Christopher Cunningham
SerpAPI
I’m starting off my search for the best hamburger in North Las Vegas at FARM in the Aliante Casino.
FARM takes up a small corner. Walking in felt like a high gloss memory of the small-town Texas diners. The place, however, was so clean, composed, and professional that it didn’t stand a chance in truly evoking its rural inspirations.
My dad was in town for the week, so the two of us sat down, were quickly attended by an efficient host and waitress, and were off to the races.
This was a true breakfast-heavy diner menu. And the hamburgers took up a single section. FARM’s hamburger schtick is what they call the “burger bar.” Rather than having several pre-selected options, each customer can choose two premium customizable toppings ranging from avocado to mushrooms to eggs to near a half-dozen types of cheese.
Without an “original” or “classic” burger, I ordered cheddar and bacon. But FARM's approach caters to the individual taste, not the expert selection.
Our food was back quickly. And the tray was all a bit much. The burger certainly wasn’t big enough to require a steak knife holding it together. And the faux-newspaper felt a bit like trying too much. Still, the cheese and bacon hit your nose the second it landed in front of you, and I couldn’t wait to dive in.
One of the more unique things about this burger was how easy it was to hold. This was a half-pound no joke patty with generous toppings, but the bun was thick and dense enough that my fingers could satisfyingly sink in, and I could one-hand the burger.
Part of this was likely due to them toasting the outside of the bun in addition to the inside. The minor downside was that in the early stages the bun was a bit crumbly.
The highlight of the burger was far and away the generous flavorful helping of cheddar cheese. It enveloped the entire patty. This cheese was thick enough to chew through with the satisfying pull of the best pizzas. The bacon also did a lot of flavor heavy-lifting, though it was a bit chewy and sometimes interfered in the middle of the bite as I had to wrangle it apart.
As far as the toppings, the onions were fresh, light, and flavorful. They went with a romaine lettuce leaf, which was good on its own merits, but since the burger lacked much crunch elsewhere felt notable.
The patty in this case felt more like a blank chalkboard than the star of the show. It was moist and completely non-distrating, but bland. The beef flavor was mild. There was no sear flavor. It wasn’t too greasy, but then there wasn’t much fat to add flavor.
In most cases, I think this would be a major complaint. But with FARM’s burger bar approach this more neutral patty might have been the perfect approach to highlight the truly fantastic add-on options. In addition to my fantastic toppings, I had a bite of my dad’s who had ordered egg. His yolk was perfectly runny and shining through with flavor.
FARM doesn’t have a burger so much as it has a canvas for a palette of add-ons.
The burger was large enough to be satisfying, but reasonably quick to eat. And by my last bite, I still had two buns, patty, and toppings—an impressive bit of under-appreciated management.
At $11.50 the burger was priced slightly on the high side, but the portion (not to mention that cheese) was certainly worthy of it.
Ultimately while the environment screamed small-town diner, this was nothing like the greasy, in-your-face, robust. beef-starring burgers you’d expect to find there. This burger was respectable, well-considered, and suburban.
The fries, if you care, had a delightful flavorful skin, but were on the limp side. They complemented the burger well.
But this was about the burger. And while this is certainly a burger worth trying, probably even more than once because of the sheer variety of customizable options, ultimately the lackluster flavor of its patty will probably prevent it from truly reaching its potential. Thanks for letting me visit!