The B Spot is Chef Michael Symon's (of Iron Chef fame) new gourmet hamburger restaurant. Symon is based out of Cleveland Ohio and has received world acclaim for his restaurant Lola.
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| Michael Symon |
The B Spot uses Pat Lafrieda ground beef for their hamburgers. Pat Lafrieda is based in New York City and is known as being one of the highest quality meat purveyors in the restaurant business. Currently the B Spot has three locations located all throughout Cleveland and the surrounding area.
So after a two and a half hour ride to Cleveland and a stop at Cleveland's West Side Market, me and my eating companions pulled up to the BSpot. This particular B Spot was located in a high end strip mall which also included a Trader Joes, Barnes and Noble, and some high end restaurants.
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| Outside B Spot |
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| Symon Says |
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| More Rules |
At our table was a variety of Michael Symon's signature sauces . The Shasha sauce I thought was the most flavorful being a mixture of Mustard and Italian hot peppers.
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| Sauces |
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| More Sauces |
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| Chips $5.00 |
The Chips were home made crispy fried potato chips served with a parmesan and rosemary fondue. The chips were perfectly cooked being nice and crispy. Strangely the longer they sat the crispier they got. The fondue itself was very mild tasting with the rosemary nor the parmesan being all that pronounced.
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| Garlic & Parm Wings $7.00 |
The Garlic & Parm wings were easily some of the best wings I have ever had. The wings were cooked to a crispy golden brown and covered with a garlicy/cheesy/kick ass sauce, and sprinkled with shredded parmesan cheese. The sauce had a great garlic flavor as well as a nice bite of sharpness from the cheese. Most garlic parm wings are just wings tossed in garlic butter with some canned parm sprinkled on top. These were so much better than that, and about as original as you can get when it comes to wings.
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| Lola Fries $4.00 |
The Lola Fries are very thin cut fries dusted in rosemary and sea salt. The fries themselves reminded me very much of the french fries you get at Steak and Shake being so thin. The rosemary and sea salt added a little complexity to the frie's flavor, but all in all were unremarkable.
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| Thin Lizzy $8.00 |
The Thin Lizzy was a burger topped with griddled onions, cheddar, mayo, and pickles. This one of my favorite burger topping combinations and I was not disappointed with this. The pickles were terrific being brought in from Tony Packos Hot Dogs in Toledo Ohio (Klinger/ MASH reference for those that care). The onions were sauteed perfectly. The bun was airy and lightly toasted. The hamburger itself had a nice beefy flavor but to be honest I don't think the Pat Lafrieda ground beef was of such a quality that I would pay the extra money for it to be sent from NY. I'm sure Michael Symon could find a local farmer/supplier with just as good of quality somewhere in Ohio. My burger was ordered medium and was cooked perfectly as were all the burgers.
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| The Shroomage Burger $9.00 |
The Shroomage burger was a burger topped with a marinated portabella, blue cheese, Lola steak sauce, and griddled onions. This burger was bursting with mushroom flavor being that the portabella was almost as big as the burger itself. The blue cheese was used sparingly as not to overpower the burger as blue cheese has a tendency to do. For a mushroom lover this burger is about as good as it gets.
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| The Philly Witt $9.00 |
This is the B Spots take on a traditional Philly cheesesteak. It comes topped with thin sliced steak, cheese wiz, and witt onions. This is almost exactly what you would find at either Pats or Genos Steaks in Philadelphia (minus the burger of course). What can I say about this burger other than it is so sloppily decadent and messy that I loved it. When your using a classic combination such as wiz and onions its hard to screw up anything. This might not be an actual philly cheesesteak,but it is just as tasty, and you really cant go wrong ordering this burger.
When your burgers come you can also go to the B Spots pickle bar. There you can load up on Tony Packos sweet hot pickles (which are fantastic), pickled red onions, pickled green tomatoes, and kosher garlic dills. A nice little touch and the acidity of the pickles helps cut the richness of your burgers.
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| Menu Click for larger pic |
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| Menu Click for larger pic |
For those Yinzers that have never been to Cleveland, take off the Lambert jersey, put on a disguise, and head up there. There is a lot to do and it only takes two and a half hours to get there. Some of the places to visit include The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (unless your boycotting because they let Michael Jackson in and have left KISS out), The West Side Market, A WWII Gato Class Submarine, the Great Lakes Brewery, and even Ralphies house from the movie "The Christmas Story".
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Inside the B Spot |
Rating
Chips: 6/10
Garlic & Parm Wings: 9/10
Lola Fries: 5/10
Thin Lizzy Burger: 8/10
The Shroomage: 7/10
The Philly Witt: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
