Wahlburgers
When I first heard that the Wahlberg family was opening up a burger restaurant, I expected a over-priced, over-hyped piece of meat. Marky Mark is a local guy who's made it big, and my assumption was that he was just out to capitalize on his name and make a quick buck in the process. I'm a natural skeptic, and I figured Wahlburgers wouldn't provide anything unique or exciting. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The first thing that's obvious when you walk into Wahlburgers is that these guys have poured their heart and soul into putting the place together. The menus show a photo of the Wahlberg family house in Dorchester, MA, as well as the mission of the restaurant."In the toughest of times we always made the best of times. For us, there was no better time than sitting around the table together, sharing good food, a few laughs and lots of love. At Wahlburgers we hope to share a little bit of those times with you and we hope you create some of your own special memories around our tables."The Wahlberg's definitely seem committed to creating a family experience. Along with nods to Mark and Donnie's movies splashed along the walls (and ceilings), there are an abundance of photographs of the family through the years. Beyond the decor, the restaurant is set up to dine family style. You can either order and pick-up your food at a counter, or sit down with some new friends in the main dining area and get table service.I'm not always a fan of restaurants that make you sit with people you don't know. I like to eat with the people I came in with, thank you very much. There's a delicate balance, but Wahlburgers does a good job finding it. It's casual and friendly enough that sitting with strangers doesn't feel forced at all, achieving the goal of making you feel like you're sitting around the kitchen table.As for the concern that it'd be a rip-off? Way off. There's not an item on the menu in double digits, and we're not talking about fast food quality. They're churning out true, high-quality burgers.To give some perspective on how good the burgers are, we'll need to turn to a sidebar. Cait has a theory that for every type of food in the world, there is one perfect bite that you'll consume at some point in your life. One seminole moment of culinary transcendance that you never forget. When the stars and ingredients align, and eating becomes a religious experience.
Cait claims that her bite of the "Our Burger" topped with bacon and government cheese was her one and only true perfect bite of burger. As a burger-grilling expert*, I'm not willing to go quite that far myself, but I can't deny that I was floored by the BBQ Bacon Burger. The menu is short and simple, but they're not messing around with the stuff that's on there. Perhaps best of all, they actually understood and executed the request for a medium-rare burger to perfection. It's not fancy, but it is a well-cooked, fresh, affordable burger.The onion rings (think strings more than rings...they're very thin) go for $2.75, and come as a heaping pile of fried goodness, fully equipped with the custom house sauce, a ....To top it all off, you can drink while you eat. Wahlburger's has a full bar with a surprising beer selection, including an in-house IPA. I hate IPA's so I unfortunately can't tell you how that was. I can tell you that if you do find yourself waiting for a table, the staff will not only allow you to, but encourage you to grab a beer while you wait in line even if you can't find a spot at the bar.As for the location, I didn't know that the Hingham Shipyard existed until we decided to give Wahlburgers a shot. It's a pretty standard outdoor mall, similar to the Derby Street Shoppes or a way, way, scaled down Patriot Place, but it happens to be on the water. Wahlburgers has a big outdoor area with a nice view on the water, which will go perfect with one of their alcohol-infused frappes once the weather gets nice.All in all, Wahlburger's delivered. Cheap, casual, fun and tasty does the trick for me every time. Also, it gives us a chance to do this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4wykeJBHdE
