Phillip's Grocery - Oxford, Mississippi

Phillip's Grocery

My current reigning #1 cheeseburger is the Phill-Up burger at Phillip’s Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi. To date, no other burger has knocked it off its top spot.

The original Phillip’s Grocery is located in Holly Springs, MS, and there’s another location located in Oxford. The connection between them isn’t clear. The Oxford location has a web site, and it traces its history to the Holly Springs location, yet the Holly Springs location has no web site that I can find. I’ve eaten the burgers at both, and both are out of this world and equivalent. If I’m not mistaken, the must-have house burger in Holly Springs is called the Deluxe Cheeseburger, and in Oxford they call it the Phil-Up Burger. Pictured below is the Phill-Up:

Lots of variables go into making the difference between a good burger and a great burger, such as the griddle’s seasoning that accrues over the years. Phillip’s has that seasoned griddle, and their beef is prepared with a secret recipe, and aside from that griddle-cooked flavor, I find myself unable to pinpoint what makes these patties so special. I can only speak to the effect: This burger melts in your mouth.

In the picture, you can note the construction of the burger. It has about as much on it as is possible without getting too far afield, and yet it is exactly right. If it had, say, jalapenos on it, that would put it off kilter. It’s like a work of fine art, with every brush stroke perfectly placed and intentional, or a Dickinson poem with every word absolutely essential and load-bearing. From the crown to the heel, it is mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, onions, thick-cut bacon, two kinds of (American and Swiss) cheese (a double has a total of 4 cheese slices), ham, thick-cut pickles, more bacon, and mustard. (If I’m in the mood to go for broke, I’ll order a double, which is too big to bite. For most people, the single is going to be more than enough.) It all blends together to the bite to create a melt-in-your-mouth effect that never misses, or at least it has never missed in every single time I’ve had one going back to my days as an undergrad at Ole Miss, and I’ve never had a burger that delivers that effect, much less consistently. After all these years, it is difficult to imagine a burger usurping Phillip’s position as my number 1. It is that good.