The burger: Civic boosters on the hunt for a lasting benefit from the recent Super Bowl hoopla need look no further than Lowry Hill Meats.
That's because butcher/co-owner Erik Sather used the event as an opportunity to expand his burger service from its Wednesday-only schedule into an available-daily commodity. The week-long experiment proved to be a hit.
"We sold a couple of hundred burgers," he said. "We did it to get visitors to come in, but we ended up getting a lot of regulars. I heard a lot of 'It's Monday, and I can get a burger? Thank God.'"
In another "thank God" move, Sather has made the Super Bowl test-run a permanent gig.
"It's now available all day, every day," he said, starting at 10 a.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. weekends. "You can add an egg if you feel like you need it for breakfast." (And this being quality-minded Lowry Hill Meats, it's not just any egg, but a free-range and organic beauty that he purchases through his dairy supplier, Castle Rock Organic Farms in Osseo, Wis.)
Yes, this is the burger that I declared the best I'd tasted in 2016, the year that Sather introduced it into his weekly specials rotation. (Find my original Burger Friday entry here). And yes, it continues to reside in the upper echelons of the Twin Cities burger pantheon.
The version that Sather is serving closely follows the same format as the burger I first raved about in 2016: deeply flavorful quarter-pound patties made with ground beef sourced from single steers, house-made American cheese, tangy house-made pickles and caramelized onions.
Rather than import buns from elsewhere, Sather taps the considerable skill set of Lowry Hill Meats colleague Gabe Carlson, who bakes a brioche-style bun with a butcher shop twist: instead of milk, this soft, golden beauty is fortified with fat from the shop's hogs. They're fantastic.
Carlson also bakes the English muffins for the weekend-only breakfast sandwiches. Now that the shop's burger is a daily feature, will that amazing ham-cheese-egg-hot-sauce sandwich also receive the seven-days-a-week treatment?
"Yep, but not yet," said Sather with a laugh. "Let's take this one step at a time."
Price: $10. Make it a double for $13. Add an egg for a buck.
Fries: None. But that could change. "I'm shopping around for fries," said Sather. Hurrah.
Check your calendars: Sather & Co. keep up an impressive list of special events and classes. In the coming weeks, look for a vegetable fermentation how-to from Jim Bovino of Topos Ferments on March 3, a choucroute garnie demonstration and dinner with "Venison" author Jon Wipfli on March 9 and a St. Patrick's Day pop-up with Union Kitchen chef Yia Vang on March 17, with Vang doing his version of corned beef and cabbage. The shop's next monthly (and fascinating) "Whole Hog Breakdown" class, where Sather leads a hands-on tutorial in hog butchery, is scheduled for March 24.
Address book: 1934 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., 612-999-4200. Burger is available during the shop's hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends. There's a small (free) parking lot; enter on Colfax Av.
Talk to me: Do you have a favorite burger? Share the details at rick.nelson@startribune.com.
