Virgil's Cafe

Burger #6: Virgil’s Café – The Burger 10$

 

This is the 14th burger I’ve done out of the list of 40.  I’d always heard good things about Virgil’s and so I was looking forward to it being ranked number 6 on the list.  Virgil’s has been shown on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and they are very proud of their homemade andouille sausage.  I’ve had the chance to have their andouille in an omelet on a different occasion and I’d definitely recommend it.  Virgil’s is located near my area at 710 Fairfield Ave, Bellevue, KY 41073.  The building Virgil’s inhabits is a lot smaller than I would’ve thought and it just looks like a house.  They don’t use their front door so you have to go around the side, which is a tight squeeze.  When you get in the kitchen is immediately to your left up the stairs, as is a small bar.  There is a single table set up awkwardly in front of the kitchen up those stairs and I wouldn’t want to be stuck with that seat since it was the busiest area in the restaurant.  After you wind around right to get to the main seating area, you will know why it is highly recommended to get reservations for Friday or Saturdays.  They are also closed on Tuesdays which I found out trying to go there my first time a few months ago.  It’s about the size of a medium sized living room, although you aren’t touching elbows with anyone so it’s quaint.  The crowd is on the older side.

Not my picture.

The menu at Virgil’s changes all the time with daily specials for the season so the menu online is not necessarily up to date.  They use fresh local ingredients and actually have a farmers market menu on They have their staple items that move from menu to menu I’ve found such as their frogs legs, jalapeno hush puppies, and their house made pastrami, which I was told was killer.  They have a twitter feed on their website with the specials being duck stuffed collard greens, beef tournedos and lemon seared mako shark.  The beef selection is good for a small place too.
The burger I had was an ancho chili rubbed burger with a few other toppings.  When I saw that it was rubbed in chilis I thought it had to be awesome and spicy, right?!  When the burger came it was a nice sized patty, cooked perfectly medium.  It was a juicy burger but it wasn’t soaking my plate and the soft, warm bun.  I will have to say for all of the hype about this place, the ancho chili rub didn’t have the flavor or spice level I was hoping for.  It didn’t have a spicy flavor to be honest with you.  It was a very good burger, but I wouldn’t go back to Virgil’s for their burger since they have so much else to offer.  This burger definitely is not going to be #6 when I am done with this quest.  I chose to get jalapeno hush puppies as my side and I didn’t taste a bit of jalapeno, but they were exactly what I was looking for as a side dish, so get those if you have a chance.  My company for this outing had the shrimp creole and would also recommend that dish.  Since I went for the burger I went back for brunch one Sunday, which is only serving from 11am to 2pm.  I had the andouille sausage omelet which was a great sausage, and the server mentioned it was on the tv show and they made it in house.  Sadly, the omelet was the only form of the sausage they had this Sunday afternoon, but it went well with the toasted bread and jam.  I didn’t care for my potatoes which were American fries with absolutely no seasoning it seemed like.  I hate having to put ketchup on things but these needed it.

Look it's Kintucky!

In the end, I would go to Virgil's again, just not for their burger.  It seems they put a lot of effort in to their other dishes, so get something else that looks good to you.