Who knew that a dive bar could have such great food? Apparently, it has been a known fact in my…read morehousehold that the Mousetrap slaps, but I've been ignorant to this fact because a) I'm somewhat bougie, and b) my bougie-ness sometimes clouds my thinking when it comes to good food, and c) I never think of a dive bar as a destination for food, let alone good food. Because how good can bar food be, really?
Thus, the Mousetrap has always been on my list to visit, but only for drinks and maybe music. But on this particular day, the stars aligned, the universe sent children hither and yon, and I was asked to have an adults-only early dinner at Mousetrap, so that I could be shown how very wrong my ignorant opinions about dive-bar food -- or, at least, Mousetrap food -- have been.
Wow! I am happy to admit that whatever I was thinking about the food at Mousetrap was all wrong. This bar punches above its weight, for sure. We got the cheeseburger and turkey melt, and both were amazing. The cheeseburger was thick and homemade, and it cost less than a wimpy burger you'd get at McDonald's. The turkey melt was perfectly toasted and had several slices of turkey and melty cheese. Burgers and sandwiches come with potato chips, but you can substitute fries for an additional fee.
The chili is phenomenal, by the way. We got a cup of the chili because it says on the menu that it won awards. How can you not taste award-winning chili?! I can believe this chili is award-winning, because the chili at the Mousetrap is some of the best chili I've ever tasted. Get it with "everything," which comes with bacon, cheese, thin slices of jalapeño and sour cream. This is some dang chili I'll be dreaming about once the cold weather comes in.
I should mention that all of the items on the menu have silly names. For instance, my turkey melt was called Turkey Melt Your Face, and the cheeseburger, for whatever inane reason, was called Built to Last. "I'm not saying any of these stupid names!" I said to everyone and no one as I slammed the menu down on the table. It turns out, the server knew exactly what I meant when I said "turkey melt." Imagine that.
Luckily, the beer is called what it's called. I got the Destihl Brewery Deadhead Tour Bus, which is a hazy IPA, and I loved it. I don't drink beer very often, but when I do, I appreciate the hoppy IPAs.
Speaking of The Dead, the Mousetrap has so much Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia stuff everywhere, inside and outside, that I expected to walk in and hear the band jamming over the speakers. Fortunately, I heard zero Grateful Dead and/or Phish songs, which I was grateful (dead) for.