Head to Milestone for Your Next Burger + Mystic Opening News!

The Royale With Cheese is a necessity

When CTbites last covered Milestone for their 2019 opening, we gave you an introduction to the Redding restaurant’s owners, Peter and Andi Fine, plus a rundown of their wood-fired pizzas and their “comfort food with a twist” approach.

In the comments on that very article, “Jake” hit us with this statement:

“Don’t short change the burger!!! It’s the best!”

Don’t worry, Jake, I’ve got you, bro.

If we’re four years late to Milestone’s burger bash, we’re sorry, but in our defense, the burgers here REALLY started to assert their menu dominance amongst the pizzas and the refined blue plate classics in the past year or two.

“We had so much success with the burger here, that we added more of them to evolve it (the burger menu),” explains co-owner Peter Fine. “Burgers weren’t a major focus at first, but I’d see awards go out to other burgers and it bothered me a little bit. I felt that we work so hard here to put out a great product, so why not?”

Why not, indeed!

Burgers don’t come cut in half, by the way. Cut is to show you the sauciness and the cheesiness. The Milestone is available as is, or you can add bacon, an egg, caramelized onions, lettuce/tomato/raw onion, or a bunch of these if you wish.

The burger that began it all at Milestone was its namesake creation “The Milestone.” It’s a double patty, simply topped with cheese and special sauce in the form of a homemade, tangy, creamy dijonnaise that according to Fine, “has a little Worcestershire in there.” Like all but one of their burgers, it comes with a handful of crispy, well-salted, shoestring, McDonald’s-like fries, and a pickle.

That burger’s popularity amongst customers led to a full embrace of a burger menu that’s now five deep, plus a brunch burger that’s basically The Milestone with additions of bacon and a sunny side up egg.

But what about the burger science? What are the rest of ‘em like? Let’s dive in.

“I don’t really want to give away too many burger secrets,” Fine says. “The burgers are specially made for us. It’s an 80-20 lean to fat content, and there’s some chuck in there. And each is two patties so we can add more flavor by salt-and-peppering four sides as opposed to two sides. Every sauce is made from scratch. We use brioche buns. And we like to keep it simple.”

Quarter Pou— Err…Royale With Cheese

Another popular burger is a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Oops. My fault. Milestone prefers the European moniker, Royale with Cheese (cue memories of Vincent Vega’s explanation of it in Pulp Fiction), for the classic McDonald’s burger.

The Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or the Royale with Cheese, had to make Milestone’s menu because it’s Fine’s favorite fast food burger. “Late at night if I’m driving by a McDonald’s, I want a Quarter Pounder with Cheese,” he says. “We just knew it had to be like it, but it had to taste better. Double patty, quality beef, Kraft American Cheese because that’s what belongs on there, thin sliced pickles—we tasted like 30 different pickles to choose one, and we do our own in-house, too, that are more like giardiniera, but they do the pickle better—yellow mustard because it has that vinegar flavor profile, finely chopped white onions, brioche.”

The Royale is a beast. Messy. Cheesy. Saucy. Perfectly hard seared. And it’s not a double smash, the dual patties are thicker and juicier. And you can and should order them medium rare (medium at the very max). It’s exquisite. It’s nostalgic, too.

The Bacon Jam showing off its cheesy drip

If you’re not ordering either of these—I mean, I’d say it’s best to order a few different ones and split them amongst your dining companions—there’s “The Backyard Burger” (bacon, cheddar, homemade coleslaw, BBQ sauce, frizzled onions), “The Nude” (sautéed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, arugula salad, and comes without a bun and no fries), and one newish burger called “The Bacon Jam” with sweet, porky house made bacon and caramelized jam, and “7 Cheese Sauce” that’s a blend of mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, Swiss, gruyere, American, and cream cheese. That sauce and those low and slow onions make it taste, to me, like cheesy French onion soup on a burger.

Now normally I’d end this with some corny line about burgers, but during my visit, Fine broke a few big things regarding the immediate future of Milestone’s evolution.

Beverage director Sean Nye will take good care of you at Milestone’s bar with a totally revamped cocktail program.

A cold brew coffee old fashioned should hit the menu soon, too.

The first has to do with the beverage program and a major upgrade. Enter seasoned bartender and beverage director Sean Nye (El Segundo, The Spread, L’Escale, and most recently Millpond Gatherings), who’s already implemented a cocktail list consisting of updated classics and others of his own volition. Expect fresh juices, homemade syrups, some batched drinks for consistency, lots of creativity, and a fine spirits selection, especially when it comes to bourbon and rye.

“Sean walked through the door one day off of a Craigslist ad,” Fine says. “We talked and I’ve always wanted to put our bar program over the top and take it to the next level.”

Classics are a focal point of the drink list. Expect refreshing margs, a cosmo, the Hotel Nacional, and a French 75. Slower sippers are a Manhattan, hot buttered rum, whiskey cocktail, and this, a rye/brandy blended Sazerac.

Fine continues talking about what “the next level” is and breaks the second part of Milestone’s big news: “We’re doing another Milestone in Mystic. It’s a completely evolved food scene there and I’m drawn to the high profile nature of that scene. I said to my wife years ago that I’d want to have a place right over here, across from Oyster Club.”

If all goes according to plan, Milestone Mystic will be serving pizza, blue plate specials, booze, and BURGERS this summer.

You’re welcome, Jake.

2 Main Street; Redding
203.587.1700; milestonect.com