The Rack Hamburger Grill - My kind of place

***UPDATE:  Wow, The Rack has closed.  I feared for their business success because of their location and recently downgraded their rating.  They were having problems in the kitchen and keeping beers on tap.  I am truly sad to see The Rack go, but you gotta keep people happy and coming back to succeed.

**UPDATE:  I have been to the Rack multiple times since the original post.  I have to say that they have some real problems with consistency.  I have yet to have a burger as special as the one I had on my first visit.  They just can't seem to get the meat temperature right.  I still enjoy the place and definitely recommend giving it a try, but just not as enthusiastically they go from 5/5 to 4/5 Edible Tyler Roses.

The Rack Hamburger Grill
http://www.theracktexas.com/

The Rack Hamburger Grill is a new restaurant that opened up near the Azalea district off of Broadway, just south of 9th street, located in the Tyler Shopping Center (next to Steinmart).  I don't think their has been a restaurant in this particular space, but it seems like a pretty hard place to keep a restaurant open.  From the outside, they have a little patio area with some large picnic tables.  Inside the place there is a healthy bar area and a dining section.  The decorations consist mainly of stuffed/mounted animals.

The spread:  As you can imagine this is trying to be a hamburger joint, but they are doing a lot of interesting things with the food menu. Their apps consist of candied bacon, salads, seared tuna, cheese fries, etc.  The star of the show is their hamburger selection.  You can choose their regular ground meat burger (ground and seasoned in house), buffalo burger, blue cheese burger, venison burger, lamb burger, ahi tuna burger, veggie burger, turkey burger and a few others.  The meals come with charro style beans and choice of one side:  regular fries, sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, etc.  They also offer a few desserts.

Perhaps the most impressive is their MASSIVE draft beer list.  They have a lot of beers on tap, almost all of which are craft microbrews from Texas (20 beers on tap on a regular basis).  I was in beer heaven.  They also offer a large selection of bottled beers.  A beer lover could get quiet happy here.

The verdict:  THIS IS THE BEST HAMBURGER IN TYLER BY FAR.  Stop what you are doing, go to The Rack and get a burger.  I recommended this place to a friend of mine who loves burgers and he told me it was the best hamburger he has had in his life.  I ordered a Rack burger with cheddar cheese, bacon and egg and I ordered it medium well.  This is one of the rare places that actually cooks your burger to your desired temperature.  They care about their food.  The burger was one of the best I have had in my life.  The meat is juicy and tender, with the right amount of sear from the grill.  The french fries are also done right, in house, from real potatoes and fried twice (the way fries are supposed to be done).  The beers were great.  This is definitely a place that I will go back to again and again.

Edible Tyler Roses: 4 out of 5.  Get a burger and a beer and enjoy!  I fear that location will doom this place, but it is worth the drive....yum.