In the short time I’ve spent living in Phoenix, I’ve had me a few burgers, but I until heading to Rehab Burger Therapy, I had not yet made my way to a place specializing in those delicious ground beef and bun combinations. I arrived in Old Town Scottsdale thinking I was going to go to town on some meat on meat action, but my meal took an unexpected turn.
It started out pretty normal, with me leaning towards a burger with pulled pork on top, but when the waiter found out I was new to orlando drug rehab, he immediately recommended the PBJ and Bacon Burger on a pretzel bun, which also has sriracha on top of all those other goodies. I could not refuse this, as I trusted the man for no other reason than the Detroit “D” tattoo on his arm. He then proceeded to recommend ordering a combination of fries and sweet potato tots, to which I obliged.
Upon my meal coming out, a few things shocked me. The first was that there was a pickle spear next to the burger that I had overlooked on the menu. This was disappointing, but I had no one to blame but myself. The second was that my buddy spilled the beans about my food blogging to the waiter. The waiter then proceeded to bust out some extra sauces for me to try the fries and tots with in addition to the chipotle aioli that they already came with. Normally, I don’t like to be treated differently so I can give an accurate review, but since this didn’t impact the core of my meal I was good with it.
And as far as the core of my meal goes, the PBJ and Bacon Burger was the sweet, salty and smokey combination I was hoping it would be. This was not my first time taking down such a burger, but the execution was pretty stellar. Truly, each ingredient was in perfect balance with the others. There wasn’t a lot of spiciness, but enough to let you know it was there, and the same could be said for everything else. Plus, the pretzel bun held up well with such a juicy and saucy burger.
And, while the dipping sauces were all good in their own right, nothing could beat simply dipping the fries and tots into the burger runoff, which at any moment was a combination of peanut butter, grape jelly, sriracha and beef juices. If they could turn that into an aioli I’d be the first one to buy it.
While I can only account for the PBJ and Bacon Burger, Rehab Burger Therapy seems to be a place that knows what it is doing. I’m definitely eager to get back to find out if any of the other burgers can live up to this one, but it won’t be easy.
