Brookline Village Has a New Burger Joint

The confidently named Best Burger Bar boasts a wrap-around porch and Brother Cleve cocktails and boozy milkshakes.

By Jacqueline Cain· 8/10/2017, 11:32 a.m.

Best Burger Bar in Brookline Village. / Photo by Juliana Kaplan

We’ll reserve judgement on the “best” burgers until we try them, but it’s safe to say that Brookline Village has a perfect end-of-summer hangout spot in the new Best Burger Bar. The casual grill and bar softly opens tonight at 5 p.m.

Best Burger Bar, taking over the former Middle Gray coffeehouse and gallery space right across from the Brookline Village Green Line stop, is a new venture by former Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar partner John Mascia, Eater Boston reports. It specializes in dry-aged, Angus beef burgers, like the Big Tex, with pepper jack cheese, bacon, onion rings, and house-made barbecue sauce; and the So Cali, with aged white cheddar, fries, avocado, and chipotle mayo.

Vegetarians aren’t excluded; BBB sources from Beyond Meat, the company that makes those meatless burgers that look like they’re bleeding. There are also loaded hot dogs, and sides, like bourbon maple wings (“wangz” on the menu, as Eater points out), poutine, and smoked cheddar-and-curds-topped “dirty fries.” The executive chef is Nick Wilson, formerly of Tatte bakery, Fat Cat in Quincy, and the Cottage in Chestnut Hill.

The cocktail program is designed by influential Boston drinker Brother Cleve. He’s developed “curated variations” of classics like a Manhattan, Monte Carlo, and even a Cosmo. Or, try a new signature cocktail, like the Hilltop: Tenure British vodka, London Dry gin, beef broth, prickly pear syrup, Cocchi Americano, lemon, celery, and aromatic bitters; or Sunset Beach: Aperol, Wolfberger Amer Gingembre, black lemon, and grapefruit beer.

“I always like having a theme to build a cocktail program on, and since our burgers are made with dry-aged Angus beef, that set my thoughts to the classic steakhouses of my youth,” Brother Cleve says in a press release. “My love of Tiki and frozen drinks is evident, plus we’ll offer booze-tinged shakes and pay homage to Brookline’s long lost Jack & Marion’s deli.”

The Pink Cadillac (strawberry ice cream with creme de rose, creme de cacao, and rose syrup), and Wild Irish Coffee (coffee ice cream, BBB Irish whiskey blend, Coole Swan Irish Cream, Grind espresso liqueur) are permanent additions to the “boozeshakes” menu. Enjoy them on the 20-seat, wrap-around patio, which is actually the village’s only outdoor patio.

Best Burger Bar starts serving food tonight until about 8 p.m., and plans to ramp up dinner hours and the bar program this weekend. Lunch service will begin in September.

195 Washington St., Brookline Village, 617-505-5320, bestburgerbar.com.