THE CONCEPT behind 500 Degrees (the optimum temperature of a burger-ready cooking surface, btw) stemmed from a desire to make a world-class, memorable, gourmet burger. It needed to both diverge and evolve from “fast food”. It needed an angle. An attitude, even. That’s what 500 Degrees is. We’re not going to pretend as if the burger is the end all and be all of our culture nor are we going to bask in the glow of culinary self-importance. We just wanted to make a kick-ass burger.

For almost fourteen years, our experiences in the burger business at Rouge taught us a lot about what people really wanted and it was that insight which defined 500 Degrees.

• Fresh beef, never frozen. It’s thick and doesn’t fall apart.
• Diverse, high-quality toppings. The more the merrier.
• The softest and tastiest Challah roll you’ve ever eaten.
• Crispy, awesome fries.
• Memorable milkshakes.

That’s what 500 Degrees is about. It’s also about choice. Tell us how you want your burger cooked and that’s the way it’s going to be cooked.

We can call our burger joint "gourmet express". We can call our product "professional burgers". It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that once you’ve had it, you’ll understand why most of the time, keeping things simple and mastering the basics is all you ever really need to do in order to create something special and succeed.

We love burgers just as much as our customers. Come check us out.

500 IN THE BLOGS

"Mouthwatering" burgers on "beautiful buns" and "addictive" truffle fries make Rouge's sibling one of the "best guilty pleasures in Center City" - Zagat

"The 500" Cheeseburger from 500 Degrees Burgatory.com

500 Degrees: Come for the Burgers, Stay for the Truffle Fries Uwishunu

No Degrees of Separation From Number One Burts Food Blog

Keeping things simple and mastering the basics is all you ever really need to do in order to create something special.