An open-faced hamburger meets Mexican cuisine meets breakfast. "It's everything you want to eat when you're eating at a bar," explains Jesse Morreale.
He continues: "You've got your produce, your protein, and your heat. It was definitely the first thing I came up with to be on the menu. And I knew it would be the signature dish."
In fact, he sent a text to his partners at a less-than-optimal hour, specifically about this dish. Before he knew the name of the restaurant or what decorations would hang on the walls, he knew he wanted to serve this.
And what is it exactly? It's a hamburger and fries, topped with everything: green chile, lettuce, fresh onions and jalapeño, pico de gallo, melted cheese, crema, and a perfectly cooked egg. Sunny side up, of course.
"It's a great standard bearer for everything else on the menu. It's classic, traditional, and American. Bar food has to be really flexible and the is the culmination of what I wanted the spirit of the restaurant to be."
And Jesse believes that the details matter. "I obsess about these little things. I like the interplay between all the elements. The location can sometimes inform the food which can then inform the design. Or sometimes the food comes first and informs everything else. It's like producing a movie. And this dish is my leading actor."
And lead it does. The beef is Rocky Mountain all natural beef and the accouterments are all fresh and the toppings house-made. You can get it any day of the week from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. at The Thunderbird Imperial Lounge, located at 3759 Lipan Street.