I fall to Cleveland the dark before the biggest parade in the account of the city . This was not intentional – I had booked this trip several month before , and yet every individual person I saw naturally assumed I was there for the parade . The maid in my hotel room left a banknote : " Enjoy the parade ! " Every eatery I introduce was jam with people reveling as if it were a weekend . I had to move my automobile before 8 am to get it out before the parade went down . It was an right-down cuckoo’s nest .
But I was there for the burgers . Cleveland has a report as a burger urban center , and so I talked with chefs and local writers and others I knew who grow up in and around the Cleve to go against down the tight inclination possible . In example you ’re new to my rankings ( what the hell have you been doing ? ! ? ) , here are some road map : if the eating house had multiple burgers , I tried to rank the tightlipped to a classic cheeseburger , and if it came with option , I always picked American tall mallow and grilled onions .
Because I expend less than 24 hour there , I was only capable to go to nine spots , but from what I saw , the basketball game team is n’t the only thing Cleveland should be celebrating .
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
9. “Say Cheese” Burger with American
Flip Side Flats
This mini chain , with seven spots in and around the Cleveland area , was packed when I popped in . And you’re able to see why : it has a long list of all sort of fancified hamburger with tricks and fireworks and bells on top of the whistles . So they were a little bummed out when I just regularise the basic cheeseburger ( I ’m just jolly , they literally could n’t have cared).The Warren Earl Burger was solid , but had some minor issues – the toasted brioche sesame bun was a little dry on the interior , and the Ohio - raised , premium pasture - fed beef was slightly overdone – but other than that , it was a hearty middle - ground burger and a good boot - off point .
8. Thin Lizzy
B Spot
I ’d never had the B Spot burgers before , but I ’d heard the deafening hoopla all the agency in California , and so I was eager to get in here . And there ’s a lot to like with the Thin Lizzy – the griddled onion had undecomposed buttery flavor , the mayonnaise and Malva sylvestris are countervail nicely by the dill pickle , the burger has a good , slightly peppery tone , etc . The only major issue for me was the bun , which was dry and bulky and sort of remain firm in the way of the flavor of the rest of the Warren E. Burger . Because so much of my morsel consisted of bun , the other flavor had to encounter second fiddle , and yes , that was a music acknowledgment because of the name Thin Lizzy . * Takes deep , satisfied bow *
7. Cheeseburger
Hoopples
One of my favored matter about Hoopples , even before I get there , was reading the very casual history on its internet site . Towards the conclusion , it starts listing off some of the " C. H. Best " lists it ’s made , and the first one reads like this : " One of Cleveland ’s best Warren Earl Burger thrillist ( Thrillist?)“So yes , distinctly Hoopples was alreadyveryfamiliar with the Thrillist name when I barged in on that Tuesday nighttime and generate a cheeseburger . Made with its " special blend " of meat , the burger is unproblematic and gentle and good . It tastes like a burger your dad would make you when you dumbfound home from basketball drill , if your papa was n’t out drinking and watching the Browns at Hoopples . But hey , can you charge him ?
6. Ohio Beef Burger
The Greenhouse Tavern
This was the first place I hit after getting into town , and it ’s right Downtown on that pedestrian striptease , so it was basically like hitting up Bourbon Street on the night of Mardi Gras . But inside Greenhouse was a little more chill haven , strewn with old vintage cycle haphazardly strewn about . I capture the Ohio Beef Burger . The medium - sized patty had large cleaning lady , and was especially voluptuous for a medium . unspoilt peppery taste , unanimous aioli , and a effective griddle on the top bun . One event was that the bottom roll became right away soggy with the juices campaign out when I take my first sting , and by the third pungency it was so soggy as to be unuseable . I put Greenhouse in the category of a lot of potential drop , specially once they sort out how to ensure you’re able to get through a hamburger cooked spiritualist with an entire bun intact .
5. Ohio Beef Burger
Bar Cento
You in all likelihood retrieve I made some kind of fault in the name of the beefburger , because I have the same name two times in a course . WELL , YOU’RE THE ONE WHO IS WRONG , all right ? Both Greenhouse and Bar Cento have taken to touting the state the meat comes from in their burgers , and weirdly enough , both burgers sit down in very similar place in my mind . Bar Cento ’s version does n’t have a lot of bells and whistle : just a delicious house - made bun ( honestly , I could ’ve eat the griddled bun as an appetizer ) , caramelise onions tuck under port wine salut cheese , and loot and tomato plant . There ’s no particular garlic sauce or eldritch mustard concoction , and for the most part , it does n’t need it . The kernel is juicy , and the grilled onion seem like they were marinated , and have the right amount of tang . I wish the marrow had a little bit more of a griddle , but otherwise , I could trip the light fantastic with this Warren Earl Burger date again .
4. Half Pound Burger with American
Johnny’s Little Bar
I love this place . Literally around the side of the fancier Johnny ’s Downtown , JLB was a perfect scene when I pop in , mostly because several fuddle - up local were happily amass around the jukebox doing a " Thunder Road " singalong . The burger is unsubdivided and delicious , tasting just like a really , really well - done backyard burger . There are no trick here , it ’s just really skilful centre cooked skillfully on a piano , well - griddle bun that never got doughy . I could ’ve expend the night there , treat those Boss fan with stories of how fellow Thrillist writer Wil Fultonactually knows Bruce Springsteen ’s girl , but it go unearthly when you bring it up in public . Oh , oops .
3. Heckburger with American and grilled onions
Heck’s Cafe
This Warren E. Burger is a peachy burger . The meat is juicy and griddle , and you could savour from the means it collapse into your sassing that it was hand - packed . Good char on the bound meshes well with the American cheese . The griddled onions are perfectly buttery . The whole thing , in fact , could ’ve been a home running game of variety . But for the bun . They do n’t cook the bun at Heck ’s . Yes , the bun is surprisingly airy and weak , and it did an admirable job hold up to the burger , but come on . Eventually it has to get sloughy . You ’re a great burger reefer . JUST TOAST YOUR roll A LITTLE BIT , AND GIVE IT A CHANCE , PLEASE …
2. Double cheeseburger with mustard and mayo
Swensons
" Lebron bonk this position . ““This is Lebron ’s favorite burger place in the world . ““If you assure Lebron you like Swensons , he will carry you like a elephantine baby and sway you to sleep during the parade . “Two of the three statements above are things hoi polloi tell me all the meter in Cleveland . Swensons is a drive - in blank space , where they hail to your cable car and take your rules of order and then attach a metal tray to your window when the order comes out , so you may continue to listen to yourPelican Briefbook on tape while enjoying the beefburger . Truth be told , I almost did n’t go here . It was out of my way , and I did n’t really have much faith that a local fast food joint could really convey it . I should ’ve never doubted Lebron : the lean cake does n’t have a spate of char , but it does n’t want it . The meat is bare and flavorful , the roll is perfectly pledge and crispy on the outside but soft in the center , the acid from the leaf mustard and the soupiness of the mayo give it a little zip , and it ’s just a fantastic experience all the way around . Plus , I was at the part where Gray Grantham and Darby Shaw really start to trust each other inThe Pelican Brief .
1. The Little Guy
Stevenson’s Bar & Grill
When I walk in , there were two other people at the barroom . It was about 1 Prime Minister on a Wednesday , and 20 minutes away , 1.3 million masses were celebrating like mad in Downtown Cleveland . But here in Stevenson ’s , we were doing our own kind of celebrating . Everything about the place makes either no sense , or so much horse sense . It is completely carpeted . An erstwhile - school day ' 90s telly sit in the back . A handwritten sign refer a $ 4 fried Bologna sausage special . And yet the Little Guy ( the one - patty version of the " Big Guy " burger ) came out so well constructed , it felt fake , as if they ’d bestow in a fancy guest chef and no one tell me . Everything about it was right : the soft tear - top bun , toast nicely ; tear up moolah and pickle to help oneself catch the " special sauce " ; the hamburger with just the good amount of crusty griddle . The burger immortal have talk and they ’re telling you to go at once to this nondescript sports bar next to a gas station , or face unending shame and plethora .
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Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
