Restaurant Review: The Gallows

I promise this blog has not turned into a restaurant review blog!  I will write other things shortly, as soon as I can figure out how.  After my previous post about a contender for the Worst Burger in Boston, I must review about one extremely good burger, eaten a day later.

Dave and I went to The Gallows, located at 1395 Washington Street in the South End, on Wednesday evening to try the Burger, which had been highly recommended by strangers on the internet.  The recommendations did not disappoint.  The decor of the place was quite charming, a mix of antiquity and DIY industrialism (in lieu of purchasing a $20K chandelier, the owners constructed light fixtures out of iron rebar and concrete reinforcement, with blossoming branches reaching out into the space*).  The crow/raven pictured on the sign above is a recurring theme in the restaurant--one is even perched in the ladies' restroom next to an antique lace wedding dress.

Our server was excellent--he took great care to explain to us the process by which their burgers were made and how "medium-well" is actually the best option given the natural inherent juiciness of the meat.  We ordered the burger "Our Way" with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and (actually) caramelized onions** ($10).  Our food was served to us extremely quickly, and by golly, was it delicious!  The burger was dripping with juice--not blood and grease (well, there was a little fat, but it wasn't overwhelming)--and tasted amazing.  It was served with fries which were a bit too salty, but crisp and tasty nonetheless, and homemade ketchup which was essentially tomato jam with hints of cloves, cinnamon, and allspice.  The homemade ketchup was interesting, but I prefer Heinz with my fries...call me a traditionalist.  Thankfully, it was present at the table as well.

We declined dessert, as the only option was some type of fancy Fluffernutter (peanut butter, bananas, marshmallow, and chocolate ganache), but as we paid our bill, our server presented us with tiny soft-serve ice cream cones!  I almost wanted to ask for six more, but it was the perfect little amount of sweetness to top off a great meal.

The most remarkable thing about The Gallows (aside from the delicious burger, of course) was the service.  Our server was extremely attentive and friendly and succeeded in creating two happy guests.  The manager conversed with us about the decor, and a server who wasn't even our server stopped to clear some glasses for us upon passing.  Five stars.  Everyone should go here.

*We knew this because the manager, upon noticing us noticing the light fixtures, came to our table and told us about the whole process.

**You all know what a big caramelized onion kick I'm on lately.