BY KENDRA MURRAY
After a long morning of working on the SEMAP budget, Todd, Karen, and myself decided to go out for a nice lunch in Downtown New Bedford. We wanted to stop somewhere to grab something tasty but not overly fancy. On top of this, we wanted to make sure that we were getting fresh, local, and homemade. dNB Burgers ended up being the perfect spot.
dNB Burgers is not your run of the mill burger joint.
I’d only had dNB one prior time, when they joined us for our Farm to Tapas event back in July. I remembered it being delicious and I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get out to their restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised when we walked into what appeared to be someone’s birthday celebration. Surprise! It was dNB Burgers 1st birthday and we were thrilled to help them celebrate. (They were offering special birthday cakes for dessert…hamburger whoopie pies).
dNB Burgers is a pretty small place, and was surprisingly full when we went in (a weekday around one). There’s only a few tables and a good sized counter space inside. Considering the small size, they seem to do a large business…the restaurant was hopping and the phone did not stop ringing with takeout orders.
It was really difficult to decide what to order with such a unique burger listing. Karen had the special birthday burger (topped with apple butter mustard, creamed kale, local macomber turnip frites, and butter basted maitake mushroom), Todd the Wrangler (topped with a local beer mustard compound butter, horseradish aioli, microgreens, and onion rings), and I had the Live Long and Prosper burger (onion jam, bacon, gruyere, smokey apple aioli, and microgreens). As my burger can attest to, in addition to interesting toppings, many of the burgers on the menu have some pretty unique names. Not only does dNB offer a nice selection of burgers, including turkey and veggie, they also have some great house cut fries (the herb fries with sriracha ketchup was awesome!), homemade potato chips, and a large selection of all local beers and wines. What’s a local burger without a local beer?
The meat is specially blended and ground each day, the bacon cured in house, and the cheese also smoked in house. It’s all homemade. Pickles, sauces, you name it; it’s a from scratch restaurant. Local ingredients are found on all the burgers. Don’t expect shaved iceberg lettuce on your burger either; local microgreens grace each sandwich and offers a great flavor and texture. I also left wondering why all burgers aren’t served this way.
If you’re not ready for your burger to be topped with microgreens and aioli sauces, don’t worry. dNB offers some “normal” burgers, including the Return of the King and the Banksy. Not a fan of those either? Start with a regular patty and build your own. There’s something for everyone.
dNB Burgers is open seven days a week. Go visit at 22 Elm St, New Bedford, MA.