I came here Sunday noon and absolutely will be back for their truffle fries! We had wonderful service and were quickly seated. Me being clumsy dumped my entire glass of water into my friend's lap by accident....and the waitress was very helpful (and I did not feel judged for being a klutz...hah!) and brought out towels to clean up my mess.
The servings were ginormous and I brought half my burger home with me because I couldn't finish it. It was still delicious. We both ordered the bacon mushroom swiss burger in a pretzel bun with a regular order of truffle fries. The fries came with 4 dipping sauces and I loved all of them, especially the garlic aioli one. They were crispy and just right and so so well flavored. The bacon mushroom swiss burger ---amaaaazing. My burger was cooked just right and the melted cheese, crispy savory bacon, and buttery mushroom were a perfect combo.
Best of all it's located in downtown Lawrence and we could easily go shopping afterwards to walk off some serious food coma!
In the past, Dempsey's was worthy of 4 stars in my opinion. Last few times visiting, I've noticed some red flags. First off, it may be time for a good cleaning and sprucing up of the joint. Starting to get a dirty musty smell when you walk in. Gone is the aroma of grilled burgers the last couple times. The other day I visited for early dinner around 3pm and only two other couples in Dempsey's. Therefore, why were the tables still dirty and in fact.........the table I was seated at was crawling with ants. This was the table next to the juke box machine and no excuse what-so-ever for this to occur. Here's the real kicker; the waitress moved me one table over and not once did anyone wipe that table down before the next guests were seated at that very table. Unreal!! Bathrooms have seen better days. Pool table area is really beat up. The booths are all starting to fall apart and peel. Let me put it bluntly, "Clean the damn restaurant"!
OK, now that the rant about the appearances and the cleanliness of Dempsey's is out of the way, on to the food. I ordered the 1lb garlic chicken wings for an appetizer and was brought the hot wings instead. I let it go and didn't say a word. The wings were not that good on the recent visit either. Rubbery and just not very tasty. Again, no biggie as my main reason for eating at Dempsey's are the burgers. I went with the Kobe burger and truffle fries. I still think their truffle fries are the BEST in the city. Love, and I mean LOVE their orangish colored spicy sauce for the fries and burgers. Really good stuff. The burger, bun, and toppings were excellent as always. I'm not a huge burger eater, especially after all the "pink slim" attention the past few years. But I can tolerate a Dempsey's, Burger Stand, Culvers, Henry T, Five Guys type burger on occasion. Towards the end of my burger, I just wasn't feeling it. For some reason, it was starting to present the texture of a frozen beef patty. I know everyone claims "Kobe" burgers are the top grade and never frozen variety. Well, I'm starting to doubt if Dempsey's has fresh Kobe or frozen Kobe beef.
All in all, not a bad meal. Waitress was very nice and did a great job. I not a huge service guy that nit picks waiters and waitresses to death. In the end, there are certain things to be had with Dempsey's vs Burger Stand and vice versa. Both decent choices in Lawrence Kansas.
I grew up in Lawrence but I moved before Dempsey's opened. Â I'm in town for a few weeks and just had lunch here with a few coworkers. Â First, 1/2 off for students on Tuesdays. Â I love student discounts, but you don't usually see a student discount for more than 10% . Â Half off?!!?? OK!! Â The food was great, too. Â My coworkers and I have already decided that we'll be doing lunch here every Tuesday for the rest of summer. Â
The truffle fries are fantastic (but it's pretty hard to mess up truffle anything), and so was my house burger. Â I love establishments that support local farmers and use local ingredients. Â However, the true test will be their veggie burgers. Â I was eyeing both the portobello and quinoa patty burger before I settled with the house burger, but I'm going to give both a try before the summer is up!
I LOVE the quinoa burger and fire fries. I'm not a beer drinker but appreciate that they have Woodchuck and Strongbow (in a can, meh). My burgers are always great, but they never include the "cilantro salad" mentioned on the menu. I had the smoke stack once, and it was tasty, but the picante burger was gross. The flavors do not mesh well at all. I've never had bad service here.
Review Source:Even on graduation weekend in Lawrence, Dempsey's offered great service and food. I don't think my fiance and I could have chosen a better place to have dinner together on that particular busy weekend! Because we had never been there together we decided to share a pound of their garlic wings, Smoked Stack Burger with a side of truffle fries. Let me just say my fiance INHALED his half of the burger and immediately regretted sharing half with me. I savored it, loved every bite.
The truffle fries were good as well, but not quite as flavorful as we had expected. I think we had heard in the past that Dempsey's was once owned by the chef who got The Burger Stand going.... Could be wrong, but it was that type of truffle fries that we expected -- Nevertheless, these truffle fries were good, just different. Our waiter was very helpful in choosing the selection of sauces to dip our fries in. The chile sauce and aioli butter were our favorites.
The wings are also something definitely to rave about. They were SO. GOOD. They still had a bit of heat to them that was tamed by their delicious blue cheese dressing.
Point blank, we will be returning again and again!! :)
Tried this place on a Tuesday for the half price burger deal, it was ok. I think my general problem is that I love Burger Stand so much. I ordered the falafel burger, and truffle fries. The Fries were good, maybe not quite as good as Burger Stand, but close. The burger was generally unimpressive, bun was better than I expected, the patty was undercooked and squishy in the middle. The yogurt Sauce was much too thin and slid off the burger when I picked it up to eat it. Service was excellent, I would try it again.
Review Source:This place sorta has a long history for only being open about five years. Â Needless to say they have worked out their kinks, their menu, their chefs, and have become a solid burger joint/pub to enjoy. Â They have the best sweet potato fries in town and for a better deals than the burger stand at the cashbah offers. Â The sliders are good and I personally prefer the classic burger. The chipotle ketchup is the best. Â
The seating has more to be desired. They do have a great outdoor patio in the back for warmer days. Â
Service is not perfect, but I will say this: tonight my fries were burnt and we told our waiter this. Â Not only was our order replaced but she took it off the tab. This is the first time a restaurant has not made me pay mess up on their part. Â Thank you dempseys!
Tuesday is half price burgers for students - that made this grad student exceedingly happy. Â
Tonight I had the best experience I had since they first opened in 2008 and I'm ecstatic. Thanks dempseys! Â Looking forward to even better days to come.
My husband and I came here on a Sunday afternoon. The place has a really nice vibe with the exposed brick, no nonsense booths, and retro Guiness posters. Our waitress was very friendly and helpful, really great service! She even grabbed the recipe for the ketchup when I couldn't figure out what was in it (seriously, you have to try it and give it a guess!).
So for the burgers...greasy, savory goodness. My husband got the bleu cheese burger, and I got the swiss and mushroom one. Both were cooked perfectly and were SO good. We got sides of regular and fire fries and we were in heaven. This will definitely be a regular place we go when we need a burger fix.
Dempsey's was average.
First, the only table open was a booth by the door (during the winter) in which the light was out. I could barely read the menu in the dark! Had to use my phone.
Our waitress was sub par, inattentive and lacked knowledge of the menu. I ordered an Irish coffee and she said "Oh I didn't know we had that!", which doesn't scream confidence. My boyfriend had to order 3 different beers before settling for a Blue Moon because they were out of so many beers. He was very disappointed because he was looking forward to trying something new! Also, our waitress couldn't tell us which ones they were out of, he would order, she would then come back in 5 minutes to say they didn't have it, only to try again and get the same results.
I had the Kobe burger which was very delicious but the fries, what a disappointment! They were ROCK hard and cold.
Overall, average, nothing special.
Burgers and beer... a simple match made in heaven.
The former owners are neighbors and friends so now that they've moved on the the Burger Stand near 8th and Mass. I'm happy to express my appreciation of a stop here for a dynamic duo of gut stuffing wonderfulness. When I'm feeling like some comfort food and a proper over-the-top caloric experience I know I can count on Dempsey's to deliver. FInding the quality just fine post-Krause... the fries an evil necessity and a good selection of beers on tap to keep me happy, particularly the O'Dell's 90 Shilling.
The restaurant is appropriately divey, homey, comfortable and relaxing. Count me a fan.
The thing that I always say when people ask me what I think of Dempsey's is, "Well, It's NOT the Burger Stand." (A somewhat ironic comparison, given that the Burger Stand used to be housed inside Dempsey's before moving to its new home at The Casbah. And I mean ironic in an Alanis Morissette kind of way, not in the actually ironic irony kind of way.) It probably irks the folks at here to know that they are now in direct competition with the fantastic burger-making chefs that used to pack the house every night back when they were under Dempsey's roof. Being only a couple of blocks away from the new location makes it pretty much inevitable that comparisons are going to happen, and unfortunately they mostly favor The Other One.
Don't get me wrong; Dempsey's isn't terrible. They have a couple of burgers that are really pretty tasty. The quinoa burger and the portabella sandwich are both yummy, and tend to be my go-to choices when we eat there. The falafel burger, however, was disappointing. Not inedible, but pretty bland and mushy the one time I ordered it. As for the fries, they're also pretty good. One thing I do like about them, as opposed to the Burger Stand, is that you can order your sweet potato fries sweet or salty. However, the quality of the sweet potato fries just doesn't match up, and the dipping sauces that Dempsey's serves with them pretty much pale in comparison to what you can get down the street to go with your sweet and cinnamony version at the Burger Stand.
I end up at Dempsey's about once a week for trivia night. (Wednesdays at nine, folks! See if you have what it takes to beat the Isotopes!) I usually do end up eating there, simply because I know I have several vegetarian options and they're going to be predictably decent. If I really disliked the food here, I'd eat before we go and not bother with their menu. I will say, though, that if there was a choice between playing trivia and eating at Dempsey's or playing and eating at the Burger Stand, there'd be no contest.
(Also, a word of warning: Avoid this place like the plague on nights when Sporting Kansas City is playing, unless that's why you're coming here. It'll be full of soccer fans, about as loud as a stadium, and impossible to find seating. We learned this lesson the hard way.)
I used to love you, Dempsey's. I loved your cute brick exterior, your cozy interior, your charming chalkboard. I even stood by you when you served me the nearly-impossible to eat quinoa burger. I thought, "hey, this tastes so good that I don't even mind all the extra work!"
But then you made me sick. I ate your portabello burger and it was delicious until it wasn't anymore because I found myself on the bathroom floor wanting to DIE. Even typing this review is making me sad because I feel so betrayed by you.
Maybe you can earn my trust back one day, but for now, even the thought of portabello mushrooms makes me nauseous.
For such a dingy looking place, this restaurant shocked me with a friendly staff and gourmet food. The Wellington with egg was my choice and my friend had another awesome selection, the Portabella. The food was excellent (though the fries were grossly shadowed by the burgers) and the service quick and gregarious. The atmosphere seemed lively and I was pleased with the range of options and clear class. The beef was very fresh and the toppings clearly in season and local. I enjoyed it and has become a little diamond in the rough. Will return!
Review Source:Beers here are often carbonated improperly. Keg lines are not cleaned often either. Glasses are not properly cleaned.
The burgers are made with good quality beef ( for a pub), but are often soggy, lukewarm. The fries were completely worthless. Worst fries I've had in town.
Sad to say, the Burger Stand is better than Dempsey's for burgers. Don't waste your time here. They may have a far better beef taste, but in every other way, Dempsey's fails.
Had the fried egg burger at Dempsey's last Friday, and I've been craving another one since. I was in Lawrence last weekend with my son. I found this place on yelp and gave it a try. I am really glad I did. The burgers were fantastic---juicy and delicious. I had the truffle fries with garlic aioli. Yum.
The atmosphere is great too. The prices were incredible for such high quality food. We're talking gourmet burgers and fries. We both had burgers with fries and I had a cocktail and our final cost was around $27. Great value.
The only downside to our visit was the wait time. We waited nearly an hour, but it was worth it!
I first started coming here when the Burger Stand was here...for awhile I went to Casbah, but I think Dempsey's has returned to being my favorite burger place in town. They don't have duck fat fries anymore, but I think their truffle are better than Casbah (at least some days...it varies), and I like the variety of burgers available. I hope my love doesn't fade over time! The service is usually pretty good. I like the atmosphere, though it's a bit small, so getting a table can sometimes be tricky. They have a small patio out back which I didn't realize existed until recently.
What I've tried (all delicious):
Sliders - perfect little bites
Kobe - good, but I prefer burgers with cheese
Wellington - not sure I noticed the foie gras mousse, but it was tasty
...plus specials and others in the past
Had a bite of a friend's quinoa, and that was good; another friend loves the Hawaiian (pretzel bun!).
I am happy just thinking about it :)
They also show soccer matches, if you're looking for a place to watch.
On paper, this place sounds great. Truffle fries, grass-fed beef, Kobe, lots of high quality fresh ingredients, they even take the completely superfluous step of making their own ketchup and mustard. Sounds like a great place for some serious, gourmet burgers. Well, unfortunately Dempsey's doesn't live up to its potential.
To start with, the meat itself is good. I don't think anyone would argue that. But it lacked that rich, hefty beefy flavor that the grass-fed stuff usually has. I don't know if this was a result of being a bit overly charred (despite it's being cooked relatively to order) or what, but behind that carbonish taste there isn't much beef taste. Politically and environmentally, I appreciate the commitment to local ingredients, but from an Epicurean perspective, I couldn't really taste the difference. Add to that the fact that my Egg Burger came with an overcooked fried egg instead of an over-easy egg, and I was a bit disappointed. For the price, I was expecting a delicious patty dripping with runny egg yolk and what I got was a pretty average burger. On the other hand, the produce of the burgers was all very fresh and top-notch.
The much lauded truffle fries were a letdown as well. They were greasy to the point of being soggy and, as another reviewer points out, they did not taste anything like truffles. Instead, they were bogged down with the flavor of too much grease, too much garlic, and too much parmesan cheese. The homemade mustard and homemade ketchup they came with tasted identical to the bottled stuff (though with a slightly different texture) and the alleged truffle cream sauce tasted about as much like truffles as the burger did. That is, not at all.
I'm a sucker for a good burger. Hell, I'm a sucker for a mediocre burger. But it really annoys me when I overpay for the latter just because it happens to use local ingredients. I could forgive the place if the prices were about 50% lower, but as it is, Dempsey's fails to warrant the price.
Ho-hum...nothing exciting here. I tried it in the past and thought it was OK, but decide to give it another try...nothing different, really.
The service is OK, but not very friendly. Not rude by any means, but you sort of get the feeling that the staff would be happier doing...just about anything else. They get the job done efficiently enough, but don't create the most welcoming of atmospheres.
So, on to the food itself - it's an average burger, honestly. I had the Smoked Stack burger, which had smoked bacon, swiss cheese, bbq sauce and lettuce. The meat wasn't anything special, nor was the bacon. The BBQ sauce (house made, supposedly) was enjoyable, but on the sweet side. The bun was tasty. I also got a side of truffle fries which tasted...more or less like most other fries. A bit better, but not quite enough to justify the price in my mind.
It's a fine place, but not terribly special. I won't be rushing back, but I won't say no to going back if I am in a group that decides to head here.
I have been here twice in the last month and found it to be a pretty good place to watch a Kansas basketball game. They have a lot of tv's throughout so you can always keep an eye on the action. The food is on par for a sports bar in my opinion, but their very friendly staff is what I believe puts it over the top.
The only thing I dislike about this bar is on Wednesday night they have trivia night, so instead of playing music you have to listen to some "DJ" spouting off some impossibly hard 1970's and 1980's culture questions to college students born in the 1990's.
My sweet lord! What a burger from this place. The size, quality and prices here are amazing! The burgers are big, so big in fact that even people of size have a hard time eating more than one. The fries are crisp and full of taste. The sauces are not watered down and complement the food rather well. The service is great (no having to stand in a twenty minute line) and the beer selection is top notch (3 dollar pints on Wed/Sat...holy spit batman)
All of the ingredients are from Kansas (except the kobe..think it is from Iowa) and the atmosphere is really killer (you can take your parents here or get drunk while watching P.U., I mean KU)
I didn't want to waste space by slagging the competition but I will say, try Dempseys first, then hit those other inferior places so that you know what you are truly getting (or missing ).
Dempsey's is a great place to meet up with friends and relax for an evening. It can be low key or fairly busy but it seldom feels crowded -- you don't have to worry about being shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone else. There are plenty of tables and barstools around so everyone should fit. There are TVs with various sports stations on and bar games like darts and pool to play.
The tap selection is nice and varied and the bottled choices extend that even further (try the San Francisco brewed Anchor Porter for something that's a little less common). The mixed drinks are pretty good as well and reasonably priced. I can't comment on the food, but there is a grill available if you need something the munch on.
I really like Dempsey's and it's one of my favorite places to go out to in Lawrence. It's a relaxed atmosphere and an easy place to enjoy your evening. I highly recommend it.
Review: 4 stars.
I love a good burger and Depsey's always delivers. Their Bleu Burger with it's onion sauce is great. Â They also make a good quinoa patty for the non-carnivores out there (and their salads are great as well, with a nice vinaigrette). Â The truth is, I go for the fries....the sweet potato fries that you can get "salty" or "sweet," with just a hint of sugar and cinnamon. Â They are out of this world and you get a nice-sized portion when you order them as a side (the truth is that I always order a basket and always finish them off, even if it means eating only half the burger.
They have great drink specials and a nice patio.
After hearing about this place from everyone in town, I finally decided to check it out. Â
There's no doubt about it, it's a popular joint. Â We came in early afternoon on Friday and the restaurant was pretty full. Â One thing I wanted to try were the truffle fries, since I've heard so much about them & it seems like an interesting combination. Â I also ordered a medium Fire burger.
10 minutes later, our food is at the table. Â I quickly try the truffle fries. Â Couple things. Â
1- They have parmesan cheese sprinkled all over. Â That's fine, but it made the fries very heavy.
2- I taste no truffle (I'm fairly acquainted with truffles). Â I don't know if the parmesan completely masked the flavor of the truffle salt, but it was nonexistent.
3 - WOW these fries are GREASY. Â All fries are greasy, but these are dripping in fat in a bad way. Â Lightly squeezing these fries cause oil to bubble out in large amounts (perhaps they were cooked at a lower than normal temperature causing them to retain more grease). Â After eating about a handful I got this very heavy feeling in my stomach from all the grease and cheese.
Fire burger was good. Â Good quality meat. Â Medium done. Â Not much to burgers other than using high quality ingredients. Â
Overall, this place is simply OK because the food is expensive. Â $15 for a medium sized burger and a large portion of inedible fries. Â The fries are dietary suicide and I wouldn't recommend them (again, it might of been a bad batch). Â The burgers are good but it's no culinary epiphany. Â
In conclusion - 5 Guys delivers more. Â While their burger meat is lower grade, their burgers & portions are massive. Â Nothing beats 15 free toppings, and hand cut fries on the spot for half the price of this place.
Since the Burger Stand shoved off to be their own business, Dempsey's has continued selling gourmet burgers and fries. Honestly, the best part about the place is the insanely large beer selection, which the folks running the place know about. They can tell you what an Imperial stout is, they're willing to turn you onto new stuff, and they have a regularly-changing selection of seasonals.
The burgers are great - juicy, cooked to order, and tasty as anything. The basic house burger and fries go together wonderfully. Great layout, friendly bartenders, and a nice, sunny, environment. In terms of bar and grills in Lawrence, it's about the most enjoyable joint around.
Our family visited Dempsey's on New Year's Day based on a Yelp search. Â We were very pleased. Great Blue burger. We sampled all types of fries and agreed we couldn't pick a favorite. My son got the kids burger, which was a double mini patty, very tasty. Â The bread was a pleasant surprise, very fresh. Â The only thing preventing this from five stars was the bathroom. If you don't mind picking up a large roll of toilet paper from the floor, then you'll love this place,
We will make a return visit on our way through Lawrence.
I love, love, love Dempseys. It's a fantastic place with a great lunch special running right now -- $6.99 for a half pound burger, a side of fries or a salad, and a drink! At this price, this place is simply out of this world.
I have heard quite a bit about the drama surrounding the Battle of the Burgers here in Lawrence, but I am definitely reaping the benefits of said battle. MMMMM, burgers....
I had a picante burger, and man oh man. I'm pretty sure my eyes rolled completely into the back of my head. My burger was cooked very well, and I was asked how I wanted it cooked, which to me is always a sign of a very nice burger joint.
The atmosphere leaves a little to be desired, and man I'm getting tired of these "fastaurant" models. I'm under the gospel that if you're gonna have gourmet food, you should have a restaurant that speaks to it. This whole, order up at the bar and sit down kind of thing really bothers me-- if I wanted fast food, I would have gone to a drivethru.
But the food makes this place so so so worth it. And yes, I have been to Casbah. I love Casbah too, and I find both places very tasty-- but only Dempseys has the lunch special right now, putting it at the top of my list for value in Lawrence.
I got to say they make a great burger! They take your typical hamburger to a new level. Some of their menu reminds me of Blanc's style. When my party went there they had Boulevard's Tank 7 on tap which is one of my all time favorites. That made a nice surprise.
I really enjoyed the Kobe burger. Very well prepared and cooked perfectly (just before medium). They make their sauces, such as ketchup and mustard, in-house. The ketchup was a little bit on the sweet side for me but still good.
My biggest complaint...this place isn't very good for groups. We had 8 people so we had to split up into different booths. Second complaint was the kids there and fairly loud music. The kids was not their fault but more of the parent's. Those were some loud little ****ards. Thank God our food was ready fast to create a pleasant distraction. That way I didn't hurt some loud beepin' kids in a Irish BAR! Once again this was the parent's fault, but would have made our experience better if the kids were not screaming and running around the whole time.
* GREAT food (Burgers and fries)
* They had Tank 7 on tap. Yum
* Needs more than one or two tables to accommodate larger parties. Careful if your group is bigger than 4 people
* Please don't bring your loud kids. This is a bar!
* Highly recommended and I will return. I hope to give them 5 stars one day
WOAH!
Ok, as a Blanc devotee, I have to say I was rather shocked when the reality met the hype. Whenever I'd brag about Blanc to any of my L-town friends, they'd invariably counter, "Yeah, but have you tried DEMPSEY'S?!" Usually, their eyes would glaze over, and it would appear that their soul would momentarily depart with their body. Â
Well, I'm happy to say that I finally had an opportunity to hop on the 10 and make my way into Lawrence to meet up with a dear friend. When she suggested grabbing lunch at Dempsey's (with that eye-glazing and soul-departing look, I might add), I couldn't have been happier. With a recent frustratingly bad trip to Prairie Village's BRGR still fresh in mind, I was eager to wash that proverbial bad taste out of my proverbial mouth.
First, the place is a bar. Pure and simple. No frills, no pretensions. The tiny, tiny counter relegated to the end of the bar, the chalkboard menu and the tiny kitchen tucked around a corner were all incredibly refreshing after Kansas City's many fancy-pants burger joints. The service was incredibly friendly and helpful, and I quickly settled on the Black & Blue (due to a glowing Quick Tip from Tommy K. Thanks again!) and the duckfat fries. My friend and I headed to an open table, and our food arrived a few minutes later.
OH MY GAWD.
This burger was phenomenal. Dare I say, it was perfect. Beautifully cooked, crispy and seared outside and juicy inside. The creamy salty blue cheese and crunchy sweet apple chutney on top was a heavenly combination. The bun was fantastic as well, holding up well against the cheesy, juicy mess inside. Each and every bite was heaven, and I found myself wondering if I'd found my new favorite burger...
The duck fat fries were delicious, though I don't know if I'd choose them again. My heart, you see, was stolen by Dempsey's truffle fries, when I tasted one that my friend had ordered. Pure heaven, drenched in truffle oil.
The selection of homemade sauces was a lot of fun, too. The Parmesan-Garlic Aioli was divine, and the Cherry Pepper ketchup was quite good. It had a sweet smokiness that was quite interesting, and a good fit for the flavorful fries we'd ordered.
All in all, I was very, very impressed. The prices are very reasonable for the quality of the product, and the simple, easy-going atmosphere is positively refreshing. If you find yourself in Lawrence and are hankering for a good burger, there's really no question. If you're in Kansas City, heck--it might even be a burger worth roadtrippin' for.
I'm always in the mood for a good burger - especially when said burger comes with such glowing recommendations. Â So it's sad to say that my first, and likely last, experience with Dempsey's was not all that I had hoped it would be.
We went to Dempsey's on a weekday for lunch. Â It was about 12:30 and I expected the place to be busier, but maybe its location is too far away from the West Lawrence expansion to entise a larger crowd. Â We ordered our burgers at the counter, I had the Black & Blue, a burger with blackening spice, Maytag blue cheese and granny smith apple chutney, and Os had the Smoke Burger with applewood smoked bacon, smoked gouda cheese and chipotle-cocoa ketchup. Â We also ordered a side of the duck fat fries to share. Â We were both asked, at least twice, if medium was an acceptable doneness for our burgers - it was.
Dempsey's decor is typical "Irish Pub" with a large wooden bar, several booths and an abundance of Irish beverage signs throughout. Â It's not exactly a place that I can see myself spending hours in, but it's decent enough ... now back to the food.
Our burgers arrived quickly and the fries were excellent. Â They were crisp, but not burned, and had just enough salt. Â I can't say the duck fat flavor was overwhelmingly present, but there were certainly moments when you could taste the extra $2. Â But the burgers, in both cases, were terribly overcooked. Â Both were well done instead of medium and, had it not been for the toppings amply placed on each burger, would have been nothing more than dry tasteless charcoaled patties.
In the end the fries were a winner and the burgers were forgettable. Â Even a completely bland, but juicy, patty would have made each of the burgers much more enjoyable. Â I am glad that I tried Dempsey's because it has been on my list for some time, but now I know that my occassional trips to Lawrence will not include this Vermont Street eatery.
This isn't just the best burger in Lawrence, it's the best burger anywhere. Â Or, at least, anywhere I've ever been.
The hard part is deciding which burger to order. Â The Kobe burger with those delicious little pickled onions? Â The Fromage burger, smothered in, like, five kinds of cheese? Â The Black and Blue burger with tart Granny Smith apple chutney? Â And every time I go in, I think, "I've got to try one of those veggie burgers sometime...." Â Maybe they need to make a slider sampler platter so I can have them all!
And then there are the fries. Â I think the chili fries are my favorite when they're in season, although the cheesy poutine fries are moan inducing also. Â The truffle fries are my stand-by however, and their homemade ketchup and garlic aioli make them a treat.
Actually, I think I was wrong, the hard part isn't deciding what to order. Â The hard part is that once you've had a burger from Dempsey's, you will never be satisfied with a burger from somewhere else again!
They had me with the truffle fries (others would argue, "they had me with the duck fat fries, but I prefer duck fat to be on my feathered friends that are, as we speak, wintering in Miami).
I know. Most of you are probably gonna ignore my review, because who wants to read a review of a burger joint by a vegetarian? Whatev! The veggie burger is delish, and the aforementioned fries are scrumptious and frites style (you can choose your type of ketchup/mayo for dipping. Mmmmm there is a spicy choice!) The atmosphere is cozy-- a fine place to spend a cold evening, eating food that is gonna stick to your ribs. Drinks are reasonably priced, too.
Regarding the "real meat," I was with a group of about 10 meat eating friends and they all couldn't go on enough about how phenomenal these burgers are. So, there!
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