Unbreaded

Burgers, Dogs and Fries For All: SquareBurger Opens In The Park

In May, we took a first look at the Franklin Square burger operation under development by Starr Restaurants Catering. What we had then dubbed the “Starr Shack” (for obvious reasons) has now ditched the tent and moved into a solid structure, officially named SquareBurger. The menu has slightly evolved from what we saw at the tent, but the overall offerings and demographic are what we had originally assumed: casual, affordable, and family oriented.

Yesterday, Unbreaded sat down with Shane Cash, former Executive Chef of Butcher & Singer and consulting chef for SquareBurger to learn more. The snack bar in the park was originally conceptualized by Stephen Starr himself along with Simon Prowles, who runs the recently created catering arm as well as once Tangerine Executive Chef turned Culinary Director, Chris Painter. The idea was simple: accessible and delicious comfort food for the young families, other locals and tourists that visit the park.

Although the team toyed with the idea of forming their burgers into square patties as a play on the name, they ultimately decided on a four ounce hand-formed patty made of a special blend from Indian Ridge Provisions. The 80% lean, 20% fat burger is seasoned with garlic, onion and other secret ingredients and seared to order. Served on a toasted Martin’s potato roll, it fits perfectly in the hands and is topped with a slice of American cheese, chopped kosher pickles, onions, yellow mustard and ketchup. All burgers are cooked to a medium doneness, but the beef retains its juiciness delivering a flavorful bite. The french fries are indeed frozen, but nevertheless a delicious skin on, private reserve made especially for Starr restaurants.

Despite its namesake, there is a particular menu item that we enjoyed slightly more than the burger. The Philly Dog is the brainchild of Chris Painter, a jumbo Hebrew National beef frank wrapped in Hebrew National beef salami and is poached, not grilled. Tucked into a Martin’s hot dog roll it is topped with yellow mustard, chopped onions, homemade pickled cucumbers, cherry peppers and tomatoes. Even though this “original” creation is strikingly similar to a Chicago dog, the combination of beef hot dog and salami with hot peppers and pickles is undeniably delicious.

A park snack spot wouldn’t be complete without some treats, and SquareBurger serves up many of them, including a coal region favorite, the CMP (chocolate, marshmallow, peanut) sundae and the Cake Shake which is essentially vanilla ice cream blended with TastyKake Butterscotch Krimpets. Check out Meal Ticket for the menu in its entirety.

As always, we grilled Shane Cash on his favorite sandwiches and were pleasantly surprised by his love for them. His favorite sandwich to make for himself starts with roasted tomato focaccia, a zesty dressing, shaved lettuce, juicy local beefsteak tomatoes, rosemary ham, mortadella, capicola, aged provolone and cherry peppers. He also whips up a mean tuna fish with cheddar, apples and arugala on a petite hoagie roll. When he’s away from home, Cash prefers the pastrami at Hershel’s in the Reading Terminal Market, a chicken cutlet supreme at Tony Luke’s and a cheesesteak from Dino’s in Margate, NJ.

Like any Stephen Starr project, SquareBurger is surrounded by over-the-top media hype, making it almost a caricature of itself, something its creators never meant for. In all reality, it exceeds expectations for exactly what it is, a well thought out and executed food stand at a once forgotten, but beautiful city park. For this purpose, we see SquareBurger becoming a hit summer spot for the locals who frequent Franklin Square. Right now, plans are to keep SquareBurger open 11am – 8pm daily until Halloween, but Cash professed his secret desire to stay open year round and serve hot cocoa and breakfast sandwiches in the colder months. To that we say: Stephen Starr, listen up!

Gallery

SquareBurger
200 N 6th Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 (Google Map)

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