Overall GrubGrade A-
The Breakdown:
Atmosphere: Grade B+: We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We’ve been away for a couple of weeks preparing for that delicious holiday, and hopefully you all understand with that particular holiday, we skipped the normal dining out routine. This food adventure finds us visiting B Spot in Gahanna, Ohio. This burger restaurant is fairly new, so it is not surprising that it was incredibly clean on the inside. It wasn’t overly packed when we stopped by, but B Spot was still fairly noisy. The décor was contemporary but fit nicely with the theme of the restaurant. Tables weren’t too close together, but having them a smidge farther apart might have helped with the noise level. Bathrooms were a little difficult to find, but other than that minor inconvenience the atmosphere at B Spot was very pleasant. Expect a laid back and casual dining experience.
High marks: Clean, new
Low marks: Noisy
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Service: Grade B: Matthew, our server at B Spot, did a really nice job serving us on our visit. He did a good job explaining the menu and how to order, as well what to expect from the sauces located on the table. There’s not much a server can do in a burger restaurant to really impress us, so a grade of B is actually a fairly high mark. The wait for the food was minimal and our order was delivered exactly like we had ordered it.
High marks: Good service, accurate and timely
Low marks: Fairly simple menu
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Food/Spirits: Grade A: Our followers know that we have been searching for quite some time for a local replacement for our dearly departed Fuddruckers. We found a really great burger joint in Nashville called Burger Republic that ranked right at the top, but let’s face it, we’re not driving to Nashville a couple times of year for a great burger. B Spot fills that horrible void left by the closing of Fuddruckers. Those of you who watch The Chew (like Katina) should be familiar with the restaurant’s owner, Michael Symon. Mr. Symon perhaps has the biggest personality on that show, and his burgers and sauces have almost as much personality as their creator. For drinks, we started with a Wrong Island Iced Tea (Katina) and a beer called La Fin du Monde (Rick). We’ve previously discussed La Fin du Monde in another post, so we won’t repeat the same thing here. The Wrong Island Iced Tea was very smooth but you could still taste some whiskey, so if you’re a fan of whiskey, this might be a good drink to try. We ordered an appetizer called Porky Fries. As the name would suggest, the Porky Fries are fries loaded with pulled pork. Sound good? Well, they weren’t. They were freaking amazing. We particularly liked the addition of cheese whiz to the mix. These quite possibly were the best fries we’ve ever had, and I found myself not wanting to share them with Katina once I tasted them. For our burgers, Katina did a “build your own” burger and I ordered the Smasher Special (called the Red Hot), which is B Spot’s burger of the month special. Katina ordered a well done beef burger with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and fresh onions. With that amount of onions, Katina’s lucky this wasn’t our first date, ’cause that breath would have been kicking for that first kiss. Katina found her burger to be fairly typical, but was surprised at how moist the meat was since she had asked for it to be prepared well done. The burger, by the way, was cooked to perfection. The Smasher Special was a beef patty smothered with picked jalapenos, pepper-jack cheese, pulled pork, and sriacha mayo. The burger has a nice kick and was super moist and soft (I had ordered mine medium well). I also ordered another beer, called Rivertown Roebling Porter, which was a little bitter with some heavy chocolate notes. If you a Bud Lite type of person, this is not your beer. But if you have some hair on your chest and enjoy a nice stout porter, this beer is one you should taste.
What elevates the burgers found at B Spot to the next level is the pickle bar (which definitely reminded us of the condiment bar at Fuddruckers), and the array of sauces on the table. Our followers will recognize the significance of high quality sauces since you all know I’m dining with the Sauce Czar of Columbus. Anyone whose been to a Cleveland sporting event is probably familiar with their famous stadium mustard – B Spot has it. One of Katina’s favorite sauces was the Coffee BBQ sauce. It was tasty, and Katina has a thing for bbq sauce. We both thought the Shasha sauce was the best. A mixture of bananna peppers and mustard, this sauce had a well balanced and interesting flavor. More tangy than spicy, we used that sauce on both our burgers and some of our fries. Yummy! We also found the Lola ketchup to be quite tasty as well.
High marks: Perfectly cooked burgers, pickle bar, sauce selection
Low marks: It’s across town, so we can’t eat there at least once a week
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Value: Grade A: Three drinks, and appetizer, and two of the highest quality burgers we’ve ever had set us back less than $50. Not bad at all.
High marks: Superior quality, reasonable price
Low marks: None
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