Fans of hamburgers and excellent craft beer deals were devastated back in April when the popular Overton Square restaurant LBOE (Last Burger on Earth) fell victim to a kitchen fire and closed down indefinitely. After months of waiting, it feels as if Christmas has come early as LBOE reopened its doors last Tuesday.
Former regulars will most likely flood back in to support the restaurant, but for those who never had the opportunity to visit the Midtown location, the reopening presents itself as an opportunity. While there are a variety of places to order a hamburger in Memphis, LBOE focuses on creating unique spins on the American classic. The “LBOE” burger mixes crunch via a large helping of corn chips with some spice in the form of green chilies and is topped with a generous helping of roasted garlic cream cheese. Havarti cheese and a slice of bacon round out the dish.
The “Mac-n-Cheeseburger” combines a classic burger with large dollop of macaroni and cheese as a topping. “The Grizz” asks you to grit ’n’ grind your way through a double patty surrounded by bacon, double cheese, barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato, and pickles, while “The Caprese” brings Italian flair with mozzarella, basil pesto, tomato, and balsamic glaze. Finally, for the brave and daring, there’s LBOE’s Hell-on-a-bun, the “El Diablo” burger. The restaurant’s hottest creation will have you breathing fire with its mix of habanero, Serrano, and jalapeño peppers. Finally, for those who don’t eat meat, every burger variety can be ordered with a black bean patty in place of beef or turkey.
In addition to the fixed menu, LBOE constantly churns out creative ideas for its burger of the day. Some are holiday themed, such as the Mardi Gras “Throw Me Something, Mister!” burger, which adds American cheese and hardwood bacon to a ciabatta bun with buttermilk icing and purple, green, and gold sugar. Others are designed as a challenge, such as the leviathan “U.F.M.” burger, which throws at you three eight-ounce burger patties, American cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato, and is bookended by two bacon and ham grilled cheese sandwiches. Finish that monster in less than 20 minutes with no help, and it’s on the house.
If you’re still undecided, the tiebreaker comes in the form of weekly drink specials. Most days include some type of discount, such as Tuesday’s Pint Night, which caps all draft beers at $2.50 until closing. Saturday and Sunday offer $3 select drafts, plus bloody Mary and mimosa specials, but Thursday’s Beat the Clock night takes the cake. Starting at 8 p.m., select draft beer is available for just a dollar. And it's not simply those cookie-cutter light beer clones; LBOE offers a refreshing variety of discounted local brews. Every 15 minutes, the price goes up by 25 cents until 10 p.m., when all beer choices cap at $3.
Fortunately, LBOE hasn’t missed a beat. When I attended Beat the Clock night last week, I recognized a few familiar faces from the wait staff, and everything ran like clockwork. It’s hard enough work to run a restaurant, let alone bounce back from a fiery closure, so let’s celebrate this culinary phoenix with a delicious burger and some cheap beer.
