Royal Tavern

and my top 10 philly burgers (so far!)

Hello hello! It’s been a minute divas. I’m all settled into my new space in Philadelphia and ready to dive into my burger backlog. I’m giving you one in Philly this week: the burger at Royal Tavern in Queen Village/Bella Vista! I’ve visited RT before but got the roast chicken which was excellent, so I was eager to get my hands on a burger here.

With a kitchen open til 1am, a cozy ambience and TVs playing The Game, whatever that might be at a given moment, makes this a go-to neighborhood spot. The elevated American menu, wine program and great cocktails are all cherries on top.

There are two beef burgers available on the menu plus a non-meat version with an housemade veggie patty! The Royal Burger ($15 single / $22 double) has Happy Valley Meats patty, smoked gouda, caramelized onions, chili mayo, bacon, and pickled long hots while the Nic Mac burger has the same patty and bun plus lettuce, Mac sauce, banana peppers, American cheese ($11/$16). It was a decision between smokey and salty and light and fresh and I decided on going with the former.

I also decided to go for a double, blithely unaware of the size of these patties.

This guy was HUGE. Monstrous. I lowkey had to unbutton at the afters (watching a movie on my friend’s couch).

big guy

The patties themselves were tall but so were the mounds of bacon and long hots between them and the pillowy toasted bun - my grip was at full capacity. The first bite was super juicy but not too greasy. The bacon was well-cooked and lent a nice crunch - the only big textural contrast outside of the toasty sections of bun.

The long hots and chili mayo both gave reprieve from how rich the rest of the burger was with some acid and heat, but I wish the peppers were cut a little more. The bigger pieces ended up getting mushy throughout the course of dinner and I think having more of those guys per bite would pack more flavor AND keep them a little more sturdy. And you already KNOW I love caramelized onions, especially when they’re kept neat and tidy and intermixed with the sauce.

NOW for the big news: this officially marks ten burgers of Philly which MEANS ranking BELOW:

10. Good Dog Bar (no review…because I did get very sick after)

9. Lucky’s Burger Bar

8. Pub & Kitchen

7. Middle Child Clubhouse

6. Philadelphia Distillery

5. Pine Street Grill

4. Bloomsday - a shout out here but she needs her own write up soon!

3. Royal Tavern

And a TIE FOR FIRST!

1. Fountain Porter and a.kitchen