There is a little enclave in Covington that has some shops, businesses, now two restaurants, and even a town square. On Fridays in the fall the square has a neighborhood festival with music and food. It was at this festival a few years ago that I discovered a really delicious burger.
Bootlegger Public House was cooking outside on a grill, a typical hip burger with one or two patties and melted American cheese. The bun was soft but sturdy, the dressings ideal, the patties of clearly superior quality, and the condiments a great accompaniment to it all. This came together in a wonderfully tasty mouthful of food. It seemed the epitome of a classic burger in this second decade of the 21st century.
There were no fries with this intro burger, just chips. But I loved the burger experience enough to look forward to the opening of a brick-and-mortar for this bunch that I thought was imminent. Fully two years later I was able to have this burger again, but it was not in a brick-and-mortar space. It came from a window in The Covington Beer Garden, a charming new space across from the Covington Trailhead in downtown Covington.
On a recent beautiful Saturday, we dropped in with unfortunate timing. An LSU game explained the crowds which spilled over after all tables were taken. It was a great day for outdoor “dining,” but the only available tables had no umbrella. Tom doesn’t do outside unless forced, much less outside in full sun. Inside was deafening, and not because of the game. The hard surfaces with a buzzy crowd made me want to leave immediately, and I normally don’t notice such things.
It took minutes for me to order a burger and fries. I moved quickly to the bar where I was informed that if we weren’t doing beer (it is a beer garden, after all,) there were three Coke products and 7UP. Tea was brewing.
Outside, we made a makeshift dining space with three chairs and waited for the burger delivery. Luckily a group left and we pounced on the one shady seat at a large table. I sat in the sun, and that was fine.
Within minutes a young woman brought a board with a nice burger and a little basket of fresh-cut fries. These were the most unusual fries I had ever seen. More like steak fries than burger fries, they were heavily battered and badly so, leaving spaces with no batter and other spaces with clumps of batter. I loved these weirdo fries. They came with the usual condiments and a housemade dill aioli that was divine.
But the burger! I was exactly as I remembered, a complex package of deliciousness on a bun, with condiments, cheese, and a drop or two of meat grease oozing out the sides.
And in moments it was all over, which made me sad. When the woman delivered our food, I asked about it all. She told me that the reason there wasn’t more of a food choice than burger and fries... or not, was that they were operating like a food truck inside the pub. There would be no other food.
This was a devastating development for those of us watching the emergence of a very nice place on an open lot in downtown Covington. I entertained images of pub food like sandwiches and salads and maybe some savory pies, or just an actual menu of food choices, eaten outside on large picnic tables in a nicely landscaped series of paths.
Most of that can be done. You can go and drink beer and eat a terrific burger and fries, but that seems so limiting, and frankly a terrible waste to me. Still, when I want a really nice burger and some hearty housemade fries, I know where to go.
