Anytime you involve your girlfriend in your plans, you better plan for those plans to change. As I returned from being out of the country I had given my girlfriend the duty for finding a “nice steak or chop house”. Being picked up at the airport she glows with her ability to have found “a new place I had never been to, and it’s just over here in Arlington”. My curiosity really starts peaking as we travel off the main highways and near the UTA campus. As she pulls in a somewhat old strip shopping center, I look at the signage….Yep she was right, 1) It said “Chop House”, and 2) I had never been there before. This by NO means is a high end steak or chop house, which was my intention for this evening’s dinner, and not “New”, just new to me, this is a burger joint, and the name?, you guessed it…”CHOP HOUSE.” There are two avenues to take from this point, having experience with women; I choose the ONLY option, which is “let’s eat!”
As soon as I open the door and the char-grill aroma hits me, my question now is “why have I never been here?” There are couple of rooms to sit in if you’re eating here, both with big screen TV’s that may have been older than a few of the college kids eating here. There are a few items on the menu other than a burger, but burgers are what this place is about. There are several variations to Chef Kenny Mills char-grill dead red meat burgers and they all sound eatable, from “The Chop House Burger”, down to the off the menu “Dragon Burger”. Plenty of extras to add if you need it, and a few sides, no booze, just sodas. I almost over looked the sidewall “specialty butter’s”… (Spreads) you can have put on the burger for extra flavoring.
My girl is intrigued by the Carolina Burger, which is a blend of ground beef and smoked pulled pork, she gets the side of sweet potato fries, (picture) and seems thrilled at seeing my eyes brighten as I step to order. I couldn’t stand it, after seeing and hearing all this stuff about ghost chili’s, I see the placard on the counter for the Dragon Burger, made with the ghost chili, the placard even states…”Not for the mild or timid”, I went this far so I load the burger with onions, cheese, bacon, and since the burger has the ghost chili, I add the wasabi butter as well. If I’m going to try and show how brave I am, I’m going all the way. I may go down, but if I do it will be in flames. Instead of giving you a number, they issue you a little embossed placard with famous people’s names on one side and their accomplishments on the other.
Neat spot, good crowd, couple of college kids and normal people, looking for a good burger, as far as I can tell I’m the only stuffed shirt here. They bring you your food by calling your name on the card. I take a quick bite of the Carolina burger and fries before I ruin my taste buds on the fire I ordered. The blend of the beef and pork is amazing; fries are made from real sweet potatoes. Only two bite’s into the Dragon, the fire starts, I love spicy food, and make no mistake, this is one of them. I polish it off rather quickly, afraid to stop and then down two sodas as I wait for my girl to finish.
Summary: Definitely best burger spot in mid-cities, maybe the metroplex, and worth a drive. Price, just a little more than a regular burger, but this is NO regular burger. Great atmosphere, location; is ok, but definitely worth it. Oh, if they still have the Dragon Burger, and if you’re man enough, give it a go, Fantastic! One thing…it’s just as hot coming out as it was going in….yoooouuch!
Chop House Burgers
1700 W. Park Row #116
Arlington, Texas 76013
817-459-3700
www.chophouseburgers.com