Burgers and ‘Wurst’ Too!

It was Saturday and we’d just finished our tour of ‘Fontanel’ in Nashville. (See previous blog) It was time for lunch and, as usual for our road trips, I’d done a bit of research seeking likely places for us to eat… We like casual and places that are a bit quirky are a plus!

The Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden was voted to be the best new restaurant in Nashville in 2012…a True Original.  This photo doesn’t show it but the Pharmacy was really busy!  As per Trip Advisor, this burger joint is ranked #46 out of 1,474 restaurants in Nashville. Not too bad for a ‘joint’, which I place one level above a ‘dive’.  Neither term detracts from the food in these types of restaurant!  Trip Advisor totals to date are 112 votes excellent/very good vs. 10 votes poor/terrible.  I liked the odds!

Sorry about this fuzzy photo of the interior.  We’re still learning the foibles of our new camera…and it may be a while before we get it down pat!

However, the photo supports my opinion that this is a ‘joint’, albeit a very popular and successful joint!  We had to wait some 20 minutes before we could procure an inside table.  I don’t really like outside dining…re: heat and flies.

Here’s a photo of the biergarten/beer garden aka the outdoor dining area.  It is an expansive area.  For those of you that really enjoy different beers, this would be a great place to sit back and quaff a few.  The selection includes 30 American Craft Beers plus 14 from Germany, 5 from England, 2 from Canada, 2 from Belgium and one each from France, Czech Republic, Spain, Japan, Scotland and Italy. (59 choices!)

Laurie and I opted for some non-alcoholic Sprecher Root Beer.  It was very refreshing and a lot different from the usual grocery store variety.

Other Pharmacy Soda Shop options include phosphates, a selection of special sodas such as Creamsicle and Egg Cream, plus a nice selection of floats, milk shakes and malts.

If you remember the title of this particular blog, it included the word ‘wurst’.  That’s because, in addition to the burgers, The Pharmacy does bratwurst, jagerwurst, currywurst, bauernwurst, kielbasa, bockwurst and a combo Biergarten Platter. ($13.00)

For Laurie’s lunch, she ordered the bauernwurst. (pork and beef garlic wurst with marjoram and onion) It came with sauerkraut and spicy stoneground mustard.  For her side, Laurie had the German Potato Salad.  Unfortunately, she didn’t care for her lunch… The sausage was dry, (perhaps overcooked), there was way too much bun for the meat, the German Potato Salad was runny…and she didn’t like it's texture.

Both Dawn Marie and I ordered the Cheese Burger. ($8.50) This very large hand formed burger was topped with cheddar, Swiss and Muenster cheese, melted with tomato and roasted garlic aioli.  The French Fries were OK if not great…but the hamburger made it into my Top 10 all-time hamburgers! Now that I think about it, I’m not sure that I can even remember my top 10 burgers but this was a good one for sure… The buns are specially made for The Pharmacy and they held up very nicely with the juicy burger (medium rare) and all that cheese.  The garlic aioli was an extra plus!

We would recommend the Pharmacy for its burgers, soda fountain and beer selection.  I only wish that we had a burger of this quality in the Knoxville area.  The pharmacy is located at 731 Mcferrin Avenue in Nashville Tennessee.  Phone: 615-712-9517.  Website: http://thepharmacynashville.com/. To check out the customer reviews on Trip Advisor, just go to: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g55229-d3135509-Reviews-The_Pharmacy_Burger_Parlor_Beer_Garden-Nashville_Tennessee.html.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing lunch with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave