Phantom Gourmet: The Fix Burger Bar In Worcester
WORCESTER - When is the last time you treated yourself to a thick juicy burger piled high with gourmet toppings? If you're ready to get your fix, we've got just the place. Located on Grove Street in Worcester, inside a giant warehouse built back in the 1800's, The Fix Burger Bar will satisfy all of your cravings.
Mike Covino owns a bunch of restaurants around the city, and he knows that a great burger doesn't have to be basic.
"What I love about the burger is you can dress that up, have fun, and really feel like you ate something that was really quality, that was really chef-driven."
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You will be hard pressed to find any restaurant that puts more care and creativity into their burgers. The burgers here are something to behold, like the Rambling Wreck, which is essentially a southern, bacon, barbecue explosion.
"You get a nice beef burger, nice crispy pork belly on top. It's got a little bit of chew. It's got that nice rich bacony kind of texture, a little bit of crisp on top, beautiful barbecue sauce, and then that nice cheddar cheese," Mike explained.
For something a bit fancier, try the Phenomenal Burger, with thick bacon, smoked Gouda, a fried egg, frizzled onion, and sweet chili ranch, on a brioche roll. One bite and you know this thing truly lives up to its name.
"The egg explodes, and then the frizzled onions are in the middle, and then that crispy bacon is just below that," Mike described. "So it's like a meat, meat, meat. One's a little bit of chew, one's got a lot of crunch, and then you get the juiciness of the burger, boom, all in one bite."
For a burger with a bit of Greek influence, there's The Spartan, stacking a lamb patty with herb goat cheese, red onion, and sundried tomato artichoke spread.
If you would rather come up with your own creation, there are dozens of toppings to bring your burger to the next level.
"My favorite is short rib," Mike admitted. "Get a burger, place that little short rib on top, really adds a different texture. The other one is the fried prosciutto. They slice the prosciutto really thin. They fry it up real quick so it's crispy."
Before your burger, The Fix has great appetizers like Chicken Wings with a barbecue dry rub, or a sweet and spicy chili glaze; Quebec Poutine with black pepper gravy, cheddar curds, and crispy bacon; and Potato Chip Nachos piled with short rib, melted cheese, fresh jalapeños, whiskey barbecue sauce, and chili sour cream.
"We have housemade potato chips. They're thick. They're kind of like a plank, but the thing that makes them is that we put short rib on there," Mike said. "We cook that short rib for hours in house. We shred it, and we make sure that almost every chip's got some short rib on there."
To go along with your meal, there are 24 draft lines offering an ever-changing selection of craft beers, plus old fashioned milkshakes made with local ice cream.
"The shakes are an amazing part of what we do," Mike said. "Some people, when they come in they've got to have a shake right away."
Other people save their sweet indulgence until dessert. Additional awesome dessert options include a Dark Chocolate Mousse Tower with Chantilly cream and fresh berries, or the legendary B5 Chocolate Spring Rolls.
"It's just a nice little spring roll wrapper, and we make a nice moist vanilla, almost like a pound cake," Mike described. "We shave some nice dark chocolate, wrap them up, flash fry them so all that dark chocolate is all oozing through the pound cake with the crispy spring roll, and then we have a white chocolate mousse, strawberry ginger, and a Kahlua caramel cream for dipping."
With more than 100 seats in the dining room, along with a big busy bar, the kitchen at The Fix is always cranking, turning out burger combinations that keep customers coming.
"Burgers are hot now. Burgers have been hot. Burgers are going to stay hot, because I think people really appreciate quality. So it's all about getting quality beef, and quality ingredients."
You can find The Fix at 108 Grove Street in Worcester and online at thefixburgerbar.com.
Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.
