4/9/17 - Cheddar's Smokehouse Burger

Kristina and I decided to visit Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen after church today. I ended up tacking their Smokehouse burger.

Their toppings are bacon, cheddar cheese, pickles, tomato, BBQ sauce, and onion straws. The toppings were all over the place on this burger. The best part of this was the bacon. The bacon was cooked perfect. But the cheese was hard to taste, the BBQ sauce was non-existent, and this burger was exploding with onion straws. So if you want roughly an entire onion on a burger, this is the burger for you!

The patty was nothing to go home and tell mother about. It wasn't bad, but it was bland. There was not taste, but it doesn't take anything away from the rest of the sandwich. It, at bare bones, did its job.

The bun was something else. It wasn't bad. It was like they took a big dinner roll, cutting it in half, buttered it all around, and put a burger in it. It was good, but there was a lot of butter and the bun itself wasn't special.

It will pass as a BBQ burger, but there are many others that are better than this one. I would suggest getting their chicken before having one of their burgers. Keeping in mind as well, you will notice their low price, but the price is not including any side, including fries or kettle chips. 

TOPPINGS: 5

PATTY: 4

BUN: 5

OVERALL: 4

-Nick

nick@rateaburger.com

4/3/17 - Buffalo Wild Wing's Meltdown Burger

I had some "fun and excitement" at work this week that lead me to have a late supper. While a co-worker too advantage of the bone-in Tuesday deal, I decided to try their limited-time Meltdown Burger from the Findlay, Ohio franchise.

The toppings were swiss cheese, a deep-fried cheese wheel, red onions, and a cool heat BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce was near perfect with a nice kick while not overwhelming. The deep-fried cheese wheel was pleasant to taste as it adds the element of a cheesestick on top of the burger.

The patty seasoned with a caraway seasoning. The seasoning was a seasoned salt/red pepper combination that complimented the toppings well. The patty was sized well with the bun, but really the seasoning saved the patty from a lower rating.

The bun is a sourdough bread with a twist...pretzel salt. The salt was a nice addition, but it sometimes took you out of the sandwich. The bread, however; was fantastic. It wraps the toppings and the patty in a bow.

This burger is a nice burger overall and is a shame it is a limited time. It is an unique burger with toppings and additions that I normally don't find in other burgers. Try it before they remove it off their menu.

TOPPINGS: 7

PATTY: 7

BUN: 8

OVERALL: 7

-Nick

nick@rateaburger.com

4/1/17 Easy Street Cafe's Pizza Burger

Kristina and I visit the Main Street of Bowling Green, Ohio often. There is a variety of restaurants with their different cuisines. Look for other reviews for Beckett's Burger Bar and future reviews here as well. We returned to the Easy Street Cafe as despite having been here before, we never had a burger. Kristina had the Easystreet Burger...check out her review as well. Today I am reviewing East Street Cafe's Pizza Burger.

Before I get started, sometimes someone just wants a standard burger. Normal toppings of lettuce, tomato, mayo/ketchup, and cheese. From what we saw on our menu, they did not offer a standard burger to order. So I chose a pizza burger as a second option.

Their toppings were a pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. The cheese was well-distributed, but the pepperoni was gathered in the middle like it was hiding the weakest pepperoni from being devoured first. When you make a pizza burger, you are serving two masters. You are making a burger and the burger needs to be done right as well as the pizza itself needs to be addressed. Much like a pizza, the sauce can make or break the pizza and this sauce smashed the burger in a negative way. The sauce tasted like a bland ketchup with no flavor. Their marinara for the mozzarella sticks had more flavor than this. The sauce also was very runny that much of the toppings fell off the burger after one bite, including team pepperoni that wanted to go down together.

The patty was a surprise. Not many places go for the charbroiled patty. I can see why after I took a few bites. The patty's taste was okay. The charbroiled taste can be an overwhelming taste and sometimes can overtake a burger. This was okay. Not fantastic, not horrible, just okay.

The bun was a kaiser roll. It doesn't add or take away from the burger, which is acceptable. The bun did its job.

Overall this was not a good burger in the slightest. When the burger's best trait is the bun, you're not in good waters. The charbroiled taste combined with the toppings were an unnatural combination and a displeasing taste to the tongue. I kept thinking I could have a better overall burger at Burger King with the charbroiled reminder. Between the charbroiled taste,  the bland sauce, and my toppings falling off, I walked away from this burger and didn't finish. When you get irritated eating, I would not bother trying it again. Thumbs down.

TOPPINGS: 3

PATTY: 3

BUN: 4

OVERALL: 3

-Nick

nick@rateaburger.com

4/1/17 Easy Street Cafe's Easy Street Burger

Easy Street Cafe is a little restaurant on Main Street in Bowling Green, Ohio. Today I ordered The Easy Street Burger. It is advertised as being smothered with sauteed green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese served on a Kaiser roll.

The burger was charbroiled and had a great grill flavor. The burger was ordered medium and came out perfectly cooked. The only complaint about the burger was it was lacking a little flavor. I think the restaurant needed to add a little salt or pepper to the patty.

The toppings were delicious as well. I would have personally liked fewer peppers and more of the bacon. You could only taste the green peppers. If the menu hadn't said there was bacon on the sandwich I would have guessed that there was not any on it. The ratio of onions, cheese, and mushrooms seemed to be perfect.

The roll was just a roll to hold the burger. There wasn't anything flashy or special about it, but it did it's job of holding the burger well. 

TOPPINGS: 7

PATTY: 5

BUN: 4

OVERALL: 6

-Kristina

kristina@rateaburger.com