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The allure of a warm, casual, neighborhood joint lovingly run by hometown folks is hard to resist. Throwing in a small, but well executed, menu of burgers and bar food makes staying away impossible. Our love affair with burgers started long ago and thanks to places like Arthur’s that won’t change anytime soon.
Tucked away on the corner of 3rd Street and Dewey in Blackwell is a cozy bar and grill that can be missed if you’re not looking for it. Housed in the former Harvey’s Meat Market, Brandon and Sabrina Ward are dishing out a simple, yet delicious, menu of burgers, wings, fries and snacks since opening in September of 2023, and they aren’t slowing down.
The Ray’s Rattler is a bang of a burger. Locally sourced beef that is mixed specifically for Arthur’s is cooked on a flat top and squeezed between two slices of grilled Texas toast. This quarter-pound patty is loaded with pepperjack cheese, a secret, spicy sauce and a relish that I order on the side (fair warning, there are pickles in the relish). Not afraid of a little spice, this burger has a tasty kick without blowing your head off. Go wild and order your fries dirty.
Speaking of dirty fries. Seasoned and smothered with pepperjack and Colby jack cheeses, grilled onions and crispy bacon, these fries are the ultimate potato comfort food. I’m not 100% sure exactly what they’re doing with these fries, but I know I’m here for it. Don’t look past the Arthur’s burger, two patties sandwiched in a grilled beer pub bun and topped with smoked gouda, garlic aioli mayo and house-made balsamic bacon jam. Read that again, bacon jam. Jam of bacon. Seems as though burgers have become more about how they look for social media pics than about how they taste. It’s always a treat to find a place that puts flavor first, where it belongs.
The beauty of a burger is its flexibility, and Arthur’s is successfully using that advantage to its full potential. Arthur’s, named after Brandon’s grandfather, is comfortable, friendly and the red dirt music and rodeo on the TVs take me back to growing up. There are loads of great bars that do burgers and tons of great burger joints that know a thing or two about serving up good drinks. Arthur’s does both and does them both well. Happy Eating!!
TOP THREE FOR ME
The Lucas Diablo. A smoked sausage, split, grilled and topped with grilled onions, the same spicy sauce that’s on the Rattler, and encased in a pretzel hoagie roll.
Clean restrooms with Burt Reynolds prominently displayed on the ladies’ room walls.
Denise’s soon-to-be-famous Bloody Mary. Order it.
Arthur’s is located at 402 W. Dewey Ave., Blackwell. Phone: 580.262.2400
Hours: Wednesday-Thursday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; closed Monday-Tuesday
Check out Arthur’s menu on Facebook and Instagram and at www.arthursbar.net
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT …
Pickles – After expressing my disdain for pickles in last month’s article (see “If you find yourself in Denver…”), let’s talk about it. I get that pickles are a very loveable and popular food. They’re the wingman to lots of tasty foods. They’re super overpowering and they smell terrible, probably because they swim in their own vinegary juice and that’s disgusting. The worst? Those ginormous, whole dill pickles that are room temperature at sporting events. Stop. Bread and butter pickles? Lies. These are neither bread nor butter. This pickle is masquerading as one of the best foods of all time just to grab your attention. Delicious food does not need to do that. Regardless of how much hell I catch, I will not waiver. Pickles are atrocious. Every briny last one of them.
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