looking for a great burger in PHX

[DonZ]

I read that "The Grind" serves an awesome burger but am having trouble locating it on Google maps. Is it still in Phoenix?
If not, where do you recommend?

[Beach Chick]

Chuckbox in Tempe..

[chewbacca]

2nd to Chuckbox!

[hohokam]

As far as I know, The Grind still exists. It's in the strip mall on the southwest corner of 40th St and Camelback.

The Pica Rico burger at Gallo Blanco is still my current favorite.

There is at least one recently active thread on this topic--if you search for "burger", the thread should pop up.

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Gallo Blanco Cafe
401 W Clarendon Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85013

The Grind
3961 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85018

[DonZ]

Thanks hohokam. I did find it and had an excellent burger.

[hohokam]

Glad to hear it. Which burger did you have?

On my first and only visit, my burger came out cooked well beyond the medium rare that I asked for, so I wasn't too keen on returning until I was reasonably sure that the kitchen crew had mastered the 1000-degree oven. Given the positive reports I've heard of late, I suppose I should pencil in a time to give them another shot.

[cactuschowdah]

They definitely have. Went back again last weekend and had a perfectly medium-rare mushroom burger. My favorite is still the sweet and spicy though. Best burger I've ever had, in my humble opinion.

[johnseberg]

I gave The Grind several chances, and they overcooked - failed to deliver medium rare nearly every time. Otherwise, I like the burgers, and only gave them so many chances because I thought the potential was so great. I tried again within the last couple months - same result.

It could be that I am cursed, or don't know what medium rare is. But Delux never fails me.

I also like Gallo Blanco, but, I'm tired of getting overcooked burgers there, too. I'll continue eating there, because everything else I've had has been excellent.

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Delux
3146 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

Gallo Blanco Cafe
401 W Clarendon Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85013

[Dapuma]

Do/did you send back the burgers when overcooked?

I havent tried the Grind almost always go to Delux - they have only missed medium rare one time in at least 20+ times there, and they corrected it immediatly (sent it back and they resent out a burger) and they took it off the bill for their mistake

I was very impressed, as i normally am with Delux

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Delux
3146 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016

[johnseberg]

I never send food back. It's usually edible, so, I eat it. I'm not letting it go to waste.

Whether I bring it to the restaurant's attention, depends. The Grind seems to take pride in the quality of their food, and their ingredients are very high quality. I'm sure they would try to correct a problem.

Gallo Blanco has comped my meal when a burger was overcooked. They also comped me for an item that was a little slow to the table, and I didn't even complain, in that case.

I'm just saying that if rare or medium rare is very important to you, The Grind might disappoint. I would agree with Dmnkly that the burgers still have some juice. Maybe only one of a half dozen I've had was overcooked to the point of being dry.

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Gallo Blanco Cafe
401 W Clarendon Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85013

[Dmnkly]

They still miss a temp from time to time. But their batting average is much improved, in my experience. It bugs me too, but the conclusion I've reached is that while being a step overdone is a cardinal sin, to some degree I feel like making that the be-all-end-all is missing the forest for the trees. Yeah, I'd prefer they nail med rare every single time. But even at the wrong temp, for me it still has enough going on make it more compelling than most of the others mentioned (particularly Delux). Even when overdone, The Grind evokes more juicy cow than most places do at a perfect medium rare, and that's what keeps me coming back despite the inconsistency. Pragmatism trumps dogma for me in this case. I won't defend temp issues... bad Grind! But I'm not going to pass on something that's freaking delicious to stand on principle.

[hohokam]

Sorry. I don't mean to come off as being a single-issue voter. Temperature is not the be all and end all for me. I know that every place is going to flub this from time to time, but as long as the overall experience is a net positive, I have no problem shrugging off small errors.

The problem for me wasn't simply that the burger I ordered medium-rare was cooked to the cusp separating medium-well from well done, but that in overcooking the burger, the kitchen had rendered it much too dry for my taste. While eating the burger, I had flashbacks to the overcooked patties my parents favored, where chewing the meat caused it to expand and expand and expand while it wicked away all of the moisture in my mouth. No bueno.

Despite the overall thoughtful composition of the sandwich, the dryness of the meat kind of killed the experience for me on that visit. Also, I'll admit, the fact that the post-tax total for my meal (burger, fries, iced tea) came to $18 affected my personal cost-benefit analysis when weighing the value of a return visit.

As I said above, I'm willing to give The Grind another shot--I generally give highly regarded places 2 or 3 chances to impress me. However, if I come away disappointed, I'll likely send The Grind to back of my high end burger queue.

[Dmnkly]

"The problem for me wasn't simply that the burger I ordered medium-rare was cooked to the cusp separating medium-well from well done, but that in overcooking the burger, the kitchen had rendered it much too dry for my taste."

That's definitely another matter. And there's no call for an apology even if it weren't. Dry is definitely something I haven't experienced there. I love that almost crisp crust, which naturally means the outer edges are quite dry. But I've never had a burger there that didn't send rivulets of beef juice down my arms. If I had, I'd probably feel the same way as you.

[hohokam]

Well, I'm happy to report that on my visit to The Grind last week the Peppercorn Burger I ordered came out medium rare and juicy as all get out. Indeed, I had to resort to a second napkin on this trip.The combination of toppings didn't really work that well for me, but that was really just a matter of personal taste rather than the kitchen missing the mark on execution.

With my confidence in The Grind restored, I'm eager to give some of the other burgers on the menu a go.

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The Grind
3961 E Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85018

[scaheld]

I had the same burger & temperature this past Sunday and it was delicious.

[DonZ]

Found it:
3961 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
South West corner of 40th street and Camelback
http://www.thegrindaz.com