This restaurant’s brisket burger ‘melts in your mouth.’ Is it Boise’s best? Mmm, try it

There’s certainly no shortage of juicy, tantalizing hamburgers in the Treasure Valley.

It’s part of Boise’s restaurant-scene DNA.

Enticing options beckon from places ranging from Bittercreek Alehouse downtown and Crave Kitchen & Bar in Eagle to, pushing farther west, ground-beef specialty haven Holy Cow! in Nampa.

So when Saint Lawrence Gridiron, 705 W. Bannock St., unveiled a revamped lunch menu earlier this year, owner Dan Watts and his team wanted to create a “different burger experience.”

“We decided to give brisket a go,” Watts says, “and we just couldn’t turn back after that.”

Does Saint Lawrence Gridiron serve the Valley’s best burger? That’s subjective. But if you haven’t tasted the twice-ground brisket at Saint Lawrence Gridiron, you have not climbed to the top rung of the Boise burger ladder.

BBQ restaurant

This is not a prototypical hamburger destination. It’s a barbecue restaurant. There’s a smoker out front. The smells are fantastic when you walk by. Split wood is stacked next to dining tables on the patio.

So it makes philosophical sense that the burger patties are made from brisket, one of the most popular barbecue cuts.

“It’s a very simple concept,” Watts says, “that focuses on the meat and the freshness of the grind.”

No cost-cutting or secret blends. No special seasonings — unless you count salt and pepper. When I sneak back into the kitchen, executive chef Tyson Mann shows me the tools he uses to double-grind the brisket. Trimming off less-desirable fats but leaving flavorful goodness, Mann concocts raw patties that are roughly 70 percent lean. He does two briskets per batch.

The result? Savory, high-end hamburger made by meat purists, for meat purists.

“There’s something about brisket that just makes you feel good when you eat it,” Watts explains.

Sizzled on the griddle and topped with cheese, “the end result is a burger that melts in your mouth,” he brags.

The sensory explosion envelops your taste buds. You barely need to chew. Each rich bite glides down your throat. These brisket burgers are food-coma feasts, yet frighteningly easy to devour.

Brisket ‘nap’

Saint Lawrence Gridiron’s burgers are not gussied up with unnecessary toppings. They come in four varieties: the Brisket Burger ($10), Brisket Cheeseburger ($11), Gridiron Burger ($13) and Double Down Burger ($16, $18 with cheese).

On a recent afternoon, I start with the “crowd favorite,” the Gridiron Burger: two 3 1/2-ounce patties, double cheddar cheese, grilled onions, special sauce and pickles on a brioche bun.

It’s fantastic. The decadent taste of the brisket blends perfectly with the pickle and cheese in every bite.

It’s also considerably less hedonistic than the seemingly insane Double Down. Seriously? A stack of four 3 1/2-ounce patties? (With mayo, mustard, ketchup and pickles. I got the version with cheese, too, naturally.)

The Double’s trouble is one of practicality. It can be difficult to open your mouth wide enough, Pac-Man-style. If you attempt to compress the burger high-rise by pressing down on the bun, the entire meat masterpiece might start to disintegrate.

Somehow, I managed. And. Oh. My. God.

The Double Down is the one. So much brisket scrumptiousness — yet, miraculously, not overwhelmingly meaty. It, too, mates perfectly with its minimal accoutrement.

Be warned, though. After a few minutes of eating the Double Down, my glazed-over eyes began wandering. For a bed. Maybe a cot?

“It’s a nap afterward,” agreed bar and front-of-house manager Corey Mitchell, watching me push another bite into my mouth.

“There’s people that come in and put ‘em down,” he adds, “in office clothes! I’m like, ‘How are you going to go back and sit behind a desk?’ ”

You can do it, Boise.

Lunch only

Saint Lawrence Gridiron’s brisket burgers are sold at lunch only — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.

Sides cost extra. Fries work, but I recommend the tasty Garlicky Romaine Salad ($5/$7). By alternating bites of greens with my brisket burger, I imagine it preventing me from suffering cardiac arrest at the table.

Saint Lawrence Gridiron’s small lunch menu also includes a smoked brisket sandwich and two fried chicken sandwiches. The Yard Bird ($12, lettuce, special sauce, pickles) is “crispy chicken with a familiar taste profile to a certain chain of restaurants,” Watts says, “but better in our opinion.”

Maybe so. But I can’t imagine ordering anything but a brisket burger. They’re just that good. Splitting them with a friend, I consumed half of a Gridiron and half of a Double Down. I was stuffed, but not uncomfortably so.

Which seemed odd after I did the meat math.

After all, a Double Down is made from nearly a full pound of ground brisket.

Mann thinks the freshness — the nominal processing — is what makes these brisket burgers feel less “heavy” than regular hamburgers. He might be on to something.

All I know is that, summoning extra strength, I probably could have forced another bite or three of a Double Down to melt down my throat.

Or at least a Gridiron.

“It feels light,” Mitchell agreed knowingly.

“It’s not.”