Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage - Cambridge, MA

Mr. Bartley’s is a Harvard institution, located right across the street from Harvard Square since 1960. It is a very small, loud yet friendly place. The walls are covered with political bumper stickers, a few long tables, and a bar where you can order directly to the soda jerk making all the old-fashioned drinks such as egg creams, frappes, and lime rickeys. Being by myself, I chose the latter.

Bartley’s grinds its beef fresh everyday, for a solid 7 oz. patty. They have about 30 different burgers on their menu named for politicians past and present, as well as Boston area figures. Each burger supposedly has something to do with the personality (the George W. Bush is a “Texas” burger; two patties, cheddar and BBQ sauce). They have many toppings you can put on your burger (garlic, peppers, 5 kinds of cheese, etc), or you can order one of the specialized “personality” burger. Since it was my first visit I wanted to keep it simple so I could enjoy the overall beef flavor.

The Burger Supreme is just a regular burger with the standard toppings, and I added American cheese. The “supreme” means that it comes with a side order of fries and their “famous” onion rings. You can also order sweet potato fries, which I love, but I wanted to keep my first order basic.

Egg creams are rare these days, so I had to order one. With the choices of vanilla or chocolate, I went with vanilla. It was excellent; not as filling as a milkshake but had lots of flavor. I compare it to a frothy cream soda. It seemed like the perfect drink for the place.

I will get the bad review out of the way first: the fries were standard operating procedure; frozen fries cooked in the fryer. Nothing to write home about. The fries didn’t bring me down for long however, since the onion rings were fantastic. Nice and thin, and lightly covered with batter, they are the type of onion rings that you can eat by the handful. I love good onion rings, and now I see why Mr. Bartley’s are famous. Definitely homemade (opposed to the fries) they should be the only side you should consider. They give you a good heaping pile too. I basically stopped eating the fries concentrating on the rings, until I discovered a large pickle spear underneath fries! The fries adjacent to the pickle then were covered in dilly goodness, so I had to gobble those up. I love dill potato chips, so the taste was like that.

The burger looked fantastic. A nice sized patty that didn’t look like it lost any of that 7 oz. size from cooking. The toppings looked fresh: green iceberg lettuce, red onion slices (not too big to be overpowering, but a perfect size) and deep red tomatoes. The whole artwork had to be held together by a toothpick, right through the sesame bun. I went in for a bite. The beef was perfect for a burger; just the right consistency, cooked a perfect medium rare (with clear juices streaming out), and I managed to get all the toppings (including cheese) in my first bite. This burger needed no condiments. The melted cheese mixing with the juice from the meat was all you needed. I was happy with the quality of the meat; I should have asked what beef they used for grinding. I do not think they are Angus otherwise they would have advertised that. But I don’t think it was straight chuck either, it had to be some mix of sirloin and chuck. Since the patties are made in-house I assume that they have good control on the meat being used, and since the place has been serving burgerheads for almost 50 years that their recipe is legit.

Good times at Mr. Bartley’s. The burger was excellent, and you have to add in the atmosphere of a crowded, old-school college restaurant where you can just feel the history and energy, and wonder how many burgers Ted Kennedy has scarfed down here. Added bonus: after a rib-sticking meal, it was nice to walk off the meal around Harvard Square and Cambridge soaking up the history and beautiful old New England homes. Right before you know it, you don’t feel as full and it is time to duck into a friendly bar for a pints and to watch the Sox game, which of course I did.