In search of the perfect steakhouse burger

Over the years, the burger has been elevated from diner standard to featured role in almost every American restaurant. But it’s not enough to toss a ground-chuck patty on a grill and call it a meal. A modern burger requires a certain amount of cachet, and a steakhouse burger, once the cheapest option on the menu, isn’t an afterthought.

“I don’t think people coming to steakhouses order a burger because they can’t afford a steak,” says Bill Teel, co-owner of the Golden Ox. “It’s just an alternative for people who might not want a steak dinner. They might just want a salad and a burger. Most people who go to a steakhouse already know they can afford a steak.”

Brian Bromwell, the chef at Anton’s Taproom, says he has been spoiled by working at a steakhouse.

“There’s a whole different flavor when you bite into a burger made with cuts of real steak,” Bromwell says. “Ground beef isn’t bad, but it’s almost always made from the undesirable cuts of beef. A burger made with dry-aged steak takes it to a whole new level.”

Last month, The Pitch highlighted tasty but inexpensive burgers — all made with ground beef — that made for perfectly satisfying meals. In this installment, we go to the other end of the spectrum and see if Kansas City’s steakhouses live up to their promise of a better burger.

The Majestic Restaurant

931 Broadway, 816-221-1888

Steakburger, $10

The chefs at the Majestic Restaurant are scandalized at the thought of any local steakhouse using ground chuck in a burger. At this downtown steakhouse, the beef in the burgers is composed of trimmings from hand-cutting the filets from the tenderloin. The steakburgers are incredibly tender and flavorful. The cheese selection is cheddar, American, Swiss, blue, provolone and pepper jack. “But if one of our customers is familiar with the more unique cheeses we serve on our charcuterie plate, like port-wine cheddar, and they want that, they can have it,” one server says. The buns are baked, like all the breads served at the Majestic, by Pete Peterman at this venue’s sister restaurant and bakery, Baked in Kansas City, in Westport. The Majestic’s half-pound beef patty, grilled with attentiveness — when you order a slightly pink medium-rare burger, that’s exactly what you get — and richly flavored, may be the best in town. Even better, during happy hour (from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday–Friday) the burger costs $5.50.

Rye

10551 Mission, 913-642-5800

Daily Grind burger, $12

The 17-month-old Leawood restaurant operated by chefs Colby and Megan Garrelts is better known for its fried chicken and steaks, but no modern restaurant serving traditional home-style American cuisine can be without a burger. The Daily Grind, on the dinner menu, is more complicated than the thin-patty Midtown burger served during lunch. “We use chuck roll and steak trimmings, including dry-aged rib-eye and Kansas City strip, for the Daily Grind burger,” Colby Garrelts says. “It’s a more labor-intensive burger.” The steakburger is served on a buttered and toasted house-baked brioche bun, which sets it way ahead of the pack, and is topped with a choice of cheddar, Swiss, American or blue cheese. The beef patty is thick, simply seasoned, expertly grilled and succulent. It doesn’t really need that slice of fresh heirloom tomato, but why complain?

801 Chophouse

71 East 14th Street, 816-994-8800

Chop burger, $11

The six-year-old 801 Chophouse, the Kansas City outpost of the Des Moines–based restaurant chain, has a first-class steakburger only on its bar menu (which is served from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the lounge area of the
elegantly furnished restaurant), but the staff happily serves one of these all-steak burgers — made with both Kansas City strip and filet trimmings — at any time for patrons who simply must have one. The burgers are perfectly grilled, tucked into a fluffy house-made brioche bun, and sided with crunchy, hand-cut fries. The burger can be had plain or with a choice of white or yellow cheddar, American, goat cheese, soft boursin or blue cheese. Compared with the entrée prices at 801 Chophouse, this burger may be one of the greatest beef bargains in town.

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The Capital Grille

4740 Jefferson, 816-531-8345

Signature cheeseburger, $18

Kansas City’s costliest steakhouse has, unsurprisingly, the snazziest burgers. On the lunch menu are a Kona-crusted wagyu burger, with jumbo lump crab and béarnaise sauce, and a wild-mushroom wagyu cheeseburger. During the evening hours, the bar side of the polished dining room offers the far-less-complex Signature burger, a grilled chopped-sirloin burger with bacon that’s topped with swiss, provolone or Norwegian Jarlsberg cheese. Just don’t ask for cheddar: “We don’t use cheddar,” a manager told me. This classy burger is served on a sturdy brioche bun, made for the chain by Tom Cat Bakery in New York City (and baked in the Capital Grille kitchen). The fantastic fries are splashed with truffle oil, sprinkled with parmesan and parsley, and served with ketchup and Dijon mustard and chive aioli. Proving that simple hamburgers are really the best — the crabmeat-and-béarnaise burger is too ostentatious — the Signature is, as one server describes it, “a damn good burger,” a solid hand-held meal. With just a discreet hint of smoky bacon and a swipe of chive aioli, it’s almost maddeningly delicious.

Jess & Jim’s Steakhouse

517 East 135th Street, 816-941-9499

Steakburger, $11.99

This venerable steakhouse has offered a solid steakburger since its earliest days, in the late 1930s. The beef is still ground in the kitchen, grilled to order and served on a Bagel Works bun, with a choice of cheddar, American, blue, habanero, ghost-pepper or Swiss cheese. If you want caramelized onions, they’re yours for the asking. The fries, very crispy and hot, are part of the package, too. The pickled beets, served in a bowl, are complimentary. Though there are better steakburgers in town, few look as desirable as the Jess & Jim’s version, which has the tenderness of a good steak and is grilled as carefully. I’ve never been able to finish a steakburger here, but I keep trying.

Anton’s Taproom

1610 Main, 816-888-8800

Dry-aged steakburger, $12

If the steakburger at Anton’s Taproom tastes unlike any other in the city, it should. Owner Anton Kotar and chef Brian Bromwell insist on blending organic grain-fed and grass-fed beef, both fresh-ground and dry-aged steak trimmings — from Creekstone Farms and Rain Crow Ranch — into the mix. There are only two cheese options: a raw white cheddar or blue-cheese crumbles. Anton’s steakburger lives up to the hype: It’s a richly flavored hunk of grilled ground beef. You can taste the slightly herbal notes from the grass-fed cattle — and even a medium-well burger is moist and memorable. It’s no substitute for one of this restaurant’s steaks, but as a preview of coming attractions, it works.

Golden Ox

1600 Genessee, 816-842-2866

Steakburger with cheese, $6.95

The bad news: The Golden Ox’s deliciously rich filet-mignon steakburger is going off the dinner menu next week. “Our customers loved it,” co-owner Bill Teel says, “but our supply of the filet trimmings was very inconsistent.” The other sad news: The popular steakburger on the lunch menu isn’t actually a steakburger. “It’s made with ground chuck,” Teel says. It’s a hefty, juicy burger, served on a Farm to Market bun, with a choice of three cheeses (American, Swiss and cheddar), and sided with fries. “We call it a steakburger because it’s become almost a generic term for a hamburger,” Teel says. Teel may be downplaying the house burger, but it’s very tasty. The ground-beef mix is 20-percent fat, so the patties have an almost buttery flavor, and a thick slice of melted cheddar gives it a luscious richness. In that cowboy-themed dining room, the charcoal-grilled burgers have a brassy masculinity. Lifting one to your mouth is like curling a barbell, but maybe less healthy.

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Savoy Grill

219 West Ninth Street, 816-842-3890

Cheeseburger, $8.75

The oldest steakhouse in Kansas City won’t win any awards for its house burger, although it’s a visually sumptuous sandwich: a thick and juicy burger bedecked with purple onion, a slice of tomato, a leaf of limp romaine, and pickle spears. Still, it’s made with ground chuck, not steak, and served on a bun that is, according to my server, “a cheap commercial bun made with high-fructose corn syrup.” Damned with faint praise, it is at least a toasted bun. Patrons have a choice of cheddar, Swiss, blue or American cheese, but the latter fromage isn’t always available, even if it’s a cheese that this ancient venue has served since 1908. “Sometimes we run out,” a manager explained. The burger comes with a jumble of unmemorable fries. But if you’re sitting in the Harry Truman booth, it’s a good-looking burger. Sometimes, that’s enough.