Greater City Providence

Review: Luxe Burger Bar

Luxe Burger Bar

Where Citron used to be and before that, Brewed Awakenings used to be, we can now enjoy Luxe Burger Bar. Luxe is the latest creation from the Chow Fun Food Group who also operate Chinese Laundry, Rick’s Roadhouse, Cafe Noir, and other local establishments and ran Citron at this location prior.

Word around town was that Citron was not doing so well, I had enjoyed eating there in the past, but for whatever reason, it was totally off my Providence dining radar (maybe that says as much or more about adjacent Waterplace Park as it does about Citron). So Chow Fun closed down Citron for a few weeks (I noticed it was closed a couple weeks ago and meant to mention as much here), did a minimal renovation, and re-birthed Citron as Luxe Burger Bar. Citron already having a quite nice interior, Chow Fun was smart not to gut the place. Having been to Citron before I can still see it peaking through into Luxe, but they did just enough to change it (though they need to nix the orange and yellow umbrellas outside and see about getting some red and black ones, or just some new ones).

Luxe is a burger bar, it is all about the burger. You can build your own burger with a checklist at the table, or order one of their menu burgers. Other items include a nice selection of affordable appetizers, specialty sandwiches, “make your own” mac & cheese (which I will be trying on my next visit), an assortment of salads, and “haute” dogs. To wash down your meal, they feature hard shakes (the s’mores, burnt marshmallow, Bailey’s, Godiva chocolate liqueur, graham crackers, and vanilla ice cream, looked tempting, but I opted for a 22oz. UFO Hefeweizen), signature cocktails, wines by the glass or bottle, and a nice selection of beers both on draft and by the bottle.

I opted to make my own burger. You can choose your meat, I went with the house “Gold Label Beef,” but you can also choose from Kobe beef, chicken breast, ahi tuna filet, veggie falafel, or lean turkey. I chose my selections of cheese toppings, sauce, and bun and decided to go with sweet potato fries straight up. You can choose to “pimp” your fries as well with various toppings such as chili or cheese sauce.

My burger was served without undue wait just as ordered.

The staff was friendly and attentive without being overly so (which I hate). I found the make your own burger concept to be fun (I basically made a Trinity brewers burger, those who know me well would expect no less).

For dessert I had the teenie tiny chocolate mouse for $1.99. Really, my arm had to be twisted hard on that one.

Luxe Burger Bar

The Teenie Tiny Chocolate Mousse, photo by Jef Nickerson

Their menu appears to not be online yet, but they do offer daily specials. Tomorrow (Wednesday) may be a good day to check them out as it is Buy One Get One special night.

My dining partner has already declared this his new favorite restaurant in Providence. Burgers, 22oz. beers, and dessert for two came to $35.03 before tip.

Jef Nickerson

Jef is Greater City Providence's co-founder, editor, and publisher. He grew up on Cape Cod and lived in Boston; Portland, Maine; and New York before settling in Providence. In addition to urbanism, Jef is interested in art, design, and ice cream. Please feel free to contact Jef if you have any question or comments about Greater City Providence.

13 comments

  • Great review of what sounds like a fascinating place… I love this trend of niche dining that’s popping up around here… Bubble Tea House, Noodles 102, Tini, Ebisu, and now the first of two (BBC on Thayer coming) burger places… Maybe the recession is forcing restauranteurs to actually be distinctive, rather than throw open yet another New American with Italian influence and call it a day…

    I will miss Citron, however, which I had enjoyed. I think it not being on the radar has way more to do with its location (and a reputation for inconsistent meals and bad service) than anything else. Who thought of putting the restaurants behind the road rather than on the water itself??

    How were the sweet potato fries at Luxe? They’re my wife’s favorite food indulgence…

  • I don’t believe this place exists. Clearly from the picture this place is in some location where they have sun, which recently cannot possibly be Providence.

    I will also miss Citron. It would be nice if the Citron menu could be brought somewhere else, or at least portions of it. Anyone know what happened to the chef?

  • I really liked the sweet potato fries (I think Tazza has my favorite still though). They were sliced thin enough to be slightly crispy but still have some good meat to them. Tazza’s have a real nice crunchy salt on them, which pushes them into the lead.

  • I haven’t been through the area in awhile – might you include the address, phone# or map link in the future?

    My $0.02.

  • You mean you don’t navigate the state by where used to be touchstones?! 🙂

    The address is 5 Memorial Boulevard and the phone number is 401.621.LUXE. It is in Union Station Plaza next to Capital Grille, Union Station Brewery, and RiRa.

  • Ahhh….

    Where the train station used to be.

    Why didnja say so in the first place?!

  • In the original post, I almost described it as, “where the chinese wall used to be.”

  • The waitstaff alone is enough to go in and eat. A beautiful woman greeted me at the door and was super polite. Burgers and Beauty, my type of place.

  • I loved the Bloody Mary bar at Citron. But this burger place sounds pretty good too!

  • This restaurant group needs to rethink their places. And their Executive Chef needs to rethink his “celebrity” status. The food is not as good at any of the places as it use to be, the prices are out of whack with this economy. I know some restaurants that are doing more business in 2009 than in 2008. Becuase they are affordable and worth this price. When the economy was better and Nick Rabar concentrated on his menus, any restaurant at the Chow Fun Food Group
    was a good night out. In the past couple of years everyone restaurant went down hill on the food and the prices are now way out of whack with the economy. The can rename XO, BIg Fish and Citron all they want. But when the Executive Chef is worrying more about his “celebrity” status, his cooking show and traveling to cooking shows, than he his about his product, that is a receipe for failure.

  • Myself and two others just ate at Luxe for the first time tonight. I have never left any feed back before at a restaurant but felt compelled to do so.

    We had a burger with fries, pulled pork sandwich with fries, Caesar salad with chicken and spinach artichoke dip. None of use liked anything about your food. We all said that it was bland and tasteless. There was nothing redeeming about any of the food that we had. I don’t want to come across to harsh but I just wanted you to know that. I always feel bad when the wait staff asks “how was your food?”, no one wants to say ” your food sucks and I am never coming back” but that’s how we felt. So do what you need with my comment.

    PS: I liked the food at 10 and XO when I ate there years ago. Also I did not like the food so much at Rick’s Roadhouse but it was better than Luxe.

  • Luxe is a very unique resteurant. It is a californa style, build-your own burger resteurant. The burgers are amazing and at a great price. Its a great place to grab a bit to eat and have drinks with friends.

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