Square1 Burgers & Bar       
 St. Pete, Florida       Date of Visit  12/24/13       http://www.square1burgers.com/

We are in FLA for supremely and wonderfully laid back Christmas festivities and while we ate in a good bit, we did get out to a few places during our stay. Our host had won a couple of coupons at a charity poker event for a burger joint with a couple locations on the coast with a new one right in St. Pete. The interior of the place looks like the three previous tenants had left everything behind and the new owners decided to use everything. Cowhide, chandeliers, red crushed velvet. It’s all here.
 

Nutty Decor
 

We ordered some onion rings, eggrolls and two burgers. The onion rings are made in house and are double dipped in a batter which results in a thick but light flaky crust which clings to the lightly sweet wreath of onion. Put a check mark down for the first onion ring Steph ever really liked. Served with a side of SQ1 Sooner sauce, a lightly spiced ranchy sort of concoction, they are that good. The “spicy” eggrolls were filled with pulled pork in a wild bourbon sauce, slaw, pepper jack cheese and another side of the Sooner sauce. The pork isn’t overly sauced and it doesn’t have to be. Succulent and smoky, the light kick of the bourbon sauce only enhances well done bbq. The slaw is more along an Asian bent with sesame oil, black sesame seeds, and light vinegar pickling the cabbage. Interesting and tasty in the rolls and alongside the burger.
 

Square 1 has loads of different burger toppings but can also cater to your preference for meat (or unmeat) slab. Angus, chicken, pulled pork; sure no big deal. Lamb, bison, duck, salmon, turkey, veggie, vegan; sure, that’s getting a little crazy. Apparently you can even get things like gator or elk on special occasions. The only issues is the menu claims to have Kobe beef which is incredibly unlikely, much more likely it’s Wygyu which are American versions of the prime Japanese beef. We were looking to hit the most standard of fare for a first visit and got a couple of the angus burgers, the bleu bacon and the Juicy Lucy.

The burger patties are moist, well seasoned and griddled to a beautiful brown Maillard crusty tastiness. The bleu had two thick rashers of applewood smoked bacon, crumbles of a sharp forward bleu cheese and the standard veg. It also came on a whole wheat bun which was tastily topped with oats.
 

I have seen the Juicy Lucy on a couple of tv shows but haven’t found myself in Minnesota so I thought I would try one in the south. An angus patty stuffed with cheddar cheese and topped with veg, caramelized onions and dijonaise on a brioche bun. There had been a bit of blow out but the tasty patty was still loaded with cheese. All together they make a fine burger at Square 1. Tasty rings, good fries. There are a lot of folks doing upscale burgers, this is one of my favorites so far.