Totally Ready for Rehab

Scottsdale and Phoenix. What do they share besides intensely hot summer weather and a city border? Rehab Burger Therapy.

So I was on a trip to meet with Paul Reed and Doug Gilliat of Reed Hill Advertising fame. And conducted business over delicious Rehab Burgers in Scottsdale.

Paul Reed (l) and Doug Gilliat (r) and Sweet Potato Tots.

Paul was so excited about introducing me to Rehab Burgers that I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had tried them at the one in Tempe a few months earlier.* And frankly I wasn’t really impressed with them then. I learned this time though the right way to do a Rehab Burger, which is rare or medium rare. They use such good quality meet and they really cook it just right for what you ask for. I got mine medium rare and it was, to put it simply, absolute perfect deliciousness in the burger alone. *So checking them out on the web to get the link, I discovered that the Tempe location is no longer. Maybe they weren’t up to par.

The other thing I did right was to get their PB&J Burger. It sounds weird. Peanut Butter, Grape Jam and Bacon. And Sriracha. But if you have followed my blog at all, you know that I am a fan of the peanut butter as condiment approach to burgers. But I wasn’t so confident in the idea of Grape Jam as a condiment too.

Yeah, I need to have more faith. Because the jam and the sriracha, with the salty amazing deliciousness of bacon, basically create an explosion of delicious flavor between two pretzel buns.

The only downside is that it is so crazy messy that it becomes a definite fork and knife burger. A delicious fork and knife burger.

Let’s talk the side. For me, the side makes such a difference. I normally like to go with the traditional fries. But Rehab has sweet potato tater tots. Who can resist that. Especially with pineapple dipping sauce. Just for the tots, that’s worth going to Rehab.

Yeah, that’s me before digging in. Look at the grape jam and bacon trying to escape. And those delicious looking tater tots.

In the end, this is definitely in my Top 10, probably in my Top 3 for sit down restaurants. In fact, in that category, second only to The Humboldt in Denver. Though the argument could be made that the tots move it into a tie at #1. Yeah, it’s that good. But only if you go rare or medium rare. Trust me on that.

*Some might ask whether it is truly therapeutic as promised by the name of the joint. All I can say is that I had a banana for breakfast and needed nothing for dinner. And I felt so good! So, yeah, this is the kind of therapy I can get behind.