you could stop in and have a reasonably priced burger. I remember when I first moved here in 1997, I lived on the Island (Palm Beach)_ for a time near the post office and Bradley's was a quick walk down the street. Burgers were around 6.50 or so. I'll never forget the first time my Mom came into town - she flew in late at around midnight, and we went to Bradley's (served late!) and had a burger. There they were, the girls dancing on the bar, the place packed and never was there a dull moment and the food was always consistently good. Recently I brought an out of town guest in who was a 19 something year old with nothing but a "tan" on her mind. We thought Bradley's would be the perfect place for that age group and brought her down (now it's in West Palm Beach right on the waterfront on Clematis Street).
Much to my surprise, that 6.00 hamburger was now 13.95!!! We begrudgingly paid it when my son wanted a hamburger, naturally. WOW!!! It had not only gotten a lot more expensive, but it got a LOT better - in fact the best burger I have tasted around town in a LONG time and would have been good enough to bring me back there again just for that. It was HUGE first of all - fries that came with it were good and generous in portion. It had that "just grilled" taste as versus something that tasted like it was just slung onto a flat top.
I did some inquiring and after talking to the Executive Chef Jake Zimmerman, I found out why it was so expensive and why it tasted so good. First of all is the quality of the meat. The same company that is used for the beef at the Breakers, and other high end restaurants, is used for Bradley's. They insist on a higher grade of beef - which in the case of burgers, is ground only once instead of twice so you are actually getting pieces of the steak in there as versus beef mush. It has no fillers (which apparently is common among cheaper burgers) and then it is purchased fresh every day. This means you are getting high quality, minimally processed, fresh beef. Then they grill it over the open flame to bring out all the great beef flavor. Chef Zimmerman was proud to say that he will not sacrifice the quality of his fare, for the ability to reduce prices. In this case, I'd have to say that I'd rather eat out once every two weeks and have THAT burger, than eat out once a week and eat a burger half the price anywhere else. EXCELLENT burger at E.R. Bradley's Saloon in West Palm Beach Florida - one you can count on, and it comes with a great waterfront view to boot! Website below covers all the details (hours etc.)
http://www.erbradleys.com
