R.F. O’Sullivan & Son
282 Beacon Street
Somerville, MA 02431
www.rf-osullivan.com
When I evaluate a burger, subconscious factors no doubt influence
my evaluation. For example, if I drive off to yet another burger joint and my wife
yells from the porch, “I thought you were raking leaves today!” my burger will likely taste less delicious than if she’d said, “Have a great adventure,
Burgerman!”
Keeping this in mind, I try not to be overly critical in this blog. Burger greatness is a personal assessment. Yet, when a certain restaurant is continually praised by critics, the general public usually falls in line. Which brings
us to R. F. O’Sullivan & Son, one of the most press-covered and praised burger
joints in the Boston area. So much attention has gone O’Sullivan’s way, people
show up these days just to see what all the talking is about. What’s curious about O’Sullivan's is, while there are many backers, there are also detractors, and everybody with an opinion is convinced
his is the right one. Including moi.
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| The stately exterior of R.F. O'Sullivan & Son |
On the Sunday Scott and I tried O’Sullivan's, the restaurant had been featured on The Phantom
Gourmet that very morning. By the time we
arrived, throngs of salivating carnivores were charging the entrance like
lemmings toward a cliff. Pulling to the curb, we saw Richard Sullivan, the
owner, out front on the sidewalk, smiling. And why wouldn’t he be? Free
advertising had once again blessed his little establishment, and the faithful were
flocking as if to Mecca.
Before heading inside, I asked Richard about his well known refusal to squash his
burgers with a spatula during cooking. He replied, in effect, that squashing
is akin to blasphemy. As if to dare people to question this belief, he also
defiantly forms his patties the size and shape of softballs.
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| O'Sullivan's Cheddar and Onion Sauce Burger |
I understand the reason for not squashing a burger during
cooking. The more you squash, the more juice escapes. But wouldn't it be wise
to start with a shape that’s conducive to eating? No doubt O’Sullivan’s burgers are big and
juicy. A half pound of beef is used per burger, making it seem like a great
value; but bigger isn’t always better, juicy isn’t always delicious, and value rarely
equals excellence. For having so much juice, O’Sullivan’s burgers are surprisingly light on flavor. And because the patty is roundish, the burger is impossible
to keep together, let alone eat. It’s just a big hunk of meat with condiments sliding from under the top bun while non-seasoned juices drench the
bottom bun until it's a soggy mess. Which is exactly what happened to my
Cheddar and Onion Sauce Burger. Halfway through, I gave up and ate the remaining shrapnel with a fork.
Plus, the restaurant smelled of fish when we entered.
Okay, I’m being overly critical, but hearing continual praise compels me to speak up. The emperor is wearing
no clothes, people!
After finishing our burgers, Scott and I struck up a
conversation with the couple sitting next to us. They’d seen The
Phantom Gourmet segment earlier that morning and immediately drove up from Westport, MA to be a part of the scene. Sure enough, they had only accolades for the
burgers they’d eaten. But wouldn’t they have felt foolish driving all that way for subpar burgers? Could it be that subconscious factors influenced their evaluation?
As for me, I almost wished I'd stayed home and raked the leaves.
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