Thursday, May 5, 2011
Burgers Burger joint of the week: The House in Hillcrest
Posted by Kat Robinson on Thu, May 5, 2011 at 8:50 AM
- Kat Robinson
- BUTTERY BURGER: The Great American Burger at The House
On the list: this burger, the Great American Burger ($9.50) at The House. From bun top to bottom it’s a great example of how a good burger can be put together from fine ingredients and served up with a little pizzazz.
The House started out when it opened offering a laundry list of burgers at lunchtime. Lunch was discontinued for some time, but when it came back this burger was the sole survivor. At least, the listing was. If you get down to the nitty gritty, the burger choices are pretty vast. For instance, you have a choice of a beef patty from Wynn Farms, a turkey patty or a vegetable patty featuring black beans. There are several choices of cheeses. And there are a slew of add-on condiments that could drastically change whatever flavor you’re searching for in a burger. But what it really comes down to is this: it’s a burger. It’s a good one. And it can be enjoyed with a Diamond Bear Root Beer or the alcoholic beverage of your choice or even a coffee drink — in one of the more comfortable lunching spots in town.
My choice of burger was the traditional beef patty, which was very lean and tightly packed. The burger comes with herbed mayo, which is a very nice touch. It also comes with tomatoes, red onion ringlets and green leaf lettuce,
all aboard a fresh baked Boulevard Bread Company bun.
Sides are varied — the day I went fries weren’t offered but I did have a choice of chips or salad. I chose the latter and received a nice, sweet dressing drizzled pile of fresh baby salad greens and croutons, a nice fresh side to the burger.
And the burger itself? Nicely crusted and lightly seasoned. I chose the Chevre cheese to add to my burger and was very pleased with the combination of richy beefy burger and tangy cheese. Maytag Blue Cheese is my other favorite here, though you also have a choice of more traditional favorites such as Swiss and Cheddar.
Better yet, the burger is not overdone. Though the patty is tight packed and a little thinner than other pub burgers, it’s cooked to a light pink in the center.
If I were to call this burger anything, I’d say it was buttery — that’s the overall combination of the bun, the patty and the cheese on me.
I wasn’t the only one eating a burger the day I dropped in. I noticed several other diners here and there customizing their own. The House may not be seen as much of a burger place, but there seem to be plenty of people purchasing them there.
You’ll find The House at 722 N. Palm (by the Hillcrest Kroger). It’s open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, until midnight Friday and Saturday and opens an hour earlier on the weekends. (501) 663-4500. Check out the Facebook fan page… and the lunch menu.
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Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
Has the lunch service improved, the few times I went there the lunch service was slow and made it impossible for a downtown office dweller to get out there and eat lunch in an hour. The food was good but the slow service caused me to cross it off my list. I have not been back since they relaunched lunch, and did not even know they had done so until this article.
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I just went today for lunch and the new menu was really good as well as the service.
I like The House, and the burger I had many months ago was very good. I'm sure I'll return. (I don't mind spending money on good things, but $9.5 is a little on the steep side for a cheeseburger in Little Rock, Boulevard bun notwithstanding.)
Lawdog,
This is Josh Blevins, the owner of The House. We made lots of changes to our lunch menu before relaunching it last month, all with an eye towards speedy lunchtime service. In the little over a month that we've been serving lunches, the longest ticket time we've had has been nine minutes. It's easy to get in and out in half an hour.
Our new lunch menu (available here: http://bit.ly/HouseLunchMenu) is heavy on great sandwiches and salads, includes our beef, turkey, and vegan burgers, and a daily soup and dessert.
Mention you saw us on here and score our 15% neighborhood discount.
I really loved The House until recently. It just seems like service has tanked in recent months, and the food has been really, really mediocre. I haven't been for lunch, but our last three dinners there have been barely worth it...The first was during the big snowstorm a while back, so we cut them some slack, but the last two dinner services we attended were beautiful spring days and there was no excuse for the incredibly lacking service, the kitchen always being out of at least one item we ordered, and bland food. I'm almost tempted to check out lunch and see if we get better fare during the day, but I'm so unhappy about our recent trips that I'm not sure I'm willing to risk even more disappointment.
LSCJ24,
Over the past six months, we've worked hard to bring in new, highly-trained staff, better quality ingredients, and an expanded beer selection. We're constantly working hard to keep standards high and push them higher. And Little Rock has responded by making us busier than ever. (Repeat patrons are up by 720%. Repeat weekly patrons are up by 980%. My servers' tips have increased from a 19% average per ticket to 24%. That's unheard of in the restaurant business. Overall sales have increased 79% over last year.) That's the way we try to do business and serve our fellow man. We don't always meet our own goals every time, but we do our very best to try.
Checking your profile, I notice that you've made just one comment and offered just one review on the entirety of the Arkansas Times blogosphere. Both the post and the review were negative assessments of The House. Clearly, when 100% of your online commentary is complaints directed at one local eatery, you have strong opinions that I'd love to discuss with you further. I'm sorry that we're not always meeting your expectations. Please give me a shout directly at 850-5188 or josh@thehouseinhillcrest.com and I'll do my best to make things right. I'm in business to make folks happy.
As a note to anybody who might be stopping-in today, The House will be closed for lunch so that we can mark the passing of a friend and coworker who died last week. We'll see you at 5:00 pm for dinner. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
All the best,
Josh
The House is great. Just the type of eatery LR needs more of. I love the laid back atmosphere. The food is great as well. I've been twice, and had the Old World Meatloaf (bring it back!) and the Swiss Dip. Both were delicious. About the wait time - good food takes time. If you want a quick lunch go to McDonald's. I didn't feel the wait was bad at all, and used the time to converse with friends and drink beer. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me. Speaking of which, the beer selection is excellent as well. Try the Goose Island Urban Wheat - you'll swear off Blue Moon.
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