Marquee Grill - June 10, 2011

Last Friday's burger quest took me to Marquee Grill, Tre Wilcox's restaurant that recently opened in Highland Park Village. Marquee Grill is open for lunch and dinner and features two different menus depending on the time of day. At lunch, the menu features items that are quicker to prepare and eat such as salads and sandwiches so that diners can return to work while at dinner, the menu features more complex entrees. As our group entered the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly hostess who brought us to our table which was located near the open kitchen. Marquee Grill is a two story very open restaurant with the kitchen on the first floor and an expansive bar on the second floor. After we were seated, our server asked for our drink orders and then he explained the features of the day. He returned with our drinks and I ordered the Marquee Grill Burger which features caramelized cipollini onion, Neuske's bacon, smoked cheddar cheese and fries for $15. After a short wait, the following burger was placed before me:




While I was waiting for the burger to be cooked, I could hear it cooking in the kitchen and it smelled wonderful when it arrived. The cheese was melted nicely on top of the patty while the bottom bun soaked up the juices from the half pound patty. The onion was lightly caramelized and served on top of the cheddar cheese. The burger was crowned with two crispy slices of bacon and the toasted top bun. Taking a bite, I was impressed with the layers of flavors and textures of ingredients from the smoky and crispy bacon, the earthy smoky cheese, the sweetness of the onion and juicy hamburger patty. I am not sure what kind of beef was being used in the patty but it was cooked medium and was seasoned with salt and pepper and lightly coated with a ancho-bourbon sauce which gave each bite a little bit of heat. I would have liked the bacon to have been cut slightly thicker and cooked a little less crisp but it had a good flavor and complimented the burger. One of my favorite parts of the burger was probably the cipollini onions which were sweeter than typical red or yellow onions and added a unique dimension to the burger. Finally the fries were thick cut fries that were crunchy and salty.


Overall I thought that Marquee Grill served a very good burger especially in the high-end burger category. They used high quality ingredients in the entire burger and the flavors worked well together. It is definitely not an everyday burger but on a hot summer day in Dallas, it was a tasty splurge. I would order the burger again but I would also like to try the other offerings from Tre Wilcox and Jermaine Brown as well as try one the drink concoctions created by Jason Kosmas at the bar.


Ratings (1-25:)


Bun - 20, light fluffy bun, held up well to a very juicy burger


Meat - 21, flavorful high quality patty, crispy smoky bacon


Appearance - 20, good presentation, nice contrast of cheese meat and onions


Taste - 21, very tasty burger, sweetness of onions complimented beef, cheese and bacon flavors


Overall - 82