A Killer Burger At Donnie's Burger Cafe

I don't think I've been this excited about a major food find since stumbling across the Taqueria La Loma taco truck late last year. And I'm happy to be sharing this find with you, gentle reader, because I know that once you discover the magic of the food being served at this local Tallmadge gem, you just won't be able to get enough. Well, at least until your cardiologist tells you it's time to stop. This was the kind of place that I consider "destination" dining: A place with food so amazing that it'd be worth a day trip just to try it out. While my hope was that by publishing this, I haven't cursed myself by never being able to get a table again the next time I craved this undeniably American but universally popular cuisine, I knew that eventually the secret would get out.

But, I suppose I am ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

I first noticed Donnie's Burger Cafe after moving into my current residence in Akron a while ago. Since my home shared a border with Tallmadge, it wasn't too long after moving in that I had headed up to Tallmadge Circle, mostly to explore this new part of Akron. As I drove around the circle that first time, I noticed a building on the east side of the circle, but didn't give it much thought. In retrospect, I should've. Located at 23 Southeast Avenue, Tallmadge, OH 44278, Donnie's can be reached at 330-630-3296. At the time of this writing, there was no website available specific to this location; however, this Yahoo Maps entry has three testimonials of others' visits to the restaurant. I tend to take what I read on Yahoo Maps with a grain of salt, so I didn't pay them much attention. There was ample parking surrounding the restaurant.

Once inside, I was taken aback by the cuteness of my surroundings. I know I don't normally talk about a restaurant's "cuteness" factor, but by all accounts, Donnie's had a certain something that seemed unique all unto itself but also vaguely familiar. Unfamiliar with the ordering process, I took a seat at an empty table and waited for a server to come over. Almost immediately, I realized that Donnie's was not a full-service restaurant but one where the customer placed their order at the counter and then retired to an empty table with their food once it was plated. One of the first items I noticed was the quite large wall menu (of which I took a picture, but sadly turned out completely blurry and unusable) by the ordering counter. As customers approached the ordering counter, they would lazily gaze up, make their choices and pay for their meal. Once customers picked up their completed orders of food, they would seek out an additional station at the side of the restaurant for condiments, napkins, straws and other meal-related amenities before finding a table to enjoy their spoils.

Having now watched the ordering ritual thoroughly enough to understand it, I tentatively approached the woman operating the cash register. I asked her if the restaurant had any specialties ... menu items for which the restaurant was known. She described several of their burgers and a fried fish sandwich that she told me involved some type of Australian-sourced fish which was breaded and fried. She also added that they were particularly well known for their French fries. Knowing that I have had bad experiences in the past with poorly fried frites, I was hesitant about ordering their version. In the end, however, her positive attitude and the lack of any other appropriate side dish finally convinced me to give the French fries a try.

I placed my order for one of their infamous quarter pound cheeseburgers topped with a standard quotient of onions, pickles, mustard and ketchup. To complete my meal today, I went ahead and ordered the fries, too. After getting to my table, I managed to take a photo of my entire lunch:


And a close-up of the burger by itself:


And a shot with the crown removed:


And finally, a shot of the French fries that my helpful counter worker had talked me into:


As I sank my teeth into that first bite of burger, I was rewarded not only with an amazing beefy flavor, but also a complexity that I had not experienced since my last burger at Michael Symon's B Spot restaurant in Woodmere, Ohio. It was clear that this burger had been tested and refined many times by the kitchen staff as it was seasoned to the point where it would appeal to the masses, without need for anything else. I suspected Wagyu beef was involved somewhere in this burger blend, but since the menu said nothing about this opulent ingredient, I had to assume 100% grass-fed beef was the reason for this amazing taste. The toppings, perfectly dispensed between the top of the cheese and the crown of the bun, added a nice sweetness and piquancy that further enhanced just how incredibly tasty my burger was today. The combination of the bun, the burger, the cheese, and the toppings put this sandwich at the top of my very short list of favorite burgers.

Not to be outdone, I moved to my French fries next. I thought that the ketchup was a bit on the sweet side; in fact, I don't know that I've ever tasted ketchup that had such a unique flavor profile that was so specific to a restaurant. Then again, the kitchen staff at Michael Symon's restaurants make the "Lola" ketchup, so I suppose there are places out there doing it. That said, the fries by themselves were complete perfection. Crispy, creamy, salty, and fatty, these fried potato sticks would've made Escoffier weep with tears of joy. Clearly, Donnie's has thoroughly studied the art of frying potatoes as there wasn't a bad one among the bunch. I've been told in the past that fries of this nature MUST be eaten within seven minutes of coming out of the fryer. One minute too long and they needed to be tossed because the quality degraded too much. Fortunately, today's French fries had plenty of time left on their clock as they were sublime.

As I finished my meal today, I was struck at how accessible and truly tasty my meal was. In a perfect world, this was the kind of food to which every American should have access. In fact, should the restaurant decide to open other locations, I would be quite surprised if they weren't a huge success. I urge you, gentle reader, to try out this appealing and painstakingly perfected food as soon as you can. You certainly won't be surprised to find that you might be whisked away to your childhood, where the halcyon memories of great food still live.

Hollandaise With A Twist At Wally Waffle

I find it interesting that the proximity of a restaurant doesn't always dictate how often one visits. The last time I wrote about Wally Waffle was actually the last time I had eaten there. For some inexplicable reason when I got up this morning, I just accepted the fact that it was time to return for another meal. With the restaurant being only a mile or so from my house, I'm not sure why I don't return more often. I suppose it is a lot like the high school and college friends who we keep in touch with maybe twice a year. Most of the time you just don't think about them and then every six months or so, you scratch your head and think, "I wonder what John is up to?"

Having gotten up fairly late today, I decided to minimize the inevitable waiting and go for a late lunch. I arrived at the Tallmadge location to find the restaurant only half full. After taking a small table near the back of the restaurant, my server brought me the menu, a glass of water, and the cup of decaffeinated coffee for which I had asked:


While I wouldn't consider Wally Waffle's coffee exceptional, it did do its part to help fully wake me up. Normally I'd give you a couple of menu photos, but unfortunately, the lighting where I was sitting was rather dim and even with the help of the Picasa photo editor I use to make the photographs I take blog-worthy, I was afraid that the menu simply wouldn't be legible. In its place, however, I decided to return to the earlier days on my blog and give you a shot of the condiment station that appears on every table:


My order at Wally Waffle normally consists of the oat bran waffle and a side of bacon, extra crispy. However, just like last time, I decided to deviate from that path and try something else. In all of the times I've eaten at the restaurant, I've never tried any of their non-breakfast offerings. While the 1/3 pound Angus burger looked pretty darn good, I wasn't really in a burger kind of mood. Instead, as I perused the omelettes available, I noticed that Wally's has a signature omelet made with broccoli and swiss cheese that was covered in a hollandaise sauce. Eureka! I guess it was to be breakfast after all.

After a short wait, my server delivered my omelet platter, complete with a side of grits and buttered rye toast:


Here was a close-up of the broccoli and cheese omelet:


I tasted the hollandaise sauce first, by itself and I'll talk more about that in a moment. The omelet was studded with broccoli florets and the swiss cheese oozed around the little nuggets of green. The eggs were fluffy and tender and had just the right level of salt to them. While the broccoli was definitely cooked, it still retained a bit of firmness so that taking a proper bite gave me a variety of textures to experience. Overall, I'd say it was a very nicely cooked omelet. Returning to the hollandaise, when I first tasted it, I thought the cheese had been placed on top of the omelet, directly underneath the hollandaise. I was expecting that glorious combination of egg yolks and butter, but instead was greeted with something different. The depth of flavor I was getting from the sauce felt much more savory than a traditional sauce.

Now curious about what was happening with this hollandaise, I decided to investigate further. After taking another taste, I realized that the flavor I was experiencing wasn't from the cheese but instead from the addition of chicken base. I rolled the sauce over my entire tongue trying to hit as many of the different taste buds as I could. Honestly, the sauce tasted like a cross between chicken gravy and a more traditional hollandaise. The sauce was seasoned perfectly and I imagine that the salty chicken base probably went a long way to accomplishing that task. The problem, as I saw it was that for me, every time I took a bite of my omelet with sauce on top, I got nothing but the chicken flavor. The delicate flavors from the eggs, cheese and broccoli were somewhat lost.

When I finally asked my server about the hollandaise, she told me that the sauce was made every day from scratch and that she believed the cook was indeed adding chicken base to make it "her own." While I applaud the fact that they are making from-scratch hollandaise sauce and the fact that the cook was trying to put her spin on a classic, in this case, it just didn't work for me. As a sauce for a chicken breast, this would've been perfect.

Here was a close-up shot of the bowl of grits that came with the platter:


These were consistent with grits that I've found at other local Ohio eateries. The problem I have with grits around this part of Ohio is that they are never seasoned. At all. If these were cheesy grits, I would expect them to be seasoned. Part of my problem with unseasoned grits is that it is such a stark contrast to the rest of the meal. I'm not looking for them to be salty, per se, just seasoned enough so that the natural corn flavor stands out. If any of my gentle readers out there know how plain grits are properly prepared and served in the South, please leave me a comment and explain how they should be correctly served.

[Ed. Note: When I wrote the above paragraph, it was before I had consulted a number of friends who have eaten or cooked plain grits from the South. Apparently, plain grits are exactly that, ground corn meal cooked in water. However, in wanting to understand this epicurean phenomenon even better, I'd love to hear from my Southern (or displaced Southern) gentle readers out there who can shed some light on this. Why aren't plain grits seasoned, even just a little bit?]

Fortunately, with the help of the salt and peppers shakers and this bottle of Frank's Red Hot,


I managed to give the grits some character. Overall the texture was fine, although it was a tad bit lumpy in spots. When I first opened the bottle of Frank's, I was immediately transported back to my college days. The smell alone was enough to remind me of the hot wings at The Euclid Tavern. Good times, good times.

Finally, a shot of the rye toast:


This was decent enough but was nowhere as flavorful and tasty as the toast I had eaten at my last Big Egg experience. Paired with some of the Smucker's strawberry jam from the condiment caddy, this satisfied my need for something a little sweet and a little crunchy.

Overall, I'd say that this visit to Wally Waffle was as consistent as my others. For the most part, Wally Waffle continues to deliver interesting and tasty versions of classic diner fare for a modest price. Every now and then they will falter, but fortunately it isn't very often.

Half-Priced Burgers Near Tallmadge Circle

Although I've been going to Delanie's Neighborhood Grille for several years now, it has admittedly been a while since my last visit. Originally recommended to me by a Cuyahoga Falls friend, my lack of attendance more recently was due to a general decline in the quality of food I had been served during my last few visits. However, never let it be said that I'm not willing to be open and objective, especially when there is a half-priced daily special involved.

Located at 67 West Avenue, Tallmadge, OH 44278, Delanie's Neighborhood Grille is one of those restaurants that is half bar and half restaurant. Before Ohio passed it's no-smoking law for restaurants, it could get a little smoky inside. But since then, everyone is breathing a little easier. Here is the street-facing sign in front of Delanie's:


Once inside, I sat down and was handed a menu:


While Delanie's does have an extensive menu of soups, sandwiches, wraps, and entrees, tonight I was here for one specific reason: Half-priced single patty burgers. They offer this every Thursday evening after 4 pm and nearly every burger on the menu qualifies. Here is a shot of the burger page specifically:


The only burger that doesn't qualify for the special is the monster one pound double burger listed at the top of the page. The other qualification is that you must purchase a beverage with your burger to get the special price. While I normally drink water, today I ordered an iced tea instead. Looking over my menu choices, I felt in a bacon kind of mood. While I normally prefer ketchup and mustard to BBQ sauce, the pull of the pork was too strong. So I went with the Bubba's Bacon BBQ Burger.

All the burgers typically come with seasoned fries, and since they apply the seasoning after the fries come out of the oil, I asked for mine unseasoned. Not salt free, mind you, but just void of the seasoning blend they have put together in-house. One thing to note (and it's not on the menu) is that burgers no longer come with LTO (Lettuce, Tomato, Onion) for free. The lettuce and onion are still free, but if you want tomatoes, it's an extra $0.80. I opted to go tomato free today.

After about ten minutes or so, my burger came out of the kitchen:


The crown of the bun is actually underneath the lettuce and onion rings. This is a nice sized burger, even if it is only a single patty. Probably somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 pound before cooking. I actually don't mind their fries here. They have that "breaded" fry consistency, much like you'd find at Burger King. In general, they were good, crispy and not oily. The helping was definitely generous as I wasn't able to finish them all.

Now let's talk about the burger. Here was a shot of just the burger:


Overall the burger was good, but it was definitely not cooked to order. I asked for it medium and this is what I ended up with:


Somewhere between medium well and well done. There were pockets of juiciness, but overall, this was cooked too long. The bacon was nice and crisp and while the BBQ sauce was an interesting departure from the condiments I normally apply, the cloying sweetness of the sauce didn't balance out the other flavors in the burger. Personally I think that what would've worked much better would be a more vinegary BBQ sauce instead of a sweet one. That would've helped to cut through the fattiness of the burger, the bacon, and the cheese.

While today's burger wasn't bad, when I first started going to Delanie's several years ago, the burgers were always quite good. Good enough that I would hold at least one or two Thursday's a month open so that I could take advantage of the half-priced burger special. Today's burger seemed to be consistent with the burgers that I've had the last couple of times that I went; good, but not great. The price was right, however, as my burger, fries, and iced tea came to just over $6, and as that is in fast food territory, Delanie's clearly outshines your typical fast food burger chain such as McDonalds or Burger King.

While I'll probably continue to return every now and again for a Thursday night burger, based on their track record from previous visits, I don't think I would ever pay full-price for a burger at Delanie's on the off chance that they might actually cook it correctly. With several other excellent burger joints just down the street (including Louie's), getting a delicious, properly cooked burger shouldn't be that hard.

  

The Gruesome Grotto

Until recently, The Grotto called Merriman Road in The Valley (Akron, not Cleveland) home. I've had numerous people ask me about it, but I never got around to eating there, so I never knew what to say. Then, a few months ago, an announcement was made in the Akron Beacon Journal that The Grotto had now moved into a larger, more modern facility on the southeast side of Tallmadge Circle in Tallmadge, OH. The new facility could accommodate more diners and had banquet rooms capable of seating hundreds more. The address listed on the website linked to earlier lists the OLD address. The correct address is 360 West Ave, Tallmadge, OH 44278 and their phone number is (330) 633-5656.

The crowds were horrendous on opening week and continued that way for about a month. I noticed about a week ago as I was driving home from a friend's house on a weeknight that the parking lot seemed much more manageable now. Thus, it was without a reservation that I showed up on a Thursday night at 6:30 PM and asked for a table for 1. I needn't have worried I wouldn't get a seat. While I didn't check the bar side, the dining room had perhaps 20-25 diners in the midst of eating dinner. Thinking that this must be because of the downturn in the economy, I proceeded to start looking through the menu.

I asked my server, Brandye (nope, not a spelling mistake), to make some recommendations as I was a first time visitor. She quickly confessed that she was a vegetarian and really hadn't tried a lot of the dishes, but based on what people ordered, she suggested a few items. Most of the meat dishes didn't list sides and the sides that were listed were under the "A la carte" section of the menu. Noticing that "risotto" was listed as one of the sides and that Brandye may have in fact tried it since it probably didn't contain meat, I asked her about it. Sadly, she hadn't tried it, but suggested that she could bring me a small sample and I could decide for myself.

Not realizing that all the entrees come with a salad, your choice of side and the garlic mashers, I went ahead and ordered a soup and an appetizer. That way, when the risotto came out, I could decide if I liked it and would then order my entree and side. She also mentioned that fresh bread was about five minutes from coming out and I said that I had no problem waiting for fresh bread.

I went to the restroom to freshen up and when I returned, this was waiting for me:


This was not listed as any particular kind of risotto, but it had small pieces of what I originally thought were crab, but in fact turned out to be roasted red peppers. It was okay, a little too cheesy for my taste. It didn't really have a distinct flavor of its own. Is it the worst risotto I've ever had? No, but it was less than average, too.

It was at this point that the bread and butter were brought to the table. It looked decent enough sitting in the basket. I went ahead and placed my entree and side order and decided to dive into the hot bread.


Unforuntately, when I pulled off a quarter (it was pre-cut), I discovered that this loaf was undercooked and completely gummy in the middle:


This just wasn't very good at all. This wasn't even the case of cutting into hot bread after baking the loaf. This would've been undercooked and gummy hot or cold. After having to take out most of the center, you were left with little else.

For my soup, I ordered a cup of the French Onion soup, which is a standard on the menu (i.e. not the soup du jour). It had a nice caramelized cheesy crust on top:


Oddly enough, my server didn't bring me a soup spoon to eat this with. Ah well, I just used my dinner spoon. There wasn't a single crouton on top of the soup, but smaller croutons both on top (under the cheese) and distributed through the soup. The soup was intense, but I think it needed a bit of acid to liven it up a bit. Maybe some sherry vinegar. This was also the first place I noticed the minced garlic. Turns out that The Grotto tends to use a lot of minced garlic in their dishes. Unfortunately, even though I don't object to the garlic in the soup, shouldn't the soup have been cooked long enough to basically break down the little chunks?

After the soup came my unexpected salad. I had asked for the house dressing which is a homemade red wine vinaigrette. The salad? Plain and boring. The dressing? Interesting, but lacked appropriate seasoning and any kind of punch to make it effective.


This course was forgettable.

I have to tell you that I stared at the Appetizer list for a good while trying to find something that sounded good. I'm sorry, but when did a place supposedly known for its seafood and steaks put Buffalo wings on their appetizer menu? Honestly. I wound up selecting the mussels cooked in a white wine and garlic broth.


The mussels were cooked well and texturally they were fine. Unfortunately I noticed some of the mussels hadn't been cleaned properly as a bit of their beard were still on the outside of the shell. There was a ton of that same minced garlic through the mussels as well as a surprising amount of shredded cheese. Yes, you heard me, cheese. And beyond just the problem of pairing cheese with mussels was that some of the cheese had melted and some had not. The broth did nothing for this dish. Normally the broth is the best part. Unfortunately, the kitchen had coated the grilled bread with a, you guessed it, garlic butter, so they were completely ineffective at soaking up any of the broth. Not that I really wanted all that much of the broth.

By the way, the appetizer portion was enough for an entire meal. I don't know why restaurant put these enormous appetizers on the menu and then charge twice the price of what it should have been. I'm glad I didn't go with my first instinct and order two appetizers instead of a soup and an appetizer.

Finally, my entree arrived. Pork medallions with a mushroom and Marsala wine sauce and asparagus with hollandaise.


My server, the self-avowed vegetarian, actually said, "Wow, this really looks good!" Foreshadowing at its best.

I assure you, that plate is untouched. This is how I received it from the kitchen. This cost $26. Clearly whomever was running the pass in the kitchen tonight skipped the day in culinary school where they talk about good presentation. On the left side of the plate are the pork medallions. In the middle of the plate was another representation of garlic, the garlic mashers (as they call them). And of course, on the middle/right is the asparagus.

But wait, I hear you saying ... wasn't the side supposed to be asparagus with hollandaise? Why, yes, yes it is. A closer inspection of the asparagus ...


As soon as my server set down the plate I mentioned the missing hollandaise and she assured me that yes, it was definitely on there. I said, "Ummm ... are you sure?" She offered to get me a side of hollandaise from the kitchen and I agreed. If you also look closely below the asparagus, you can see the not-so-wonderfully broken Marsala wine sauce. Clearly they mounted the butter into the sauce and then boiled it. Harumph.

While waiting for my side of hollandaise I started tasting various things on the plate. Marsala wine sauce? Broken, but otherwise okay. The garlic mashers? Nice pepper flavor, but underseasoned and honestly they were the consistency of glue. Almost no integrity. The pork? Ah, the pork. Once again covered in the minced garlic, the seasoning was fine but they were beyond well done. I had ordered the dish with the pork cooked to medium. Medium this was not. Again, clearly they had presliced the medallions and cooked them individually in the saute pan instead of cooking a nice piece of tenderloin and then slicing the medallions.

By this point I had come to the conclusion that this was just one culinary disaster after another. Had the rest of the meal been up to snuff, I might have sent it back to the kitchen and had them re-fire the dish, but I had this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was how the pork came out however one ordered it.

Finally, my server returned with a small ramekin of hollandaise. It looked okay, but then I took my spoon and began to play with it a bit.



The consistency was very thin. The taste was mostly egg yolk. Not nearly enough butter. And it lacked seasoning and brightness that a squeeze of lemon could've brought out. And it was room temperature. This surprised me more than anything else. I spooned some over the asparagus. Initially you could see it, but sure enough, within about 10 seconds, it all but disappeared into the nether regions of the plate. Strangely enough, the asparagus were pretty decent, even though the hollandaise was literally non-existent.

Finally, I had to try and get a shot of the well done pork. This thing was dry as a bone. No amount of sauce could help this.


With that, I said enough is enough and asked for the check. With one glass of red wine, my bill with tax came to $50. Now, I know that when I go out to eat and post on my blog, I am being hypercritical. I have to be, that's how I discern myself from the average eater out there. But I have to say that for $50 (and only $6 of that was for a glass of wine), people deserve a LOT more.

To revisit an earlier thought in this posting - I originally thought the restaurant was dead because of the economy. Now I realize it's because of the food.

My server, however, was professional and helpful. Well, as helpful as she could be having not tasted 3/4 of the menu.