Lula Bell's Old Fashioned Hamburgers

My mother, as I am sure a number of other mothers out there, told me growing up that if I didn't have anything nice to say, then I shouldn't say anything at all. If I heeded this advice, this particular restaurant review would be short indeed! When I walk into a completely unknown restaurant, I try and do so with as open a mind as possible. While first impressions are often crucial, a bad first impression can often be turned around with stellar service or delicious food. In the case of Lula Bell's Old Fashioned Hamburgers and Ice Cream, the warning signs occurred early on and continued right on through the meal.

But before I get ahead of myself, let's get the technical details out of the way first. Lula Bell's was located on State Route 43, just south of Tallmadge Avenue in Kent, Ohio. Specifically they were located at 3958 SR 43, Kent, OH 44240 and can be reached at 330-677-3905. Parking was in the gravel lot in front of the restaurant. At the time of this writing, no website could be found that was directly associated with Lula Bell's. The actual entrance to Lula Bell's was back from the street a bit, so if you are looking for the location, pay attention for the roadside sign on the east side of State Route 43.

Here was a shot of the front entrance:


And a shot of their hours of operation:


Once inside, you can't help but notice the Fifties diner decor. With pictures of all the usual suspects on the walls, the diner stools at the counter and the monochromatic paint throughout the joint, clearly the owners were trying to take you back a few decades. What surprised me first wasn't actually the decorations; it was the fact that besides myself, on a Friday night, there was only one other table with patrons at it. In fact, during the entire hour that I was there, only one other couple came in for food.

Since there were no instructions inside the door telling me to wait, I seated myself at a small two-top table. While there was a paper menu on the table already, after opening it and reading it, I realized that it was a breakfast menu. My server finally approached my table and told me about the daily special, a fish fry with hush puppies and coleslaw. I considered it long enough to perplex her with a question about what kind of fish it was (her original answer was "Ummm ... fish?"), but decided in the end that the promise of an "old fashioned hamburger" was where I wanted to go tonight gastronomically.

Once she retrieved a copy of the menu from the front counter, she left me to look over the quite lengthy menu. Because the pages were so large, I ended up taking a top/bottom photograph of each page:







What surprised me were the sheer number of burger combinations available. When I saw the bacon and egg burger, my mind raced back to the Lola burger I had eaten at Michael Symon's B Spot restaurant months prior and my mouth began to water. When my server finally returned to take my order, I asked her if the burgers were cooked to order. "No," she replied, "They are cooked all the way through." Fair enough, though that seemed like overkill for a 1/3 pound burger patty. The only additional topping for which I asked was a slice of American cheese.

Since all of the burgers are a la carte, I also ordered a side of onion rings. Apparently, they were out of this made in-house and frozen fried side item, so I went with a small order of the French Fries instead. The menu didn't say "fresh cut" and it didn't occur to me to ask if they were given that the onion rings were homemade, too. Bad mistake on my part.

After what seemed to be an inordinately long period of time (considering that the other table had already gotten their food and I was the only other person in the restaurant), the line cook actually ran the food to my table:


Here was a close-up of my bacon, egg, and cheese burger:


And a shot of the toppings with the crown of the bun removed:


Of course, the ketchup I had asked my server to bring with my meal was nowhere to be found, so I asked the line cook for it, which he was happy to get. As you can see from the pictures above, the egg portion of the burger that the menu described wasn't the fried sunnyside up egg that comes on the Lola burger, but essentially a thin, folded over omelet that reminded me of a McDonald's Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit. I guess it didn't occur to me to ask how the egg was cooked. That being said, this wasn't the deal breaker for me.

The first of three deal breakers, however, was the woefully undercooked, flabby bacon:


Oddly enough, the bacon was actually one very long strip and had been cooked and then twirled in concentric circles so that it fit neatly on the burger patty. Unfortunately, because it hadn't been cooked to crispy, nearly every bite of my burger involved me having to bite down on the stretchy bacon and using my fingers to sever the bacon in my mouth from the bacon remaining on my burger. After two bites, I simply removed the remaining bacon and put it in my basket.

The second deal breaker was the burger patty itself. While a nice sized burger patty at 5-6 ounces, the reason my dinner had taken so long to come out of the kitchen was because the line cook had managed to cook the burger meat to beyond well done. I had originally asked for the ketchup for my French Fries, but after seeing how dried out the patty was, I applied the tangy condiment not so much for its flavor, but more as a way to get moisture in my mouth while chewing.

The third, and final deal breaker were the French Fries:


As soon as the line cook set the burger basket down in front of me, my heart (and stomach) sank because I was pretty convinced that these were of the fresh cut variety. When my server stopped in to check on me, I asked her about the provenance of the fries and she cheerfully smiled and replied that they were indeed cut fresh every day. Having been wrong about fresh cut fries in the past, I went ahead and grabbed the end of a single fry. As I suspected, the fry was extra greasy and limp, the other end of the fry easily falling wherever gravity dictated. I took a bite and discovered that at least to Lula Bell's credit, they had been seasoned with salt after being fried. And while I don't think they were undercooked, the interior of the fry definitely wasn't that soft, fluffy texture that I look for in a properly fried potato.

As I sat there, thinking how unsatisfied I had been with my meal, a couple walked into the restaurant and sat at the stools by the front counter. Immediately recognized by my server, greetings and pleasantries were exchanged. As they turned around and stared out the plate glass window at the front of the restaurant, they must have seen someone lingering outside because one of them said in a quiet, sort of sing-song way, "Come on in, the food's great!" I didn't actually say anything, but my inside voice was pretty emphatic: "NO, IT'S NOT!"

I paid my check at the cash register, left a tip for my server, and walked back out into the cool Friday air. I certainly can't condemn Lula Bell for their entire menu since I only tried a single burger and one side item. That being said, at least 50% of the menu space (not to mention the restaurant's banner hanging out front) was dedicated to that very thing. Additionally, if this was what an old-fashioned hamburger was supposed to be, then I'm entirely content with all manner of nouveau burger creations. Between my burger and fries, I was definitely not impressed with my meal tonight. Given the out of the way location of the restaurant, I'm confident that it won't be hard for me to simply forget about it.

A Trio Of Lunches At Sweet Pea Cafe

I remember reading about Sweet Pea Cafe several years ago in the Akron Beacon Journal and was reminded once again of its existence about a year ago when Jane Snow mentioned them in one of her weekly electronic newsletters (to which I highly recommend you subscribe). But it wasn't until I happened to be in the Fairlawn area one day for lunch that this quirky, VERY out of the way place popped into my head as a potential candidate for lunch. Nestled in a multi-business building suite, the cafe was only a single block east of Summit Mall, but for those who only drive on the major roads, it can be a bit intimidating to find.

Sweet Pea Cafe was located at 117 Merz Boulevard, Fairlawn, OH, 44333 and can be reached at 330-794-7952. They do have a website, but it appears to be fairly incomplete and only somewhat helpful. Parking at the restaurant was in the lot in front of the building.

Here was a shot of the front of the space occupied by the restaurant:


For my initial visit, I had decided to go for a late lunch at 12:45 PM figuring that most of the lunch crowd would have come and gone. While the restaurant was about half full when I got there, within fifteen minutes, the crowd had shrunk considerably. When I walked in the door, someone behind the lunch counter motioned that I should sit wherever I'd like. As it appeared that many of the tables by the front door hadn't been bussed in a while, as soon as I picked a four-top by the window, someone immediately came over and cleared and wiped down my table.

After finishing with the cleaning of my table, he handed me the menu:



From the little feedback I had seen on Yelp and Urbanspoon, I knew that Sweet Pea Cafe had many devotees of the food. A lot of the positive comments revolved around the fact that the menu was vegetarian friendly. Even more comments were made as to the freshness of the food. While I wasn't particularly looking for a vegetarian meal today, I was in the mood for something fresh and tasty.

After placing my lunch order, I sat back and surfed the web on my smartphone while I waited for my lunch to be prepared. After twenty minutes with nothing coming out of the kitchen, I began to get concerned. The cafe was only one-third full and it was taking the kitchen a long time to get my food out. While I had the flexibility of no set time limit for my lunch, lots of other patrons might not. I can only imagine how long it took to get food if the place was packed during peak dining hours. Finally at about twenty-five minutes after originally placing my order, my lunch arrived.

Here was a photograph of the hamburger platter with a side of Sweet Pea Cafe's "country potatoes":


I had upgraded the basic burger ($7) with American cheese (+$1) and bacon (+$1):


I had ordered the one-third pound burger to be cooked medium and when I bisected the burger using the steak knife my server provided to me upon my request, I got a much better view of the interior of the burger patty:


Sadly, this burger was cooked somewhere between medium well and well done. Fortunately, it was still juicy. With the addition of a little yellow mustard and ketchup, I took a bite and was rewarded with a good, but not great burger. On the plus side, the bun had been nicely toasted which not only added a nice textural element to each bite, but also helped to keep the bun from disintegrating when the juices from the burger leaked out. Also nice was the bacon which tasted freshly cooked and crispy. The tomato was red and sweet, but there was just a bit too much lettuce. It bordered on salad territory and made the sandwich a bit more difficult to eat.

Accompanying my burger was a serving of the country potatoes:


When I asked my server what country potatoes were, he seemed to have a hard time describing them to me. As soon as he set the plate down, it was obvious that they were simply roasted new potatoes. The potato wedges were hot and creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. However, they were grossly underseasoned, bordering on completely unsalted. Every now and again I thought I detected a hint of salinity, but it just wasn't enough. I have debated endlessly about whether eggs should come out properly seasoned (I think they should), but a bland potato product? Had the menu stated that they were purposely unseasoned to allow the diner to adjust it to their preference, I might have given these a pass. As no such mention was made, I have to ding the restaurant for this oversight.

In the end, from start to finish, my initial meal took approximately one hour to complete. Which, as far as lunches go, isn't terrible. But, with the restaurant at only one-third capacity when I went, I don't know that I'd be willing to tempt fate and go right at noon. They are open for breakfast and lunch daily, and have dinner hours Thursday through Saturday. From what I've read, they also do a special prix fixe meal the second Saturday of each month. While the potatoes disappointed me today, the burger was good enough that I'm definitely willing to give this hidden Akron eatery another try ... and that's exactly what I did.

I knew that after my first visit was complete that I would be returning for a second relatively soon. About two weeks after my initial go-round, I decided to stop in for another lunch. The lunch crowd must really vary day by day because for today's visit I arrived shortly after noon to find the restaurant even less full than when I went last time. The good news was that my meal this time not only fit into the one hour time window I try to stick to for lunch, but actually only took forty-five minutes from the time I left work until the time I returned.

When I walked in, I checked out the specials board and noticed that they were serving a white chicken chili today and with the temperatures hovering outside in the mid-50's, I thought this might be an appropriate way to start my meal. When my server approached me, I asked about the chili. She apologized and said that the soup du jour wasn't chili but a hearty pork stew. She never gave a reason for the disparity, but the thought of the stew sounded just as appealing as the chili so I went ahead and ordered a cup.

Here was what arrived at my table just moments later:


And here was a close-up shot of the pork stew:


Filled with chunks of pork, carrots, onions, potatoes and cabbage, this definitely lived up to the definition of the word hearty. A bowl of this with some nice crusty bread and a salad and you would be good to go on a cold day like today. While the liquid portion of the stew was closer in consistency to a gravy, that was only a minor criticism. The stew was seasoned well and it was clear when I first tasted it that some type of acid had been used at the very end of the soup making process to lift and brighten the flavor of the finished product. It didn't taste sour, mind you, just fresh.

Since I had only ordered a cup of soup, I was able to substitute it for the salad that was normally served with my main course for today, the macaroni and cheese. I have read interesting reviews of the macaroni and cheese omelet that Sweet Pea offers, but not being in a particularly breakfasty kind of mood, I decided to try the macaroni and cheese entree sans eggs. They offered the dish both as a vegetarian and carnivore option, served with either eggplant or prosciutto respectively.

I decided to get my macaroni and cheese with the roasted eggplant:


Topped with what appeared to be panko and toasted under the salamander before being plated, Sweet Pea's version was creamy and delicious. The noodles were cooked completely, but still had a bit of tooth to them and they were sauced such that they were neither dried out nor swimming in the cheesy sauce. The sauce was complex and tasted like a blend of cheeses; I suspected at the very least Cheddar to be one of the players. When I asked my server about it, she didn't know either, but a gentleman who I am assuming is either the manager or the owner stopped by my table to let me know that the sauce was a combination of Cheddar, Jack, and American cheeses. The American, he noted, was used specifically to give the sauce extra creaminess.

The one downside to the dish was the eggplant. When I tasted a piece of the eggplant by itself, it was nicely caramelized and conveyed a subtle sweetness. The problem was that this flavor got lost in the cheese sauce. I like the idea of offering a roasted vegetable mixed in with the macaroni and cheese; I just think it needs to be a little more assertive in flavor.

A thoughtful touch today was my server's inclusion of a bottle of Cholula brand hot sauce that she brought with my entree:


While I hadn't asked her specifically for the condiment, when I added a few drops to the pasta dish, the vinegar from the hot sauce actually helped cut through the fattiness of the cheese sauce and the spice from the chilies took an already good dish and elevated it even more. While I used the hot sauce quite sparingly, the flavor added to my enjoyment of this dish immensely, so much so that I may just have to start adding hot sauce whenever I have this American classic in the future.

For my third and final lunch at Sweet Pea Cafe, I decided to order off of the daily specials board. As with my previous visits, there was always both a vegetarian option as well as a meat-based selection on the panini board. When I saw that today's meat-based panini was a Cuban sandwich, my mouth instantly started watering. A good Cuban sandwich can be a thing of beauty and I was curious to see what the kitchen would send out to me. After reading the description on the board, however, I was left with two questions. First, the board listed the cheese being used as "Jack." Not Colby Jack or Pepper Jack, just Jack (bonus points for those readers who get the television show reference I just made). Every Cuban sandwich I'd ever eaten prior to today had come with Swiss cheese. The other variation today was that instead of yellow mustard, a brown mustard was being substituted.

When my server came to take my order, I asked about the Jack cheese. I don't think she understood the point of me asking about the cheese, but when I asked if I could substitute Swiss cheese in place of the Jack, she happily agreed. In a rather odd twist of fate, a different server explaining this exact panini to a table next to mine described the sandwich as coming with Swiss cheese and not Jack cheese. So clearly, somebody at Sweet Pea knew how to make a proper Cuban sandwich. But I digress.

After around twenty minutes or so, my sandwich and side arrived:


Here was a side shot of the Cuban sandwich:


What to say about this sandwich? The outside was hot and crusty. The inside was cool to lukewarm. The ham had been placed on the sandwich in thick "steak" form, not shaved thinly. The pulled pork was juicy but nearly flavorless. The chopped pickled added a bit of crunch but almost no acidity. The brown mustard was actually an impossibly thin layer of grainy mustard spread on just one side of the sandwich. The Swiss cheese was nicely melted.

Was this a bad sandwich? No, it wasn't. Was this a Cuban sandwich? Technically, all of the ingredients were there. In spirit, however, this was not a well thought out sandwich. The ham, barely warmer than refrigerator temperature, was so thick that if you didn't manage to bite completely through the sandwich would yank all of the other ingredients out from the two pieces of bread as you pulled the sandwich away from your mouth. The acidity and bite from the mustard and pickles did almost nothing to help cut through the fattiness of the cheese, ham, and pulled pork. While the pork added some much needed juiciness, by itself it had little character. Finally, the bread. Instead of a nice crusty roll with a soft interior, Sweet Pea's version was so crispy on the outside that I thought I might damage the soft lining on the inside of my mouth as I took bite after bite.

The other component on the plate were the fresh cut French Fries:


Post frying, these potato sticks had been tossed unevenly in a dried herb blend and salt as some of the fries were completely bland and some had seasoning. While the fries succeeded in not being greasy, they were also fairly limp and not crispy at all. Applying ketchup help to hide the seasoning inconsistencies, but nothing could compensate for the lack of crispiness in these potatoes.

Honestly, I'm torn over Sweet Pea Cafe. I wanted to like them as they are the very type of restaurant at which I want to spend my money. Based on the research that I did before going, many people obviously do like them as the restaurant has always been busy (at least when I arrived). While some of the dishes have been successes, there have been an equal number of misses, too. While I would rather spend my money at a place like Sweet Pea Cafe than any of the national chains, given their so-so record over three separate visits, I have to recommend that if given the choice, Continental Cuisine, Mr. G's Pizzeria, Beau's Grille, or even Pub Bricco (review coming soon!) might be a better choice if you are in that neck of the woods. Nothing was outright bad, but not knowing from visit to visit what to expect makes me leery to recommend whether you should spend your hand-earned dollars at this little eatery in Fairlawn.

A Burger At Beau's Grille

Beau's Grille first came onto my culinary radar back in 2000 when I found out that the restaurant had moved into the same space in Fairlawn that had been previously occupied by the restaurant Grappa, then headed by chef Scot Jones. After Grappa closed, Jones moved onto a number of other adventures, including the now closed Fedeli in Canton and more recently Chrissy Hynde's The Vegiterranean in downtown Akron. Chef Beau Schmidt stayed at that Fairlawn location for an additional three years before finally settling into the Akron Fairlawn Hilton located just across Market Street from Summit Mall.

I remember on several occasions eating at the Market Street Grille at that very same Hilton before Beau's Grille moved in. My mother used to work in the building right next door to the Hilton and on the occasion that she could get a sufficiently long lunch break, I would meet her there for lunch. Sadly, despite the existence of Beau's Grille since 1993 in its various locations, I never had a chance to check them out; at least not until today.

As I've already mentioned, Beau's Grille actually existed inside the Hilton Hotel Akron Fairlawn which was located at 3180 West Market Street, Akron, OH 44333 and can be reached directly at 330-865-5577. Parking was available all around the hotel. After parking my car in one of the spaces out front of the hotel, I took a picture of the front entrance:


I went through the front doors of the hotel and made a sharp left; the entrance to Beau's Grille was directly in front of me. I was greeted warmly by general manager Paul Cincotta who upon realizing that I would be dining alone today offered me a copy of the local paper. Since I carry the Internet on my smartphone, I declined his generous offer and he proceeded to show me to a table in the bar area of the restaurant and left me with the menu.

Here was a shot of said menu:




Inserted into the regular menu was a single sheet of paper detailing today's specials:


Truth be told, since Beau's website has a copy of all of their menus, I had already done my due diligence in checking them out beforehand. What struck me initially was the cost of the food. I may have made the mistake of checking out their dinner menu first, but I was just a bit taken back by the high prices; they felt high for this area of Ohio. But, having not tasted the food yet, I didn't want to come to a prejudiced conclusion. Since I went for lunch today, I also checked out the lunch menu. As could be expected, the lunch menu was much more reasonably priced. An appetizer that caught my eye as unusual as I was looking through the lunch menu were the homemade potato and cheese pierogi. It's not odd to see pierogi on ethnic menus in northeast Ohio. But here it felt a little out of place. Then again, the ubiquitous chicken wings were also being offered, so I guess I can't be too surprised of the multi-ethnicity of the rest of the offerings.

Curiosity now firmly piqued, I ordered the pierogi with sautéed onions as my appetizer today:


Accompanying the dish was a side of sour cream:


For $6.95, I received three potato and cheese filled pierogi. Normally, based on the description from the menu and the price listed, I would say that was a terrible value. However, when the plate arrived, it was filled with three enormous pierogi and topped with a vast quantity of sautéed onions. Pair this with a house salad and I can honestly say that it would've made a completely filling vegetarian meal. The pierogi themselves were nicely browned in butter (which there was no shortage of on the plate) and the filling was hot and the cheese melted. The onions had a nice caramelization to them and were cooked until soft and translucent. Was this a tasty plate of pierogi? Definitely. Was this an original plate of pierogi? Not exactly.

If there is one area that many chefs pride themselves on, it is taking a well understood and commonly accepted staple and executing their own twist to it. Had I received these pierogi at any of the church fish fries that I encountered during The Lenten Project, I would've been insisting that you check them out. But, other than the well executed flavors of the dish and the enormity of the dumplings themselves, they weren't particularly original. And while you can certainly point out the fact that the menu pointed out that the dish contained potato and cheese pierogi with caramelized onions, it definitely could've used that chef "spin" to it. Perhaps serve the caramelized onions as a jam reduction or put the onion inside the pierogi itself. Again, this was a tasty plate of food, just not an inventive one.

Of course, now I am going to change gears slightly. Whereas I wanted a bit of inventiveness in a plate of pierogi, when it came to my main plate of food today, it turns out that straightforwardness was the key to success. In doing my research on the restaurant prior to my visit, I had read that a number of guests had recommended the half-pound Angus burger. Being a lover of hamburgers, I decided to give Beau's version a go. The price listed on the menu was for a plain burger. For an additional $0.65, I could add bacon and cheese. The only disconcerting part of service today was when I asked my server what cheeses were available. Instead of just telling me what WAS available, my server started giving me a litany of what WASN'T available. I stopped him midstream and asked him to skip the have-nots and only focus on the haves. American, Swiss, or Cheddar. American, please.

While my pierogi had arrived quite quickly after I ordered them, my burger platter took a bit longer to arrive. Here was a shot of the plate with the accompanying French Fries:


Here was a close-up of the bacon cheeseburger by itself:


I had asked for the burger to be cooked to a medium temperature and the kitchen didn't have a problem achieving the correct internal temperature:


I slathered a bit of ketchup onto the nicely toasted crown of the bun, removed the raw red onion from the stack of toppings and assembled my sandwich. After bisecting it with my knife, I took a bite and was rewarded with a hot and juicy burger that was nicely seasoned. The bacon was clearly cooked fresh and balanced out the other flavors nicely in the burger. The only complaint I had about the bacon was that it was a little tough to bite through and caused other parts of the sandwich to squish out the sides of the bun with each bite. The bacon didn't seem to be overly thick, so I can only surmise that it had been cooked just a bit too far. However, this was a minor criticism. Was the burger worth the $9+ price tag? Considering that other serious contenders (Whitey's, Teschner's, B Spot, etc.) were priced similarly, yes, I think it was. Was this as successful as say a Red Hot from Michael Symon's B Spot restaurant? No, it wasn't.

Accompanying the burger were freshly fried fries:


The good news was that these fries had been seasoned after coming out of the fryer. They weren't greasy, but half of them were crispy and great and the other half were a bit limp and so-so. I don't know if these fries were fresh cut, but if they were, they were way better than what I expect of fresh cut fries, mostly in part due to the fact that they weren't a massive clump of limp, greasy potatoes.

As it turned out, because I ate the entire plate of pierogi, I only had enough room for half of my burger and fries. I took the other half to go and finished off the remainders for dinner later that day. Had I not been intent on trying both the pierogi and the hamburger today, I definitely could've stuck with one or the other and been completely sated. Overall, I'd say my visit for lunch today was a positive one and this has spurred me on to return to Beau's Grille for a proper dinner at some point in the near future. Depending on what you order for lunch, it can still be a pricey proposition to eat at Beau's Grille, but there were also some reasonably priced items that should suit both your pocketbook and your taste buds.

Burger Night At Teschner's Tavern

I think we all have those friends in our lives that we can lose touch with for months at a time and then all of the sudden, something sparks a connection and we remember that it has indeed been six months since I've sent or received anything from this friend. Such is my relationship with friend, mentor, and teacher Kathy Lehr. She was the instructor of my very first class at the Western Reserve School of Cookery on French breads and for some reason, we have always had a very strong connection. I've mentioned Kathy before on the blog, when I published her recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Black Peppercorn bread that I took with me to Friendsgiving last year.

Kathy is a retired school teacher, but given her very active lifestyle, she is anything but retired. Besides teaching her bread classes and workshops at the school in Hudson, she is taking classes on her own as well as assisting others in building outdoor bread and pizza ovens. I hadn't talked to her in quite some time and after my successes at breadmaking at both the Heartland Gathering this year in Ann Arbor as well as my demonstration at the Howe Meadow Farmers Market, I had sent her an update on myself and asked how she was. To my surprise, she invited me to join her and her husband Mike for dinner at a local favorite hangout of theirs, Teschner's Tavern in Richfield, Ohio.

Now, I had actually heard of Teschner's Tavern before. When I was in the throes of my Lenten Project back in March of this year, I had come across pierogi being served at the United Methodist Church in Peninsula, Ohio that had been provided by a small local Akron company named Posh Pierogi. At the time I didn't know this, but soon after my write-up posted on the blog, I was contacted by one of the owners, Autumn Johnston. After some discussion with her about the company and their products, she informed me that as of right now (at least back in March 2010), only Teschner's Tavern had their pierogi on the menu. Excited to finally get to try them again, I emailed Autumn to confirm this fact. Not only was my information correct, but it turned out that Teschner's was also selling their sauerkraut balls as well.

As I pulled into the parking lot of Teschner's located at 4252 Broadview Road, Richfield, OH 44286, I realized that I had never even seen Teschner's before now. Many times I get recommendations for restaurants that I've come across before, but just never visited. I pulled into an open space in the lot and prepared to walk inside. If you wish to contact Teschner's via telephone, their number is 330-659-9094. I couldn't find a website that was obviously owned by Teschner's.

The first thing I recognized the minute I walked through the door was how dimly lit the inside was. I arrived while the sun was still up; however, when it finally settled below the horizon, getting a good picture was near impossible (as you'll see soon enough). I sat myself at one of the tables in the bar and looked around. Kathy had told me that Wednesday's were $2 off burger nights. I figured that the place would be packed for dinner; it wasn't.

While waiting for Kathy and Mike, I decided to go ahead and take snapshots of the menu:





In addition to the regular menu, there was a small plastic holder on the table announcing the daily happy hour specials:


What surprised me was how expensive the food was. I mean, $9+ for a burger was in B Spot territory and while Kathy professed how good the burgers at Teschner's were, I was skeptical that they rivaled a Michael Symon burger. Soon, my other dining companions arrived and after an initial hug and greeting, we sat down to start looking at the menu. Clearly this was a favorite haunt of theirs since the minute they walked in, the woman running the bar welcomed them by name and shortly after filling their drink order, came over to take our order.

Unfortunately, Kathy decidedly killed any chance of an anonymous review today when she revealed who I was, what I did, and why I was there. I was a little peeved about that at first, but then I resigned myself to the fact that with this knowledge, hopefully the kitchen will make sure that the food coming out tonight would be first rate, and for the most part, it was.

After discussing Posh Pierogi and their products, we decided to start our meal out tonight by splitting a round of appetizers. First up were the Posh Pierogi fried sauerkraut balls with a side of horseradish sour cream:


And here was a shot of the interior of a sauerkraut ball:


The flavor of these was mild, the sauerkraut being present, but not overwhelming. Sadly, there were three problems with this dish. First, they had been fried a bit too long and the outside was considerably darker than it should have been. Second, one of the sauerkraut balls came adorned with a black hair; no one at our table seated near the basket of balls had black hair. Third, the horseradish infused sour cream was nearly horseradish-free. In fact, it tasted like ... sour cream. Which, was a nice flavor to pair with the balls, but the horseradish would've added a nice kick to it.

It also turned out that Wednesday nights were chicken wing nights and a basket that normally cost $8.50 was cut to a much more affordable $4.50. Mike decided to go with a basket of the Teschner's Tangy, fried crispy, with an additional coating of Parmesan cheese and chopped garlic:


Having had the roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese chicken wings at B Spot and found them to be a bit unbalanced, I have to say that Teschner's version absolutely rocked. The skin was nice and crispy, the sauce was slightly spicy with a bit of acid from the vinegar and the garlic and Parmesan added to the complexity of the overall flavor instead of dominating it. I'd order another basket of these in a heartbeat.

Our final appetizer was a small dish of the Posh Pierogi potato and cheddar pierogi with fried onions and a side of sour cream:


These were quite good and reminded me why I had liked them so much when I had them back at the United Methodist Church during Lent. This time, however, they were fried perfectly and the combination of the crispy exterior and the creamy interior made for a delightful bite of food. The onions were expertly caramelized and the sweetness played nicely with the tang of the sour cream. While the pierogi from Posh Pierogi weren't inexpensive, they were also high quality and you could taste the difference when eating them.

Our appetizers now finished, we decided to go ahead and put in our burger orders. While there seemed to be a burger for many tastes, I decided to go with a deluxe cheeseburger, minus the raw onions, along with a side of the onion rings:


By this point in the evening, it was so dim in the tavern that I had great difficulty getting any shots that were in focus, evening with the flash on my camera. I've included the following shot only to prove that I asked for my burger to be cooked to medium, and sure enough, it was:


The burger was seasoned properly, it was juicy, and quite honestly, it was pretty darn good. The cheese was nice and melty and the tomatoes were perfectly ripe. The bun held up well and didn't get sogged out from the moist beef patty. It was a good burger and one that I would eagerly have again. However, it didn't take me to the same place that one of B Spot's burgers did. Considering that with tonight's burger discount it also only cost me $6.25, so there was that to consider, too.

The onion rings were somewhere between good and tasty. They were seasoned nicely, but as Kathy pointed out when she tried one of my rings, the breading to onion ratio was a bit too high. Additionally, as you bit into a ring, the inner onion easily detached and pulled away from the cooked batter, a sign that these were more than likely fried-from-frozen. This was later confirmed when I asked our server if that was the case. While the rings weren't bad, they also weren't a stand out either.

After separating out the checks, I ended up dropping about $21, with tax and tip. While my compatriots had several beers / cocktails, I stuck with water for tonight. While I am not adverse to spending that much for an appetizer and a burger with a side, it seemed that the problems with the sauerkraut balls and the provenance of the onion rings makes me think that if I had to choose only one, I'd pick B Spot over Teschner's Tavern. That being said, the burger was good and if you don't feel like driving all the way to Woodmere, Teschner's Tavern might just be the place to stop to satisfy your burger craving.