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| - I've gotta get this off my chest before I dive into my review. Places that don't put their pricing on their online menus (Grind Burger is far from alone here) irritate the shit out of me. Not as bad as places that don't include pricing on their beer menus, but irritating nonetheless. Sure, I may not always make my dining decisions based upon price, but I do like to be somewhat prepared before I pull the trigger. Moving on.
Grind Burger is all about burgers. Big surprise, right? High-priced burgers, to be more precise. Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $12 for a burger (tack on another $4 if you want to splurge on the Wagyu beef option). Something else you should know, all sides are extra, including fries. The burgers come with a plate and a couple of pickles, that's it. Want apps, they'll set you back an average of $8 a piece.
The atmosphere is somewhere north of hip and south of casual. Comfortable. The space is very open and well-lit with the bar and high-top tables taking up most of the real estate. More restaurant-style seating is available as well. There's also a large, garage door type window/door next to the bar that opens out on to the patio. I sure this will be nice once the weather is more accommodating.
Our server was young and eager to please. He knew the menu and the drinks selection and was quick to offer up suggestions for both. Speaking of drinks, several people have mentioned that they are expensive. While I personally wouldn't spend $9 on a cocktail, I found the beer menu pricing to be quite tame - $5-6 for most draught selections (16oz & 20oz pours available). You can also get a flight of four 3oz pours for $10 which is pretty reasonable. There were a few bottled beers that had some whacked out pricing (Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout gluten free for $8?) but even those were in line. Beer selection is decent, too, with somewhere around 20 taps.
The menu is, you guessed it, loaded with burger choices, You can select one of their designs or build your own. There's even a turkey burger if red meat's not your thing. Overall, I found the burgers to be pretty tasty. I decided to treat myself to the Wagyu beef option and, to be honest, it was lost on me. Sure, it was tasty, but I just didn't think it was worth the nearly 25% upcharge. My recommendation, if you want to experience Wagyu beef, order a steak. Once you grind it and load it with toppings you might as well be eating Wal-Mart beef for all your tastebuds will know.
Back to the burgers. Cooking temperatures for both of our burgers were missed slightly on the rare side which I didn't mind but my wife is a bit more sensitive about. Not a big deal. The meat was seasoned well, the buns were soft but the bottoms both sogged out very quickly. I also found the hot & spicy burger to be lacking in heat, especially after the server told me that the kitchen had just made it spicier. Heat levels are a bit subjective, I suppose.
The fries and onion rings were just about as good as I've had in some time. Both were cooked to perfection.
As I mentioned above, the server was pretty good, but I do have to mention the fairly significant oversight on the part of our server. He forgot to enter our appetizer order. We were really looking forward to trying the hot dog sliders, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.
For dessert (did I mention we went a little crazy?) we opted for their warm cookie skillet (their version of the Pazookie). It's a cast iron skillet, partially baked chocolate chip cookie, and vanilla ice cream. Again, not bad. I thought the cookie could have used another 5 minutes in the oven, but that didn't stop us from shoving the entire thing down our throats in less than 10 minutes.
Grind Burger is definitely good, there's no doubt about it. The challenge they face is that so are several other local establishments all of which have chosen to feature pricey burgers. I really like the unique ingredients and menu items, the beer selection and the greasy, good food, but with so many options that are closer to home I think this one won't be part of our regular rotation. I still wanna try those hot dog sliders, though...
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