gordo's

sorry, i know i keep putting off writing about my (excellent) meal at pigall's last week, but even though pigall's is next in the queue to be blogged about, i have to get gordo's off my chest. i am so crabby about my meal there last night that i can't write anything good until i get this out of my system.

my first issue is that gordo's is hard to find, especially at night. i was riding with avani and we could not find it. we pulled over and got out the iphone. it turns out we were directly across the street from it and could not see it. we went inside and waited for lauren, who was 15 minutes late because she was driving up and down montgomery and could not see it. the cook told us there is some sort of norwood ordinance which does not allow for a protruding sign, but come on, what about some better lighting or something? it's in the middle of nowhere on this dark deserted street with just a couple dim lights.

good luck finding this place in the dark

on my second problem with gordo's, which is that the food kind of sucks. and that, readers, is a major problem. i kept hearing before i went about how the burgers are "almost as good as terry's." ok. they are not. i don't know if it was an off night or something but i prefer so many other burgers in this city to this. terry's (obviously), zip's, arthur's, cityview, oakley pub, courtyard, habit's, fatburger, my own, etc.

avani and i ordered the jean-robert burger (burger is mixed with bacon, onion compote, blue cheese, and mixed herbs, then topped with grape compote and goat cheese) and the gordo's burger (burger is topped with roasted poblanos, mushrooms, onions, smoked bacon, and boursin cheese) and split them.

the menu describes these as "half pound burgers." my ass. i know how big half pound burgers are because i make them. these were maybe 1/3 pound burgers. even worse, we ordered our burgers medium and got them straight up well done. not a hint of pink to be seen. they were dry as a bone.

the jean-robert burger

inquiring reader asks, "why didn't you just send them back?" well yes, inquiring reader, i could have done this. but the thing is i really hate wasting food. unless there is truly something wrong with my food, i just suck it up and eat it. the thought of throwing away the burgers and starting over again just because they are overdone makes me sick. plus, we were starving at this point and would not have wanted to wait.

so right now we are starting off with a disappointingly small, overcooked, dry burger. onto the toppings. re: the jean-robert burger, grape compote = chunky grape jelly. i don't like grape jelly. i could not taste any blue cheese. i tasted grape jelly, goat cheese, dry ground beef, and a hint of bacon. weird, strong flavors that did not go well together. bleah. especially after my meal at pigall's last week, i do not understand how this burger could possibly have even a remote connection to jean-robert.

the gordo's burger

re: the gordo's burger, there were a few bitty slivers of poblano, a big hunk of boursin, and maybe an onion or two. i think there were maybe five slices of mushroom (which was fine since i hate mushrooms). there was one half strip of dry, overcooked bacon. this one was just bland. and overall on both burgers, the toppings were sparse other than the big globs of cheese.

terry's, have you ruined me for other burgers forever?

i eventually got some dijon mustard and put that on the burgers and that actually improved things quite a bit. but by that point i had eaten 3/4 of my meal and could not longer really be pleased, especially since the only way i found to improve this burger was by drowning it in mustard.

the fish sandwich

the fries. big long hunks of slightly undercooked potato. no flavor. the pickle = sweet pickle. nasty.

however. it was not all bad. our bartender/server and the cook we chatted with were super nice and extremely knowledgeable about beer. gordo's has a long and excellent beer list for those of you who are into that sort of thing. i tried a stone levitation ale on the bartender's recommendation and it was one of the best beers i have tried recently. sooo delicious, i loved it. avani and lauren both got the hook and ladder lighter, also on the bartender's recommendation, and were equally pleased.

lauren got the fish sandwich and really enjoyed it. i didn't taste it but it was big, thick, and looked juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

avani shows us the one reason to go to gordo's

the atmosphere is ok. it's clearly newly redone with nice woods and dark colors, but it's kind of bland and corporate-ish feeling, even though it's not corporate. it doesn't have much character and there is way too much empty space. and the bathroom is weird... your knees hit against the freezing cold wall while you are sittting on the toilet. too much information?

i am kind of annoyed because i still have a spend-$35-get-$25-off restaurant.com gift certificate to this place, and i really don't feel like going back. i mean i would probably go back for the beer and the friendly staff, but for the food no. and that is what the gift certificate is for. anyway do i really feel like going all the way out to the middle of norwood for a beer? not really. and you can't use the gift certificate on alcohol.

does anyone want the gift certificate? i think it is $10 for it on the website so it can be yours as a thank you gift for a $5 gift to me (in cash or deposited into my paypal account). let me know if you are interested and i'll hook you up.

sorry gordo's. maybe you were just having an off night, but i'm on a budget. i just can't deal with risking another one of my precious dinners out on dry burgers, boring fries, and nasty sweet pickles.