One of my biggest gripes lately has been regarding price; while I fully expect a burger in a strip location to cost upwards of $15, I find it very hard to pay up when there are amazing choices for under $5 in albeit locations of not the greatest ambiance. It is this reason that I got excited the other day while reading a little blurb on Eater Vegas about a burger deal at the Palm Restaurant in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. The starting price was still almost twice the price of some stand out cheap meals I've had, but could this discount help out?
I've already gotten into how much I hate parking at Caesar's so I won't get into that again. I didn't really step foot into the restaurant past the hostess counter because I sat on their 'patio' to people watch tourists in the mall while I ate my burger. It seemed dark, intimate and 'fancy' if you will; you can probably find better information in their gallery than from me. The patio area has about 14 tables directly within the shopping corridor and really does make for great people watching as you eat, or if you're cocky to be seen eating here. The lunch and dinner menus vary quite a bit, with only one burger available on the dinner menu at over $18. The lunch menu gives you the choice of four specialty burgers at $16.90, and a basic one at $14.90.
I went with the 837 Club Burger which as prosciutto di Parma, roasted red peppers, pesto aioli and fontina cheese. My burger came out, and it was huge. So big that I actually slowed down a bit towards the end despite being absolutely starving coming into my meal. The meat had excellent flavor, was cooked almost to order although there were a few random spots of grey. The Peppers had great flavor and the burger was very cheesy and tasty. The aioli was sharp and also very good. The bun was a tiny bit too thick and dry, but was well proportioned to the meat so it ended up being ok. The accompanying lettuce, tomato and onions were not necessary as the various tasty toppings did the trick.
The fries were excellent too; seasoned and cooked well with some a bit undercooked and some crispy. A good variety of textures with none being bad. This was a welcome addition to my meal after encountering so many great burgers with bad fries around town. My normally $16.90 burger cost me $8.37 which I found to be a fantastic deal for what I was given. Even at almost $17 I probably wouldn't have complained too much for the quality, although once you start comparing it to others that cost a fraction of the price you can certainly make arguments against it. Either way, if you happen to be at the Forum Shops this is a great burger.