I admit it. I absolutely love a good burger. There’s something so satisfying about being able to pick up your entire meal in one go and take a big bite out of it; even more satisfying if it’s dripping down your chin!

I’d been looking forward to stopping in at Grease Burger Bar down on Clematis St. in downtown West Palm Beach for a while, but I was under no circumstances (not even for craft beer) subjecting myself to the mid “season” ridiculousness that surrounds anything remotely new or hip November – April in SoFL.

I’d read the very good and the not-so-good reviews on Grease, but tried to maintain some Swiss neutrality going in; I’d heard that the burgers lived up to the name of the place, but I thought that was a little rough of a criticism. I’m not a huge fan of the “lean” burger, I believe there should be a decent amount of juicy, greasiness involved – otherwise where’s the fun?! So, when one of my local beer tweeps mentioned recently that they had stumbled on Grease serving up Cigar City Jai Alai on draft, I could barely stop myself from jumping in the car that minute! Good craft beer, and a delicious array of burger options? How could I go wrong??

Well, I’m happy to say that I didn’t. Go wrong that is.

It’s a very pub-like atmosphere, with the standard bar down one side and high top tables down the other; high ceilings with meat hooks hanging from them (nice touch for the meat lovers), and dark paneling on the walls. Only teeny-tiny criticism here was that it was a touch dark inside, which takes a lot of getting used to after walking in from the FL 6pm sunshine.

We had a friendly server who, while he did have some issue distinguishing my Australian accent trying to enunciate “Jai-Alai” as opposed to what he heard me saying, “High Life” – eek!! – was fast on the beer delivery (v.important). Happy hour had our Jai Alais at 2-4-1 prices, which couldn’t have made me much happier! I was also impressed with the server’s non-hovery-ness while we took our time to peruse the extensive menu, and catch up with our recently returned from vacation friends.

There are about 10 different burger options (I’m sure you could mix-n-match this into hundreds of combinations with the extras), plus sandwiches, hot-dogs, chili & salads to choose from. Post “Food Inc." Me is now permanently compelled to eat the grass-fed organic versions of food if they are presented as an option, so I had the Organic burger and stole the Vermont white cheddar from another burger choice. Hubby was with me on the organic choice. One friend chose off the specials menu, ordering some kind of a BBQ-Bacon-Burger and the other had the Reuben.

I will start the telling of how we enjoyed our meals by saying this; the fries are exceptional. Freaking delicious actually! Skinny, Belgian alehouse-esque, slivers of fried potato perfection – amazing. The burgers and sandwiches are really very good too; a perfect level of lean and greasy – for my taste anyway. A little extra seasoning in the organic burger would have been good, but that was easily remedied by myself at the table.

The beer list at Grease is pretty damn good too. While their permanent on draught list is a little on the light side for most of the beer drinkers I know, the bottle selection more than makes up for it in not-too-obscenely priced bottles. Among the labels that caught my eye were Avery’s 14er ESB ($6), Dogfish 60 Minute IPA ($6), Saranac Pale Ale ($5) & Rogue Dead Guy Ale ($6). Not too shabby I’d say. They have a couple of taps that they switch out with new (and more exciting) beers from time to time – I just called to check what they’re doing this week and was told they are doing Magic Hat #9 and still doing Cigar City Jai Alai (which according to the girl I spoke to is a brewery in New York? Oops…support the Sunshine State people!).

All in all, Grease gets a solid A-, it’s definitely far above average for the offerings in downtown West Palm. You should try it.

Grease Burger Bar is @ 213 Clematis St. West Palm Beach, 561-651-1075 Happy hour every day 4-7pm is 2-4-1 on all beers!

Photo Credits: Big Time Restaurants (http://www.bigtimerestaurants.com/) & Sun-Sentinel/SUP Eating around South Florida