I saw a recent review from a fellow foodie who raved about this place. We made it a date night, and…read moreupon arrival, we faced a few challenges. First, parking: almost everywhere you look, there are tow-zone signs. We chose to park about a block away in the neighborhood. Walking in, we encountered a very long line to order. The indoor seating is very limited; there are only two small tables outside on the sidewalk. After reading all the reviews, I found it odd that, while waiting in line and looking at the plates around us, many people were throwing their fries away. That suggests they aren't good, or everything else was so good that they were full. As I looked around, I felt as though I might have been in this store before, when it was a donut shop; things looked quite familiar. The staff was definitely keeping up with the crowd, as this place was packed.
We ordered the Hardpressed and the Patty Melts, a side of loaded French fries, an order of onion rings, and finally, a vanilla shake. The chocolate and strawberry flavors were sold out. It was very loud inside, but luckily, an outside table became available.
Shortly after grabbing the outside table, our vanilla shake arrived, and it was surprisingly very good. Well, that got my attention and set the stage for what was to come.
Some time passed, and our ordered items began to arrive sporadically. The loaded fries looked good, as did both burgers, but we were still missing the onion rings. My wife overheard the table next to us that the onion rings had recently sold out, so the question was, did we get in on time with our order? We dove into the loaded fries and found that the fries appeared freshly cut but didn't hold up well to the toppings; they were quite soggy, nearly mushy. Flavor was OK, and the jalapenos seemed freshly cut. Minor setback, all is still well.
As my wife went in on her patty melt, I saw her expression, and she was quite pleased. Up next was their signature Hard Pressed Burger. I went in and was instantly greeted by the crispy texture of those grilled, smashed bits and the grilled bun, followed by the pickle and the remaining condiments. It was a very good first bite. My wife and I traded burgers, and wow, was that patty melt delightful. That crispy, grilled, flavor-filled rye bread stood out and introduced itself again, followed by the crispy tidbits of smashed beef, and that thousand island dressing brought it all together. Once again, another very good first bite.
Our onion rings finally arrived and looked amazing. The crisp on the onion rings reminded me of the same texture seen on the fish & chips at Arthur Treacher's or even Long John Silver's. When paired with their Garlic Aioli, you instantly know someone in the kitchen knows their stuff. THAT GARLIC AIOLI!! Salute!
At the conclusion of our meals, we were maxed out and needed to walk off our fullness. We headed into the square and concluded our night with some geocaching.
Thanks for the great experience, and thanks to all of us foodies out there who bring these hidden gems to light!
