A mostly-buffalo-and-elk burger, last Friday's lunch special at Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

Since it's Friday, 12 Houstonians will end up with one of the dozen wild-game burgers chef Mark Schmidt and his team are grilling for lunch at the Rainbow Lodge -- one of the city's loveliest restaurants, where game plays a prominent role on the menu. Each week, Schmit concocts a different meat mix for the patties, depending on what ends and pieces he has available. One week it might be venison, buffalo and wild boar; the next, a mix of mostly buffalo and elk with some ribeye fat added to temper the leanness. When the burgers are gone, they're gone -- until the next Friday.

Outdoor dining on the deck at the Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

Schmidt telegraphs the burger specials on Twitter (his handle there is @ChefAugie) by Thursday, or Friday morning at the latest. Last week I bit on the lure and showed up in the Tied Fly bar at 11:45, wondering if I'd be too late. Here's how it went.

*ORDERING: Because the Lodge is an upscale spot (don't worry, jeans and shirt sleeves are fine in the rustic old hunting-lodge atmosphere), it's table service only. Find a table in the bar, one of the log-framed dining rooms, or -- best of all in fine weather -- on one of the wooden decks overlooking a steep ravine clad in luxuriant gardens, with a little creek at the bottom. It's one of the best restaurant settings, and views, in the city.

*PRICE: The Friday game burger is priced at $11, which includes fries. Extras are priced at fine-dining levels, so your tab will rise from there accordingly.

House-made pickles, red onion and heirloom yellow tomatoes garnish the wild-game burgers at Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

*ARCHITECTURE: Salad stuff goes wherever you put it, since everything except the game patty and the cheese comes on the side. On a forcefully grilled bun made by Riviera Bakery goes a hand-formed, inch-thick patty made of the game mix of the day, generally two or three of the week's game choices, plus added fat if needed. Then comes a nicely melted mantle of white cheddar cheese. To the side, to be added in whatever order you choose, are Bibb lettuce leaves, slices of heirloom tomato, sliced red onion and the chef's choice of weekly garnish (thick rounds of house-made pickles on my visit).

Inside the Fridays-only wild-game cheeseburger at the Rainbow Lodge,. Photo by Alison Cook

*QUALITY: I found the meat quality of my buffalo-and-elk patty stunning -- with an expansive, earthy minerality quite different from beef. The ground meat had a good sear, a decidedly salty seasoning and it squirted juices at first bite. That's a plus for a game burger, when you're working with meats that are leaner than your basic feedlot beef. I loved the charcoaly grill flavor and the slight char of the grill stripes on the bun, which stood up beautifully to the tall tower I constructed once I layered on my garnishes.

What defined the sandwich I created? The powerful house-made mustard, a rough mix of brown and yellow mustard seeds that had been soaked in Shiner Bock before undergoing a rough puree. The result was lively, sinus-clearing stuff that stood up to the delightfully brash pickles, which emerged from their cure tart with just the slightest sweet undercurrent. I could have added the regulation commercial ketchup and mayo that came on the side, but there was no need. My sole misgiving about the burger, which I demolished down to the last lonely crumbs, was that the yellow heirloom tomato involved had little flavor and that the saltiness of the seasoning came close to overload without actually going there.

Burger juices on the plate: a good sign at Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

*OOZE RATING: Surprisingly good for a lean game mix that had none of the wild boar chef Schmidt often uses to up the fat content. He uses fat trimmed from the restaurant's ribeye steaks on the weeks when there's no boar in the blend.

*GRADE: Solid A. Could go higher with just a little bit less salt.

Oh, why not? Strawberry shortcake at Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

*BONUS POINTS: Some nice wines by the glass if you want to spring for them. A fine strawberry shortcake if you want to really live, uh, large. And those verdant, vertiginous views down the ravine, to the little creek, make everything taste better.

Burger with a view: the deck and gardens at Rainbow Lodge. Photo by Alison Cook

*MINUS POINTS: Lame commercial French fries that are unworthy of this burger, and this kitchen.

*LOCAL COLOR: The century-old log cabin setting is one of the treasures of the Houston restaurant world. To sit on the narrow deck, overlooking the world of the wild, subtropical garden, is to be transported to a place utterly removed from the hubbub of urban life. In fact, when I used Twitter to post a picture of the view from my booth in the serene bar, a prompt question popped up in my feed: "Are you in Greune?"

Nope. Just the next best thing, conveniently located on the near northwest side, near the confluence of Ella Boulevard and West T.C. Jester. Think staycation.