Oxtail burger at Rado Market holds interest to the last bite
The “Rado” in Rado Market is short for the Eldorado Ballroom, the historic Third Ward nightclub just upstairs.
The Eldorado was recently restored at great expense and reopened as an events venue. Noted restaurateur Chris Williams, of Lucille’s Hospitality Group fame, was brought on as managing operator. Enter Rado Market, the cafe and market he opened in late July on the ballroom’s ground level.
I chortled with glee when I saw that Rado’s burger — which every Texas cafe has gotta have — would involve an oxtail patty. I’m a big fan of oxtail’s full, slightly earthy flavor and unctuous fat, so I immediately began guessing how it would work in a burger.
Here’s how it turned out. Price: $17 with french fries and a salad of local greens, which makes it a meal.
Ordering: Line up at the counter to place your order, then take your number flag to a table in the dining room or out on the lovely back patio.
Architecture: Salad stuff on top. On a toasted brioche bun goes a bit of garlic aioli followed by the oxtail patty. Then comes the drape of melted provolone, a layer of tomato jam and strips of pickled red onion, with a green nest of arugula on top. Lastly, a bit more garlic aioli.
Quality: I admired both the aesthetics and the harmonious taste of this neatly composed burger package. The magenta pickled onion and deep green of the arugula signaled something fresh and different. The use of oxtail in the ground patty mix amped up the general beefiness so that the flavor seemed to bloom, and the underpinning of smashy crust set it off.
Everything about this sandwich seemed well-considered, from the way the garlic aioli accented rather than dominated, to the way the tartness of the pickled red onions played with
the gently sweet tomato jam. This burger held my interest to the last bite.
Ooze rating: Some leakage of meat juice mixed with tomato jam drippings.
Letter grade: A
Bonus points: The fries and the side salad I picked to go with my burger were unusually fine. I am guessing the sturdy fries began their restaurant life frozen, but by the time Rado Market had finished with them, they were their highest and best selves: wonderfully crisp and smartly seasoned. When a restaurant can make me love a frozen fry, I bow down.
And that little green salad! Forget the usual limp lettuce leaves; this baby teemed with delightfully chewy winter greens that tasted as if they had jumped right out of the gardens farmed by Chris Williams’ charitable organization, the Lucille’s 1913 project, down in Fort Bend. A tart vinaigrette stood up to them; I only wished there had been a little less of it.
Extra credit: Owner Chris Williams has always pursued smart wine pairings at Lucille’s, his restaurant in the Museum District, so you can order a glass of red to go with your burger (a Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, perhaps) without fear. Served in a countrified mason jar, no less.
Vegetarian options: The short menu takes care to accommodate vegetarians and vegans. There are vegan patties and scrambles for breakfast rolls and tacos; and a Harvest and a fried green tomato sandwich at lunch, along with a couple of salads and a grilled cheese with green gumbo.
Stuff for later: I snagged a bag of four fabulous sugar cookies, with just enough salt content and snap, that reminded me of the ones my mother used to make every year during the holidays.
Local color: There’s a warm community feel in this fresh-looking space that was especially welcome on a dreary gray afternoon. I took a self-guided horticultural tour of the patio gardens in back, marveling over the way a coral-pink Turk’s-cap bloom brightened up the gloomy day; then cruised the smartly organized wine room and browsed the culinary bookshelves curated by the nearby Kindred Stories shop — an occasion to do a little Christmas shopping.
On the way out, I swung by the projects that are transforming this historic Black neighborhood into a cultural center, from the impressively revived Emancipation Park in front of Rado Market, to the world-unto-itself Project Row Houses just to the south. I noted what I think of as Townhouse Creep in the surrounding blocks and left with a bittersweet feeling, wondering how the tug between rootsy development and gentrification would play out.