Pass the Ketchup Please

By Katherine Lynch
December 1, 2007

“I’d like a 1/3 pound burger with herb goat cheese spread, dill pickle chips, and apricot sauce please." This doesn’t sound like something you can get at your local burger joint, but now a new restaurant in Royal Palm Beach called The Counter has taken your typical cheeseburger to an entirely new level.

I was invited to visit The Counter a few weeks ago. Although it isn’t the typical upscale restaurant that Dine magazine usually covers, it really sparked my interest so I made a trip to Royal Palm Beach last week. When we entered The Counter, we made our way to the bar. It wasn’t the typical bar where you sit down for an Apple Martini, but rather it reminded me of a 50’s joint where you could sit down and have a chocolate malt.

We sat down on our stools and were soon handed a mini clipboard to fill out where we chose our made-to-order burger (or turkey burger, veggie burger or grilled chicken). You have a choice of 10 cheeses from Feta to Yellow American; four of 18 toppings to choose from including everything from your basic tomatoes to homemade guacamole or grilled pineapple; and 1 of a choice of 17 sauces (all of them were homemade). With over 300,000 different possibilities, this was a tough decision.

We started the meal off with a mixture of appetizers including dill pickle chips, regular fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings. The two types of fries and onion rings were just okay, but the dill pickle chips were amazing with a sweetness and crunch to them that shouldn’t be missed. We soon moved on to our burgers, which were cooked to perfection (and of course, topped exactly how we wanted them).

The Counter does a great job of making sure that no one leaves hungry, as we never did get to try the malts that I was looking forward to. I guess that just gives me a good reason to go back.