Who has the best burger in Lexington? For 40+ years, it’s the O’Round
READ MORE
The Best Thing I Ate This Week
Join Brian Simms and the LexGo Eat team as they search local menus for the best food at Lexington restaurants.
Expand All
It’s a question Lexington foodies repeatedly ask: “Who has the best burger in Lexington?”
But one Lexington burger has been the yardstick for more than 40 years. Its gourmet variations keep diners coming back, and also on their toes for what will be created or resurrected next. This October, it’s a fitting, spicy hellfire from the netherworld.
The original O’Round, a staple as one of Lexington’s best burgers since it was introduced in 1981 at the legendary Lynagh’s Irish Pub & Grill, carries on today with 19 different versions at Shamrock Bar & Grille’s two locations.
Co-owner C.O. Trump said Shamrock’s wears it as a badge of pride that so many, for so long, have argued the Irish-themed Lexington sports bar has the best burger in town.
“We definitely push it,” Trump said. “I think the biggest thing is we’ve always used great burger.”
How is Lexington’s famous O’Round burger made?
Before some ownership changes, Trump said when Lynagh’s was still open near the University of Kentucky campus, on Woodland Avenue, the O’Round was made using a 90/10 ground sirloin patty. Today, they use a proprietary blend produced three times a week just for Shamrocks’ from Halperns’ Steak and Seafood Company.
In a dining landscape where smashburgers are the rage, each seven-ounce patty at Shamrock’s is hand-pressed daily in the kitchen, just as it was at Lynagh’s.
After a hit of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, unless other spices are needed, like for the Cajun O’Round, the patty is char broiled. Each O’Round is cooked to order (rare, medium, etc.), a lost art it seems at burger restaurants, and comes topped with a choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayonnaise on a brioche bun from Klosterman Baking Company.
Any of the 14 O’Rounds on the menu, including the five daily specials, can be an be bumped up to the bigger patty or even doubled up.
“So you can go 7, 10 or 14 (ounces) depending on how hungry you are,” Trump said.
What is the most popular O’Round burger?
The most popular burger, Trump said is, is the original O’Round ($12), followed by the Cajun O’Round, a spicy blackened burger topped with melted pepper jack cheese ($14.50).
Of the gourmet burgers, Trump said they sell a lot of El Bandito ‘Rounds, which is covered in a banana pepper and jalapeño cream cheese spread and topped with a sweet habanero glaze and onion ring ($15).
Other toppings on O’Round variations include homemade Guinness beer cheese, blueberry preserves, salami and more.
The daily O’Round specials ($7) add even more variety to the menu.
“We get a lot of people that come in Monday right now — it is the Jamaican (O’Round), grilled pineapple, jerk sauce and bacon,” Trump said.
Friday is also a popular day, Trump said: The restaurant offers a mushroom and Swiss O’Round topped with homemade Guinness gravy.
Shamrock’s Bar & Grille history
In September 1993, Lynagh’s Shamrock Bar & Grille opened on Patchen Drive to bring the feel of the campus pub to the suburbs.
The menu described the O’Round as the size of a small hubcap. In 2006, Shamrock’s opened its second Irish-themed restaurant in Hartland, and 18 years later moved to Brannon Crossing.
This past August, both locations added 13 more burgers to the menu for an event dubbed O’Round Madness. It featured old menu favorites, Lexington Burger Week flashbacks and a few new creations like the Mac & Cheese O’Round that might make it onto the permanent menu, Trump said.
In October, Shamrock’s will resurrect an O’Round that’s on-theme for the month. The Hell O’Round is a reaper- and habanero-infused patty topped with ghost pepper cheese, flaming hot salsa, spicy pickles and hell mayo ($15).
“Every burger’s got its fans,” Trump said.
Shamrock Bar & Grille
Where: 154 Patchen Drive and 285 Lancer Drive, Nicholasville (Brannon Crossing)
Hours: 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Mon.-Thur.; 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Fri.; 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Sat.; 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Sun.
Order online: shamrocksky.com
