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The WurstBurger Joint

i n N a s h v i l l e B Y R A Y D E G O U T | P H O T O S J E R E M Y R Y A N

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In the heart of the Greenwood neighborhood on the East Side, you can find The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden. Lauded for their burgers, the menu boasts

handmade sausages, milkshakes, floats, old-fashioned phosphate sodas, and a well-curated beer and cider list. Even though it opened its doors a mere six months ago, The Pharmacy is one of the most buzzed-about new restaurants on either side of the river. “When we opened we were hoping for maybe seventy-five people a night. It’s been way beyond our expectations,” said manager Ryan Creamer. “Keeping up with demand has been the number one issue for management so far, and that’s a good problem to have.” Chef Trent Raley adds, “It’s not unheard of for us to serve 1600 people on a single Saturday.”

Ryan, an immediately likable guy, has a relaxed, inviting demeanor that suits The Pharmacy’s backyard playground-turned-beer-garden. Ryan moved here five years ago to work in a recording studio and worked as a bar tender at Holland House right after it had opened. It was while Ryan was at the Holland House that the idea of The Pharmacy was developed, drawing from the discovery of a plethora of old medicinal bottles

found at the Holland House.Terrell, a former bartender and owner of

Ombi, started Holland House with Dutchman Cees Brinkman, who had been selling restaurant equipment out of what is now Holland House. The two decided to turn the restaurant equipment warehouse into a restaurant with a special emphasis on Raley’s passion—the art of mixology.

Holland House quickly became a local favorite in the fast-developing Republic of East Nashville. When Mrs. T’s Learning Center, a former daycare center on the adjacent property, became available, Terrell and Ryan planted the seed of an idea. It grew into a utopian Franken-restaurant: part good-ole-fashioned neighborhood burger joint, part old-timey soda fountain, part department store lunch counter, and part beer garden. Terrell’s inspiration for the backyard, neighborhood beer garden came from similar ones he encountered in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Terrell called on his brother Trent to come on-board as the head chef. Trent is an accomplished chef who worked at Sunset Grill, and alongside his brother at Ombi. Trent can often be seen running the show in the back, where the magic happens. It’s his burger-ninja dojo. Trent engineered a menu with the goal of being unique, simple, and

affordable. He’s a natural gourmet who pays particular attention to quality. The ingredients are nearly 100% locally sourced, and almost everything is made from scratch. As the menu boasts, “The Pharmacy serves 100% TN beef (or turkey, if you prefer) on a lightly-toasted Provence bun made especially for The Pharmacy.”

Provence provides the rolls and buns for the menu, which sounds like a pedestrian fact at first, but they actually invented those breads especially for The Pharmacy. Provence head baker and Ombi alum Kim Totzke worked for three months with Trent to get the recipe just right. The custom-made Provence buns posed a special challenge. The first trial buns were crumbly and too small. To remedy this, a special technique was employed. Besides making the buns a whole inch larger than standard hamburger buns, they are taken out of the oven once during baking and spritzed with water. The result is a lusciously light and subtly sweet cushion of deliciousness, able to hold up to the hearty and overflowing fillings as well as support and compliment the hand-pressed patties.

The beef burger patties themselves are certified Hereford beef, raised in Tennessee. The nine-option burger listing also includes

indulgences like the Stroganoff Burger (topped with mushroom stroganoff bechamel, sour cream, caramelized onions and swiss cheese) and the “Choose Your Cure” build-it-yourself option. There are also two bonafide vegetarian choices: the classic Black Bean Burger and the Falafel Burger, which is served with yogurt raita and Noble Springs goat cheese. For $7 you can start with a base of beef or turkey then add any of of seven cheese and 25 toppings, which range from beer mustard to horchata crema fresca to garlic alioli. The Würstchen (that German for “sausage” and called “wurst” for short) options include seven house-made sausages ranging from the traditional Bratwurst to the edgier Currywurst, straight from Munich. Additionally, three variations of chicken sandwiches, a handful of delicious side options, and a kids menu round out the food offerings.

The ice cream is supplied by East Nashville’s own Pied Piper Creamery. The syrups are made in-house with cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup, and range in flavors from Kentucky Mint to Maraschino Cherry. Instead of using a traditional carbonated base, their phosphate sodas are based on an ancient remedy. Phosphate beverages were an attempt to replicate mineral waters that bubbled up from the ground, which many

Trent engineered a menu with the goal of being unique, simple, and affordable.

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F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t t h e p h a r m a c y n a s h v i l l e . c o m o r v i s i t 7 3 1 M c F e r r i n A v e :

Tuesdays - Sundays: 11AM - 12AM.“Hoppy Hour”: Sundays - Thursdays 9:30PM - 12AM Fridays and Saturdays 10PM - 12AM (hal f -pr ice “hoppy” beers )

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civilizations believed cured diseases. At The Pharmacy, the phosphate used comes in the little blue bottles that read “Extinct Acid Phosphate Solution.” To be frank, they look pretty frackin’ sweet. The phosphate adds a pleasant tartness to the sodas and give a “tight, extra-carbonated” mouth feel. And in case you’re interested: we’re told that the phosphate atoms help to bind the hydrogen molecules tightly together.

The process of creating a phosphate soda is intricate, and that’s part of what makes them so special. A person who makes a phosphate soda is traditionally called a “soda jerk,” and they are wizards in their own right. They start with a splash of house-made syrup. Six dashes of phosphoric acid are added and the glass is filled with soda from the fountain head (which was custom-made), using both hard and soft streams. The hard stream agitates the syrup with the phosphate, and then the soft stream gently tops it off. Each soda is tasted to ensure

proper balance between the sweetness of the syrup, the tartness of the phosphate, and the dilution the soda water adds. What’s left is a perfectly mixed and refreshing soda free of any artificial flavors or preservatives commonly found in modern sodas.

In addition to the classic phosphates, dessert-worthy sodas grace the Soda Shop section of the menu. The Egg Cream Soda, for example, employs Fox’s classic U-bet Chocolate Syrup and whole milk. The eponymous Pharmacy Cream Soda includes vanilla and lemon syrups, as well as, you guessed it, cream. In addition to the floats, milkshakes, and malts, you can also get a Mexican Coca-Cola or a Sprecher Root Beer.

Twelve carefully selected beers can be found on tap, in addition to 27 bottled American beers, and 11 bottled German beers, which include seven high-gravity varieties. There are also a healthy helping of bottled imports from Canada, France, England, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Japan, and Scotland. Not to mention the five ciders, including two high-gravity.

All of that said, the beer-heavy menu shouldn’t discourage families. The freshly-

landscaped beer garden is an inviting playground in its own right. According to Ryan, “We looked everywhere for a space that was perfect for what we wanted to do with The Pharmacy concept. It just happened that the perfect place was right next door to Holland House. Here, we can have open space and a huge grassy area for families.” Mrs. T of the former “Learning Center” would be proud.

On a recent visit to The Pharmacy, I personally had the joy of sampling not one, but two delectable burgers, complete with their respective mates of fries and tater tots. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First came the phosphate. We were outside in the early-afternoon sun, and the Kentucky Lime was

the perfect choice. If you’ve never had a phosphate, it’s not enough to say it’s an old-fashioned soda. You have to try one to fully understand. Whereas today’s sodas are overly sweet, carbonated to the point of tongue-abuse, and syrupy bordering on slimy, phosphates have a subtle, delicate, wonderfully refreshing quality that cannot be matched. The fact that I

could taste the lime, the sugar (again: cane sugar, not corn syrup), and the water, freshly carbonated in-house, was nothing short of revelatory (and yes, I could actually taste the water). I don’t think I ever want a Coke again. Each member of our party had a similar experience, giddily aghast at the natural and full taste of the flavors that never even came close to overbearing. What struck me about the phosphates was their balance, which made a tangible reality out of all of the thought put into them. It was a theme that resonated throughout the entire meal.

For example, take my two burgers. Not being a stranger to The Pharmacy’s menu, I immediately went for the Farm Burger, but at the urging of Ryan, I ventured further and decided to try a second. I’d had their namesake burger before, which is precisely what you’d imagine: a simple, no-frills-yet-perfected backyard burger. So this time I went with the Chili Burger. After a disastrous experience with chili on hash browns at Waffle House (I don’t want to talk about it), I was skeptical of the topping and thus deemed it a worthy challenge.

I had gravitated towards the Farm Burger

out of attraction to its decadence. Bacon is the chocolate of meats. It goes with everything, and it’s as common an addition as mustard or ketchup. But what if you added a thinly fried piece of country ham, alongside a fried egg, and just a teensy garnish of maple mustard aioli? Thus, the Farm Burger was born by quite literally combining an entire farm’s worth of animals on one bun: Tennessee beef, Tripp Country ham, Emerald Glen Farm bacon, Willow Farm egg. Old MacDonald had a burger, and this was it.

But of course this is about the burger itself, not where it came from. Simple in seasoning, the meat is tender, salivatingly inviting, while the ham adds a pleasant, crisp saltiness, and the bacon a thicker, smokier crunch. The fried egg comes in at the top of the pile, just in time to save your tongue from any danger of meaty boredom. It offers a contrasting texture and flavor. The final element, the maple mustard aioli, with it’s tangy sweetness, comes in at just the right point to trigger a different part of your brain, and is what brings it all home. Honey mustard? Overdone. Maple mustard? Well played, Trent Raley, well played.

A person who makes

a phosphate soda is

traditionally called a “soda

jerk,” and they are wizards

in their own righT.

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NOW OPEN.

Even after the Farm Burger’s Kilimanjaro of meat, the Chili Burger was still enigmatically satisfying. I still don’t know how I did it, maybe the burger deserves all of the credit. After all, it was a wonderful concoction that completely reversed my stance on chili as a condiment. The chili, another one of Trent’s from-scratch recipes, is good enough to eat on its own. It’s an exceptional equilibrium of meat, beans, tomato, and seasoning. A generous portion is ladled onto the burger, but not so much that it drowns in it. A very precise amount of sour cream is then placed on top with a few slices of chives, and then topped by the same exquisite bun. With every bite, between burgers and fried potato perfection (of both the fry and tot variety), between sips of my Kentucky Lime phosphate, I became increasingly enlightened, and glimpsed what may be the meaning of life.

Any and every restaurant in town, local or chain, has that typical kitchen-sink burger. However, very few are able to nail the balance of ingredients that has made The Pharmacy stand out from the crowd, and so quickly, too. The two burgers I tried were certainly not scant on ingredients, yet I could pick out every flavor, every texture, and it was obvious why they were there. It all added up to a remarkable experience. Around the table, this was the unanimous decision, as we all agreed that every element of the burgers we tried, which also included the Falafel and Black Bean burgers, culminated in cuisine excellence.

The sides, fries and tater tots, should not be overlooked, for they are the perfected essence of fried-ness. The fries are wonderfully natural in appearance and taste, neither rigidly fried nor oil-saturated limp fish. The golden slivers of hand-sliced potatoes have a deliciously crisp outside that encases a balanced inside, neither dry, nor mushy. The tater tot, so simple in concept but so difficult in execution, is perfected at The Pharmacy. They’re done to a golden hue and exactly salted, with a wonderfully rich center. But as all good supporting acts go, they only serve to make the headliners look even better.

In Chef Trent’s own words, “We’re not trying to be the best burger in Nashville. We just do what we love, and we do it as well as we know how to do it, because we’re serving our neighbors.” It’s apparent in his words, and abundantly clear in his food: The Pharmacy is an amazing local restaurant, not simply because of where they get their ingredients, but because they care even more about who they’re serving them to. Trying or not, if The Pharmacy isn’t already serving the “best burger in Nashville,” they’re pretty damn close.

Available at.. .The Willow Tree / 615.383.56394429 Murphy Road / Nashvil le, TN 37209