Although I don't eat beef as often as I used to when I was younger, I am still known to be a bit of a fiend for a good burger. It's honestly kind of hard to find a place that makes a good one. The perfect burger is a delicate dance of the right ingredients in the right combination and form to give you that deliciously mind blowing bite.
Go to any town in the US and you will likely find a handful of places offering what they consider the best burger in the area. It's actually a bit interesting how subjective the whole process can be. For example. I think that the "double stack" from Wendy's is quite possibly the best fast food burger out there. Meanwhile, other's probably feel like Wendy's is complete trash. I respect that. I personally didn't think In and Out Burger was that great the first time I had it, so to each his own.
When you do happen to hear about a good burger in the area though, it's only right that you should do your due diligence and check it out. It's your civic duty after all am I right?
That's what led @mrsbozz and I to Old City Hall in downtown Bay City, MI. This wasn't the first time I have ever been to OHC, but it was the first time I have ever tried the burger there. OHC considers themselves a casual fine dining establishment which honestly I don't know what that is supposed to mean. All the times I have been there(except this past one) it has been pretty packed with business people who just got out of work or couples dressed up on dates.
On this occasion, the bar was still packed with folks in business clothes talking on the phone or working on their computers. Meanwhile, in the dining area, my wife, her parents and myself were the only people in the place.
It gave me the opportunity to get some nice photos of the interior. I think part of it was because it was around 4:30 on a Wednesday evening. No doubt on a Friday night, this place is pretty packed. If I had to guess, their idea of casual fine dining is just another word for "elevated bar food". If you happen to visit the site above and glance at their menu, you will probably see what I mean.
It also looked like they had the dining area reserved for a couple of large parties later that night, so that could be another part of the reason why it was so empty. Being in downtown Bay City, this is an older part of town and the buildings are equally old. You can see it in the brick walls and you can feel it in the wooden floor that while covered with carpet makes the whole area bounce when anyone walks on it.
Even as the waiter approached you could feel the table shake with every step closer he took to us. While some might consider that annoying (@mrsbozz), I found it quite charming and an indication of just how much character this old building has.
For a while now, my wife's parents have been telling me about how good the burger is here. It's been months that they have been gushing over the thing, so when we talked about going out to eat somewhere, we figured it was about time that I finally tried one to see what it was all about.
We got started with some drinks and an appetizer. I was going to go with the Dirty Blonde Ale from Atwater Brewery which is a really solid lighter beer, but then something on the menu caught my attention. I noticed the had Short's Belaire Brown on tap. That just happens to be one of my most favorite beers in the world, so it was a foregone conclusion that I had to get that.
It was delicious!
We also got an order of the spinach artichoke dip as a starter for the table. It was served with fried wonton wrappers in the form of chips. It was good, but not as good as the dip that a place across the river called Latitude 43 serves. They serve theirs with pita bread and it has a bit more kick than this did. Like I said though, it was still a solid offering.
Finally, it was time to order our entrees and see if this place lived up to the hype. Given their previous accolades for the burger, both my mother and father in law as well as myself got the burger. @mrsbozz on the other hand got the chicken gyro.
Each of our dishes were accompanied with what they called "truffle fries". I don't know if that meant they put truffle oil on them or truffle seasoning, they were a bit more savory than regular fries, but I didn't feel like they were the best fries I have ever had. They were good, and I ate every single one on my plate if you are keeping track.
The burger on the other hand was a different story. It's definitely one of the top three burgers I have ever had in this three city area where we live. Where most establishments have around seven different burger flavors on their menu, OHC only has two from what I can see. That means they stick with what they know and they do it really well.
They use a mixture of brisket and short rib for the patty and that makes it so juicy you literally have to be careful you aren't dripping all over yourself. From there, they keep it really simple with just cheddar cheese, bacon, and garlic aioli. One of the thing I really liked about it was the fact that the bacon was cooked perfectly so it broke apart when you bit it. I've actually stopped getting bacon on my burgers in the past because I can't stand it when you bite into it and a whole slice of bacon slides out of the bun when you go to set the burger down. I had my burger cooked medium, but my mother and father in law both hand theirs cooked medium rare as you will see in a second.
This was my mother in laws burger and while she would be happy eating it rare, it would have been a little too pink for me. I think getting mine medium was just perfect. It's pretty clear they put a lot of time and care into the dishes that they craft here. I had the other half of @mrsbozz's chicken gyro for lunch the next day and it was quite good.
Looking at the menu, I could pick out least seven other things that I would be willing to try if I wasn't in the mood for a burger. Honestly though, if I am going to come to this side of the river and fight the traffic and drawbridges to get here, I'll probably for sure be getting the burger.
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend you stop in and check out the Bistro Burger. It's worth the drive!
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