Good burger, nice enough front end, slow service…read more
I've been meaning to give this place a try. Mainly because it's close by and I've been intrigued by it. Always would swing by around the time it would be closed, so today I made a special trek to give this place a try.
The place was quiet, a few people dining in. Took about a good 5 minutes to be seated, a single waitress manning the entire front of house. I didn't look at the menu beforehand, so I didn't know what to expect.
As it turns out, it's a burger joint. Well, more accurately a bar with bar bites that just so happen to be burgers and wraps.
I opted to go for their burger flight, but was informed they were out of chicken. so I swapped out the chicken for another burger patty. Also got some sweet potato waffle fries, because why not?
Food took about 20 minutes to get, which is a long time to wait for appetizers. but the food came out eventually and I got my pictures and dug in.
The negatives first - The waffle fries were cold on delivery. They were made in advance and lost all their heat by the time the burgers finished up. Flavor-wise, not bad. the honey mustard dipping sauce was appreciated. Need a little bit more spicy zip though, was a tad too sweet.
I wasn't a fan of the cheese choice, was a little too waxy for my taste, could've not been warmed up enough, hard to tell. also the bottoms of the buns were lightly toasted but the tops were not and they were also cold to the touch.
However, the rest of the meal was actually very good. The burgers were seasoned and hand ground beef. they had a lot of maple bacon pieces on them and the pretzel bun was soft and spongy with a little crisp on the inside. the pulled pork slider was pretty good as well. the combo of tender, sauce drenched pork with cool, creamy, and sweet slaw lead to a very solid bite.
And that to me is the crux of the matter. They do good food but they cut corners. some corners are fine to cut, and they know how to prioritize what matters most in a dish. The slow service was a bummer, and if they executed just a little better then this would be a nice place to go to watch a game and get some bites.
There were other gripes as well. Their happy hour menu doesn't match their main menu, and you can order those items even if it isn't happy hour at a more expensive price. Nowhere is that mentioned, and some of those items would be awesome to have normally. I mean, fresh cut and fried chips with buffalo chicken dip? Yes please!
They do fresh chips, they can easily put together a nacho platter. They offer chicken tacos, but they could offer beef tacos. The burger flight should have fries, with the option to upgrade them to other sides or flavors. Fries are cheap, and I don't know many people that would turn down a well done disco fry if given the option.
Granted, there's not many real "casual bar" areas in that stretch of town. But there is a brewery across the way, and I suspect that they are actually owned by the same cooks. so it's effectively competing against yourself, and that's not a great idea.
For those looking for solid bar bites, this place will do well enough. They can be a tad slow, but the food is pretty good. It's a small casual bar to relax at, and the food's pretty decent