Clara's, as most American restaurants, offers at least 5-7 burgers of various craftsmanship. However, this eccletic restaurant does not claim any as a signature burger, therefore I ordered the good old Cheeseburger. As usual I ordered it medium-rare, and I was feeling especially saucy this night and asked for the pepper-jack cheese (this was one of 4 choices). When the burger came out I almost asked if I got the wrong dish. What sat before me was a slab of black meat with cheese of unknown origin upon an actually above average bun. That is it (aside from a scanty pile of mediocre fries) As I pulled out the 'medium-rare' tag stuck in the patty I knew I was in for a treat. The black exterior of the meat was only surpassed in it's beauty by the full cooked, and slighty dry, meat contained therein. While I know I ordered pepper-jack cheese, I can scarecly recall the taste of any sort of cultured dairy product while stomaching the burger. The burger included no lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, and only a mostly empty bottle of ketchup set entirely too far away for me to reach. The only positive thing about the burger was the bun. Clara's claims that in imports bun's for their burgers from somewhere in Chicago. This I can believe, because it was actually very good. Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and just a hint of sesame flavor. All-in-all Clara's cheeseburger should come with a warning to those with taste bud's for real burgers.
Clara's cheeseburger - *** 3/10 (all for the bun)
Additional perks of Clara's - Cool atmosphere (you can eat in an old rennovated train car), there is something on the menu that will appeal to everybody (I can't comment on whether it will taste good, though), and I hear they have a great brunch.
5 comments:
I'm enjoying reading about your burger experiences. :)
I am glad somebody else is enjoying this, too. I think it is awesome. I need to go on a trip outside of Lansing to get some more fodder.
Aw man... I never got a chance to go there when we lived in Lansing. We wanted to though. I just had a guacamole bacon swiss cheeseburger from Red Robin last night... it was delicious!
Clara's needs to reduce the size of their menu. In many many visits, I have never been impressed by the quality of the food. If they focused on one type of cuisine, or cut the menu at least in half, they would be better off. I would say that the brunch there is the closest thing to acceptable, but still isnt stellar.
Good to know about the Brunch. I have never personally had it, but the lot is always full for Sunday brunch so i just assumed that it must be okay. I totally agree on the menu, though. Just pick what you want to be good at instead marginally bad at everything.
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