a date night burger
I’ve heard a good deal about Petrol Station, and I think it did relatively well in the burger bracket over at the Houston Press. My understanding is that it used to be mainly a coffee house that offered beer, but since has veered into the beer garden that offers coffee genre. Regardless of its roots, T and I were looking for a low key ‘out of the way’ place to do a quick date night and Petrol seemed to fit the bill. We pulled up and I wasn’t one bit surprised to see…an old gas station. It was full, but not ridiculously so and we were lucky to nab a parking spot out front. Walking in I immediately felt comfortable, I’m very into wood and dark intimate atmospheres right now and this place supplied both. There’s a giant chalkboard listing some of the beer choices and menus for the more extensive list.
We had to squeeze through a couple to get to the bar, but the staff was attentive and we didn’t have to wait long to place our drink order. When we had walked in, an argyle beer tap had caught my eye (yes, I’m someone who orders the ‘cute’ labels) but in trying to be more objective I decided to ask the bartender what he would suggest based on another favorite beer, fat tire. Lucky me, his suggestion was the argyle tap!
To the credit of the bartender, the beer was delicious, definitely a good call. Sadly, I didn’t do it justice by fully remembering the name but I’m fairly certain it was ‘Vos’ or something similar. UPDATE: found a photo, it IS Vos, Rare Vos.
Turning to the menu, I faced a dilemma. In the pure ‘burger list’ sense, I try to stick to more traditional burgers. I want to give each locale a chance and not be swayed by some fantastic topping options that could hide poorly cooked or seasoned meat. Petrol offers a Rancor burger that seriously tested my resolve. Topped with bacon, cheddar, fried egg, veggies …’and more bacon’ I knew this was a burger I wanted to try. However, when T seemed to be going for something more basic, I knew I couldn’t let date night be dominated by BACON. I stuck with the basic Petrol Pub burger with cheese but their lamb burger is another I plan to try. We placed our order, got our number and found a table with little trouble. The outside patio is pretty large, but as Houston summers are upon us we opted to sit inside. This turned out well as it gave me a chance to eyeball other patrons’ food.
When our burgers arrived, I was pretty hungry so I started in on the fries immediately. I was pretty impressed. They were a dark golden brown, rough cut and seasoned fairly simply but they had great flavor. I’m not even going to attempt to speculate how or why, they were simply good. They did get cold by the end of the meal but the smaller ones remained crispy so my usual problem with fry self control surfaced. Thank goodness T was there to help save me from myself by eating them before I could.
The burger itself didn’t look like much at first. I’m getting used to tasty looking burgers apparently. The bun was appropriately warm and fluffy. I cut mine in half in case T wanted to share (he usually does) and the veggies meat ratio was encouraging. Then I took a bite. Heaven. The meat is seasoned really well, great pepper flavor and a good balance of salt. The cheese was perfectly melted and the veggies stood up to the size of the patty well. It did get messy rather quickly, but with good melty cheese and juicy fresh veggies that’s to be expected. Good thing T and I were well past the first date stage because the burger juice dripping on my fingers might not have made for a romantic evening. As it was, I think it only added to the romance of our date night. Nothing says love between the two of us like really good food. Our burgers didn’t really stand a chance, or in this case the fries either. Both were devoured quickly, washed down with the rest of the beer and we were left licking our chops.
Extra bonus points given for the fact we ran into friends while here, goes show that this local joint is really some place our group would like/already likes to chill.
I will be back for the Rancor.
Stars: 4.99999
Petrol Station
985 Wakefield Dr
Houston, TX 77018
We had to squeeze through a couple to get to the bar, but the staff was attentive and we didn’t have to wait long to place our drink order. When we had walked in, an argyle beer tap had caught my eye (yes, I’m someone who orders the ‘cute’ labels) but in trying to be more objective I decided to ask the bartender what he would suggest based on another favorite beer, fat tire. Lucky me, his suggestion was the argyle tap!
To the credit of the bartender, the beer was delicious, definitely a good call. Sadly, I didn’t do it justice by fully remembering the name but I’m fairly certain it was ‘Vos’ or something similar. UPDATE: found a photo, it IS Vos, Rare Vos. Turning to the menu, I faced a dilemma. In the pure ‘burger list’ sense, I try to stick to more traditional burgers. I want to give each locale a chance and not be swayed by some fantastic topping options that could hide poorly cooked or seasoned meat. Petrol offers a Rancor burger that seriously tested my resolve. Topped with bacon, cheddar, fried egg, veggies …’and more bacon’ I knew this was a burger I wanted to try. However, when T seemed to be going for something more basic, I knew I couldn’t let date night be dominated by BACON. I stuck with the basic Petrol Pub burger with cheese but their lamb burger is another I plan to try. We placed our order, got our number and found a table with little trouble. The outside patio is pretty large, but as Houston summers are upon us we opted to sit inside. This turned out well as it gave me a chance to eyeball other patrons’ food.
When our burgers arrived, I was pretty hungry so I started in on the fries immediately. I was pretty impressed. They were a dark golden brown, rough cut and seasoned fairly simply but they had great flavor. I’m not even going to attempt to speculate how or why, they were simply good. They did get cold by the end of the meal but the smaller ones remained crispy so my usual problem with fry self control surfaced. Thank goodness T was there to help save me from myself by eating them before I could.
The burger itself didn’t look like much at first. I’m getting used to tasty looking burgers apparently. The bun was appropriately warm and fluffy. I cut mine in half in case T wanted to share (he usually does) and the veggies meat ratio was encouraging. Then I took a bite. Heaven. The meat is seasoned really well, great pepper flavor and a good balance of salt. The cheese was perfectly melted and the veggies stood up to the size of the patty well. It did get messy rather quickly, but with good melty cheese and juicy fresh veggies that’s to be expected. Good thing T and I were well past the first date stage because the burger juice dripping on my fingers might not have made for a romantic evening. As it was, I think it only added to the romance of our date night. Nothing says love between the two of us like really good food. Our burgers didn’t really stand a chance, or in this case the fries either. Both were devoured quickly, washed down with the rest of the beer and we were left licking our chops. Extra bonus points given for the fact we ran into friends while here, goes show that this local joint is really some place our group would like/already likes to chill.
I will be back for the Rancor.
Stars: 4.99999
Petrol Station
985 Wakefield Dr
Houston, TX 77018
