T Phillips Ale House - The T-Burger

T Phillips Ale House's T-Burger

MJ gave it a 72.

David gave it a 67.

MJ's Review

It is called the T-Burger, which makes sense since it is the basic hamburger on the menu at T Phillips Ale House, but it should be called the Utilitarian Burger, because its primary function is to facilitate drinking.  This is to say if you want a great burger, stay tuned to this blog.  (It is out there and we will find it.)  If you want to drink beers in a singularly great room, and you want a burger, with a half-pound charbroiled patty on a potato bun, loaded w/ grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles & T Phillips’ own dressing, to sop up some of that alcohol and allow you to sit and watch sports and imbibe beverages with your peops while you get a little loose, then yes, the T-Burger at T Phillips Ale House is for you. 

 

From a taste perspective the T-Burger was merely serviceable.  As David and I started in on our burgers, (and we were both famished on arrival,) I noticed about a quarter of mine was disconnecting from the rest of the patty and sliding out one side.  When it finally did fall out I noticed the piece of meat bore a striking resemblance to Peru, which made me wonder if Peruvians eat food as a means to sustain their beer guzzling.  Probably.  I slid Peru back inside the soft folds of its potato bun and chomped on that burger till it was gone.  It was satisfying and yet, more than pedestrian.

 

Overall, I gave the T-Burger a 72 out of 100.  It was basic pub fare all  the way.  The room is truly great.  Large, spacious with high ceilings and enough televisions of the large screen variety to glimpse every NFL game in turns.  The wait staff works collectively, which was good on this day as no fewer than four servers checked in on David and I at various times.  The side of fries I had with my burger was also standard issue all the way.  If you ever have the T-Burger the best thing about it will be the beer you pair it with.  This Ale House has a great selection but I recommend a heavy beer as it will be the centerpiece of your meal at T Phillips Ale House.

David's Review

This is my first review for the Monrovia Burger Blog.  I hope there will be many great burgers in our future. I have a little fear of the not so great burgers lurking out there in a sea of grease and nastiness, but we will tackle those with bravado and supplement that bravado with Pepto-Bismol as needed.

First on the list is T-Phillips Ale house.

Although T-Phillips offers a few variations of the cheeseburger, I thought I'd start with the T-Burger.

Setting(1-10)  I gave T-Phillips a score of 6 on setting.  The place is nice and clean.  Service is good and prompt for the most part.  It's a good place for a burger and a beer.  Nothing too special.

Presentation- (1-10)  6  The T-burger is your basic burger.  Nothing fancy.  They offer a good selection of sides that are included with the burger.  For that is important.  If I wanted to add fries or onion rings to my burger, I'd be at Wendy's or In and Out paying less for the actual burger.  T Phillips gives a good selection (Fries, curry fries, garlic fries, rings.)  I recommend the garlic fries.  The presentation is nice and it comes with a fork and steak knife.  The fork will be handy if you are one of those weirdos that happens to eat their burgers and fries with a fork.  The knife is useful to cut the burger in half, making it easier to eat.

Taste-(1 -80)  I must first add that I think the 1 to 80 range may be a bit wide for burgers.  I am assuming 80 equals something resembling an orgasmic reaction to a burger(in which case I'm sure I will order at least 2!) to 1 which I assume means E coli and an agonizing death...while propped on the toilet bowl.  Not a good way to go.  Anyway, back to the T-burger:

Score:55 I found the T-burger a decent burger.  They throw some grilled onions on that that adds some flavor to the burger.  The patty is well seasoned and the condiments are fresh.  My one complaint on this particular burger is the greasiness.  The burger I got was very greasy.  You know you're in trouble when they plop it down in front of you and the bottom bun is soaked in grease.  It's a small thing I know, but I recently had a burger known for its greasiness and this was not an issue.  More grease, half the price and no soaked buns.  Hmmm.

Overall this was a mid-field burger.

No E coli.  No orgasm either.

The search for the 80 score burger continues.

Try the Reuben Sliders.

Monrovia Burgers Blog Introduction

For this, our inaugural post on a blog that represents a quest to eat more cow in the handsome little burg that is Monrovia, California, then write about the many gastro-experiences and rate the various patty-based meals, my good friend David Galvan and I have chosen to start with an especially familiar establishment at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue, (Monrovia’s Times Square, Haight and Ashbury or Hollywood and Vine, perhaps,)  T Phillips Ale House. 

 

The idea behind this blog is one born of a certain hunger.  David and I have been spending a great deal of time, (and money,) eating in Monrovia for years.  We enjoy the restaurants as well as the relative proximity of those centered around Myrtle Avenue, in part for the sheer charm and quality anyone can see and experience first-hand and also in part because it is close to my home and so, walking distance.  Our plan is to eat and score a burger from every eatery that sells one within the city limits at an ideal rate of one per week roughly until we have consumed them all.  In turn we hope to pass on a fair and valuable accounting of what our readers might expect if they happened into any of these same places in search of the great, American Hamburger.

 

We score burgers in three areas: Taste,Presentation, and Setting, though Taste is heavily weighted compared to the other two considerations.  Every burger we taste will receive a numerical score from 1-100.