A sixteen year odyssey across the backroads of America during the ultimate College Football roadtrip.

Tag: Pubs + Burgers + Comfort Food (Page 4 of 9)

Thurman’s Cafe – Buckeye Burger Bliss

While there was no shortage of interesting eateries to choose from in Columbus, I was told if you had only one meal there it would have to be a Thurman Burger from Thurman’s Café. Though not located near the OSU Campus, Thurman’s sits in the heart of the historical German Village section of Columbus and has been dishing out epic burgers since 1942. Glance at any list of best burgers in America and Thurman’s is sure to be on there, in addition to having recently been featured on an episode of Man vs. Food.

 

I pulled up to the modest Thurman’s storefront shortly after “The Game” and slid quickly into an open barstool, bypassing hordes of rotund, red clad Buckeye fans waiting for tables. If you’re going to Thurman’s after an Ohio State game, be prepared to wait, but enjoy a few Great Lakes brews assured the wait is worth it. Taking only an obligatory glance at the menu, I started with a few of Thurman’s disturbingly large Buffalo Wings and naturally ordered up the signature Thurman Burger. Stacked between two buns, the Thurman Burger consists of a twelve ounce slab of beef overloaded with ham, sautéed mushrooms and onions, mozzarella and American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, and mayo.

Halfway through my sauce faced wing session, a leviathan lurched forth, ominously parting the swinging steel kitchen doors. Upon arrival, the Jurassic sized burger drew an audible gasp from the patrons seated next to me, and I started to sweat wondering if I had finally bit off a bit more than I could chew.

True to form, the Thurman Burger is an absolute monster, a twelve ounce trembling pile of beef and cheese held together by a few straining toothpicks to keep it from toppling over.Easily the biggest burger I have encountered on my travels thus far, it’s such an imposing mountain of meat that, unless you’re equipped with a bass faced maw like Steven Tyler, simply cannot fit into your mouth. Quickly realizing there is absolutely no way to tackle this thing gracefully, I rolled up my sleeves and determinedly sequestered a pile of napkins from the bar.In addition to its colossal size, the Thurman Burger is actually extremely tasty.The burger itself is well seasoned and bursting with beefy chuck flavor in addition to the tangy caramelized onions and cheese oozing from every corner.Ham adds a salty touch to it, and the lettuce, tomato and pickles get in the way like they always do.Predictably, by the end of the meal, the sandwich had all but exploded into an unidentifiable mess, but I managed to finish the entire offering.

Perhaps the most disturbing part is that this isn’t even the largest burger offering at Thurman’s. Their prolific menu proudly boasts a titan known as “The Thurmanator”, which is effectively a double pattied Thurman Burger. That’s twenty four belt busting ounces of beef nightmare on a bun for those of you wondering. I can’t begin to imagine the sheer horror of ordering the Thurmanator after having just downed its formidable little brother.

 

I hoisted myself off the stool and waddled out of Thurman’s with distended belly, thankful for the elastic waist on my cargo pants. Though I have certainly found other “famous” places quite disappointing and made note of it on this blog, Thurman’s is not one of them. The burgers here are legendary, in both size and flavor, and Thurman’s Café is completely deserving of their lofty reputation. If you ever find yourself in Columbus, the only question you should be asking yourself is where to eat for your third meal, because the first two will be The Thurman Burger.Just don’t forget the napkins….

 

http://www.thethurmancafe.com/
http://www.thethurmancafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/tc-menu-2010.pdf

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Misty’s Steakhouse – A Little Slice of Nebraska Beef

While Nebraska might not be renown for a selection of interesting regional fare, one thing they do know is beef. Good old, American corn fed beef. The kind of mustache inspring beef that fed the likes of Wade Boggs, Bob Gibson and Buffalo Bill Cody (all Nebraska natives). The same beef that many of you send away through the mail for a special holiday meal (Omaha Steaks). After a four hour game in the chilly confines of Nebraska’s’ Memorial Stadium I had hankering for the honest simplicity of a slab of beef. Misty’s, I was told, would have the kind of portions needed to quell my carnivorous appetite. Long time College Football announcer Keith Jackson used to come here, and if it’s good enough for the maestro of hyperbole it’s good enough for me.

Stepping into Misty’s is a journey back in time, as the restaurant dates back to 1964 and I doubt has been remodeled since.The interior is cavernously dark, accented by stained wood paneling, exposed oak beams and flanked by deep chocolate leather booths. The walls and display cases are riddled with all manner of Nebraska Cornhusker paraphernalia, and assorted other dusty Big 12 Football artifacts.

I slipped into a spot at the oval shaped bar, sank deep into a plush leather bar chair and promptly ordered up the king cut prime rib with a pint of house made Altbier to wash it down.My wrist thick slab of beef arrived moments later, along with some warm bread and a pile of garlic mashed potatoes.I don’t need to exhaustively describe prime rib, except to say that it was tender, thick, juicy and delicious.I made short work of my meal before getting on the road back to Omaha for an early morning flight to Columbus.

Nebraska is a beef state, and the beauty of steak is that it never goes out of style. It’s timeless. So if you ever find yourself in Lincoln with a hankering for some corn fed cow, then park yourself in a plush leather booth at Misty’s and put the feed bag on.
http://www.mistyslincoln.com

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Runza – A Nebraska Hot Pocket

Nebraska isn’t defined by a prevalence of regional or noteworthy cuisines, and outside of a hunk of beef, I couldn’t uncover any must try local delicacies in my research. The closest that I came was a place called Runza, a small regional chain native to Nebraska with about 80 plus locations scattered throughout the state. Founded in 1949, Runza specializes in a unique kind of sandwich, aptly named a “Runza”. The Runza is a bread pocket type sandwich stuffed with spiced beef or pork, cabbage and onions, and owes its’ origins to the Volga Germans that settled in the Great Plains. Though I normally avoid chains, an exclusive sandwich was something I felt compelled to try, so I put my biases aside and ambled in for a bite.

At the fast food style counter, I ordered up the Swiss Mushroom Runza on the recommendation of the cashier. Naturally, this included fries and I felt compelled to give the chocolate milkshake a run as well. The Runza can most appropriately be described as the fast food equivalent of a hot pocket. It was warm, doughy, moist and gooey inside and certainly good filler on a chilly afternoon. While in true fast food fashion the actual contents of the filling remain a bit mysterious, in addition to the cheese, mushrooms and beef I picked up notes of cabbage, onions, and some unidentified spices. The fries were standard variety, though surprisingly crispy, while the thick chocolate shake more closely resembled a Wendy’s Frosty (and hence perfect for dipping the fries).

Runza was an interesting stop, and I was glad to try one of the few foods native to Nebraska. At the end though, the sandwich is hardly remarkable from a hot pocket, and pretty standard fast food fare. It’s deserving of a taste from a curiosity standpoint, but hardly worth going out of your way for. I’d love to unearth a place that had a more inspired home made version of the sandwich. Interestingly, I discovered that they serve Runza’s in Memorial Stadium, and on a cold day in Lincoln they certainly make a better alternative than a hot dog.
http://www.runza.com/

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The Meatball Shop

If you follow the blog closely, you’d know that I am a rather ardent fan of a classic meatball sub.A seemingly simple affair, there is a subtle art to the perfection of a meatball sandwich, and I dedicated an entire blog post singing the praises of Polito’s in South Bend last year.

 

http://www.pigskinpursuit.com/2009/10/cloudy-with-chance-of-meatballs.html

 

Respectable meatball sandwiches, however, seem to elude the entire country West of the Mississippi and I have yet to find one suitable to the palette in Texas. A trip to New York came with a handful of culinary certainties, and a proper meatball sub was at the top of that list.

 

Now you can find a meatball sub on just about any street corner in Manhattan, and though certainly delicious, they are hardly distinguishable. But in the lower east side, a mere two blocks from Katz Deli, lies a place that specializes in these spherical delights. The Meatball Shop on Stanton Street is appropriately named because they serve nothing but meatballs and I salute the laser focus of their business plan. Given my energetic zeal for the dish, I decided to put these experts to the test.

There is some variety to be found at The Meatball Shop, and literally dozens of different combinations to choose from.It’s like the Baskin Robbins of meatballs.They have about five different kinds of meatballs ranging from traditional beef to lamb, as well as a half dozen different kinds of sauce.Furthermore, you can order them “naked”, on a bed of pasta, on a slider or in a standard hero type sandwich.

 

Being a staunch traditionalist, and wanting an apt comparison to other meatball purveyors, I ordered a typical beef meatball sub with classic tomato sauce.Out of sheer curiosity I also tossed in an order for a spicy pork meatball slider.The traditional sub was a classic delight with tender meatballs filling the crunchy baguette and oozing with reams of sauce and cheese.While I wished they had stuffed a few more of those house made meatballs into the roll, it was still pure gooey delight.The spicy pork slider lived up to its reputation, as the heavy red pepper notes came blazing to life and sent me reaching for the water glass with each bite to quell the flames.

Finishing off the meal, we talked ourselves into one of their enticing ice cream sandwiches.Similar to the robust meatball menu, The Meatball Shop offers a handful of different homemade cookies that can be paired with various ice creams for a scrumptious ice cream sandwich dessert.After considerable deliberation, some lively debate and extensive polling of the table next to us, we settled on this little peanut butter and chocolate delight that was quickly descended upon like a pack of rabid hyenas.

In the end the Meatball Shop was a worthy stop for my meatball sub fix in New York. I like the simplicity of their idea, and solute their dedication to the subtle craft of the perfect meatball. Now if they could only move to a roomier location, I wouldn’t have to rub elbows after each bite with the other patrons crammed in next to me. The lady next to me was rather fortunate I didn’t harpoon a few meatballs off her plate while she chattered away distractedly. Husky fellows like myself need our space to eat, and contact only slows me down…

 

http://www.themeatballshop.com/
http://www.themeatballshop.com/menu.html

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