Philly's Best Burger? Part 2: Good Dog

Much fanfare had been given on the Internet about the burgers at Good Dog, a bar located on 15th street between Walnut and Locust, especially in regards to their Good Dog burger which comes stuffed with Roquefort cheese.

I opted for their traditional burger, prepared medium - which is how I ask for all my burgers. Medium gives you just the right amount of pink for it to be juicy, but not still mooing. I came during the lunch hour on a Friday, so it was full but not packed and I sat at the bar. And waited. And waited. When I was at the point of gnawing my arm off I was so hungry, my burger finally arrived on - SURPRISE! - a brioche bun! (But that was on the menu so I guess I already expected that. Plus, I could tell by everyone else getting served their food before me.) Their fries came with a side of their housemade aioli for dipping. It was kind of like a watery version of the onion ring sauce at Burger King.

I prepared to dive into this delicious burger, my palate poised to receive the succulent, juicy meat. But, lo and behold after first bite, I realized not only was my burger not even the slightest bit of pink in the middle (it was hard to tell at first in the dim lighting of the bar), but it was dry, overcooked and charred - lettuce, tomato and ketchup used as an attempt to cover up the grill marks. I was starving so there was no way I was sending it back at this point and so, I trudged on and chewed through the meat like a dog chewing on rawhide. I was extremely disappointed. No flavor, just the taste of burnt beef in my mouth. And let's not even get into the brioche bun being used yet again in a completely unoriginal attempt to fancy-ify this overpriced bar burger. ($11?? Seriously??)

Regardless of how busy your kitchen is, the least you can do is try to prepare food to your customer's request. I can only imagine what would have happened if I ordered a steak there (if they even serve steak; I have no clue.) Or if I had some kind of food allergy. (I actually think I did have some allergic reaction to whatever was in their aioli after I left. I've never known myself to have food allergies before, but my throat felt like it was closing up and made it hard to swallow.) I guess they just figured it was better to overcook my burger then undercook it, and that does not a good burger make. Bad dog, very bad dog. My rating: "D".