B Spot, Michael Symon Restaurant, reinvents the burger

Recently, on a trip into Barnes and Noble in Woodmere, my father and I stopped by the B Spot.

It is a quaint place that is surrounded by interesting memorabilia, like car parts hanging above the bar, fashioned so they look like life-size model car pieces that still need to be cracked out of their plastic skeleton, and eye-catching 50’s style posters.

Upon sitting down at the table, I realized this was no normal burger joint when I noticed the six bottles of sauces placed there where a plain bottle of Heinz should’ve been. Instead, there was something called Shasha sauce (which ended up being pretty tasty.) We ordered a make-your-own burger, mine being piled with bacon and three different cheeses. There were several options to chose from, including a veggie burger and grilled chicken option. Adding to the uniqueness of the place, we were told when we ordered that we were welcome to help ourselves to the pickle bar, which is exactly what it sounds like -- buckets of pickles, pickled red onions, pickled green tomatoes, etc.

Our food arrived in prime condition, sizzling and oozing with cheese.

My burger was cooked to perfection, which is a rare occurrence for me, since I order my beef done medium-well, and it either always arrives as too pink or too burnt.

Despite eating until I was sure I had lost immobility, we ordered milkshakes to-go. The shakes that they served were different flavor combinations that next to no one would think of. For example, I decided to be adventurous and got the vanilla bean apple pie and bacon milkshake, a sweet and salty mixture that was so thick it barely went up the straw. (And, trust me, that’s a good thing.)

By the time the meal was finished and we had boxed up the leftovers I would be drooling over until lunch the next day, I had kissed any hope of a weight-loss New Year’s resolution goodbye, because I knew I would be going back to professional chef and Cleveland native, Michael Symon’s B Spot some time very soon.

If you enjoy eating to the point of fatigue, or enjoyed similar restaurants like Burgatory or The Flip Side, The B Spot is for you.