Michael Symon may have earned his reputation crafting slash-and-burn grouper and beef-cheek pierogies. But his latest endeavor likely will appeal to his broadest audience yet. Opening earlier this week at Eton Chagrin, B Spot is designed less to impress than it is simply to please. Specializing in gourmet burgers, brats and bologna sandwiches, B Spot is Symon’s most happy-go-lucky restaurant to date.
“Our goal was simple,” says GM Greg MacLaren. “To open the best burger restaurant in the country.”
To make the best burgers, you need to start with the best beef. Symon has come up with what he believes is the ideal formula for burger bliss: two parts chuck, two parts sirloin, one part brisket. Starting next week, the meat will be imported from legendary New York purveyor Pat LaFrieda, who supplies bespoke blends to the likes of Danny Meyer and Mario Batali. Symon’s custom blend has a 25:75 fat-to-meat ratio.
Seared on a flat top, the six-ounce patties are tucked into either a brioche bun or a soft English muffin. There are 15 different iterations, featuring everything from coleslaw, pastrami and Swiss to corned beef and ‘kraut. Fans of the pitch-perfect Lola burger, with fried egg, bacon, aged cheddar and onions, will find it here. Prices range from $5.50 for a “Plain Jane” to $11 for a double with cheese.
Unlike at the smaller Quicken Loans Arena version of B Spot, burgers here are all cooked to the customer’s specification. That means diners who order a medium-rare burger will get a patty that is red – not pink – and cool in the center. Customers can customize their sandwiches by visiting a small condiment station containing various relishes, pickles and peppers. On every table is caddy of six sauces that includes Lola ketchup, Stadium Mustard and a delicious brew called coffee bbq.
Other main dishes include a half-dozen veal-pork bratwurst combos ($5-$6) and an equal number of fried bologna and miscellaneous sandwiches. It’s strange to see Lola’s svelte and dainty french fries beneath a landslide of meaty bean-free chili, but damn if the chili-cheese fries ($5) aren’t fun to eat. The fries share the “bar snack” portion of the menu with tomato-blue cheese soup ($4), three styles of wings ($7), and golden brown onion rings ($3). Rounding out the menu are six different salads ($10) and ridiculously thick milkshakes ($5) made with Mitchell’s brand ice cream.
Adults can choose from an exceptional listing of beers, with approximately 50 selections of which half are served on draft. There is also a limited selection of wine.
The small, edgy and surprisingly accommodating space can handle about 120 diners when you combine the three-sided bar, dining room and interior mall seating. Come springtime, a garage door will rise and give way to a street-side patio. The focal point of the space is a wall of literally thousands of beer cans arranged in mosaic fashion to form the letter “B.”
Symon seems prepared for the grousing that comes with running a popular first-come, first-served restaurant. Prominently displayed on the wall is a listing of Symon statutes forbidding whining, name-dropping or line jumping. Parties will only be seated when complete, the sign says, and orders will be delivered to the table en masse rather than in courses. And most important: Diners should have a drink and relax a little. Good advice, Mike.
B Spot is open every day for lunch and dinner.
1 comments:
I love Lolita. It's my favorite restaurant in the Cleveland area. But this latest go around by our celebrity chef makes me wonder has fame made him believe he can say things and have them come true???
His "have a drink and relax" couldn't be farther from the mark at what has been put together at B Spot. My wife called it Symon does fast food.
Oh the food is good. But Symon has seemed to forgotten that dining out should be a pleasure too. B Spot has little in ambiance or area that is relaxing. It's slam, bam, thank you for coming and if something's not to your liking, well better luck next time.
Seating is limited and the place is cramped. Some of the seating is downright uncomfortible. When I asked if we could have a different spot than taken too, we were told there was nothing else, even though staff were cleaning off other tables.
When questioned is everything to your liking, our waitress seemed taken aback when I relied no. And she could only offer a few, "I'm sorries" and then became rather scarce for the rest of our visit.
Maybe this will change. The place is rather new. But still, with four restaurant start ups under his belt, you think they would get it right from the get go.
But if you enjoy fast food at up scale prices, B Spot probably is the place for you. Just don't expect to have things too much your way. You'll have to go to Hubert Keller's Burger Bar for that. Oh yeah, there's not one in Cleveland yet. But we can hope.
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