Fun Playing with Burgers & Frites

After a lovely Memorial Day weekend with my family in NY, we returned to Cleveland on Monday. We arrived at Hopkins around 7pm, hungry for dinner and aware that most eateries were closed for the holiday. However, thanks to the post on the Cleveland Food & Wine Forum by Chef's Widow, we knew that one of our favorites, Bar Cento, would be open!

We found a parking spot on W25th Street and a couple of comfy seats at the bar a few moments later. The Indians were playing on two televisions, and the pizzas were flying out of the ovens. Bartender Dave told us that due to the holiday, they were on a limited menu. Pizza and Burgers. Well, we'd had our fill of great pizza in NY, but we'd never before tried Bar Cento's burger - so:


Grilled Ohio Beef w/Spring Onions, Cruccolo Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato & Frites





I am usually not a huge fan of cheese on my burgers - but the cruccolo was fantastic, and I'm glad I didn't tell them to leave it off. After the way my dad massacred the burgers at our Sunday cookout (overcooked to shoe leather) - these burgers hit the spot. Bob's was cooked to perfect Medium-Rare and mine to Medium - how often does that happen?





The frites picked up some lovely notes from the rosemary and garlic they were plated with. Simply delicious.



Even the bun was a special treat!



A mouthful made for a fresser (which can be translated as a glutton or an eater with a big mouth)!

Bob enjoyed a strong IPA (India Pale Ale) with his burger, while I really liked the slightly tart notes of Rodenback red/sour cherry ale with mine.

I was actually glad they were on a limited menu - otherwise, we might never have tried this burger, and it was definitely worth experiencing! Bar Cento can be recommended for fun playing with hamburger!