Oftentimes, I go to a restaurant I don’t even intend to write about and end up writing about it because it is just so good. Sadly, in this case, it was kind of an opposite experience. I didn’t intend to write about it, but because I had written a pretty positive post about it before, I felt like I needed to update, as I feel like things have fallen off a bit at 317 Burger.
The kids had really enjoyed it the first time we went, so they were actually the ones who chose it this time. We sat outside, and they have a decent patio, although interestingly, very few tables for 4. They are mostly for 2.
This time we started with the poutine ($6), which we had never had before, and it was probably the highlight of the meal (hubby would definitely say it was). They have good, thick fries that stand there was lots of soft, creamy cheese curds on top. I’ve never been a huge fan of gravy on fries, and I appreciated that they gave you the gravy on the side to use as you liked. Both the males in our household enjoyed it. To be completely fair though, you put cheese of any kind on fries and my husband is going to like them.
Things started to fall off when we go the burgers. I ordered the namesake “317 Burger” ($11) (with 4 cheeses, pepper bacon and garlic aioli). The problem here was the meat. The server asked us all how we wanted our burgers cooked and we all said either medium rare or medium, and they were ALL cooked way beyond well done. We all had burgers that were thinner and way dryer than the one I had when this place was new. Why even ask if you’re just going to cook them all to death? Also, hubby “built his own burger” which are automatically supposed to come with lettuce, tomato and onions and which came with none. He had to ask to get them. The fries and tots we had on the side were all solid.
My daughter ordered the Parthenon burger ($12) and enjoyed the interesting flavors of the patty being made with a gyro mix and the “gyro bacon,” feta, and the thin pita bun, but again, it was a small dry patty. We were pretty disappointed.
My daughter had enjoyed the funnel cake fries in the past, and we were happy to see they had added chocolate dipping sauce to the options (we can’t do peanut butter in our house). However, they have changed them from the fries to a regular funnel cake and it just wasn’t as good-the cake seemed over-fried and too hard—there was no “cake” in the funnel cake. And the chocolate dipping sauce? Pretty sure it was Hershey’s syrup.
This is one of those places where I can’t figure out if a dip in quality has lead to a smaller crowd or the lack of business has lead to a dip in quality, but both were true, at least on this visit. The place was nearly empty, and the quality has suffered. I don’t know, maybe they do a better bar business later in the evening with all their local draft beers, but for me, it’s gone off our list. Too bad, it was nice to have another (of the few) family friendly quality places in Broad Ripple.
317 Burger
915 East Westfield Blvd
Indy 46220
317/251-1317
Have you tried Fat Dan's? We've only been for burgers, but I hear their other sandwiches are good, too.
ReplyDeleteTrena, I love Fat Dan's burgers, they are my favorite of the fat burgers. But yes, other things are great there too. Hubby is nuts for their reuben.
DeleteCould this be a casualty of Hop Cat? Parking and it's the shiny new penny in that area?
ReplyDeleteI'm writing this almost two years after your post. Unfortunately, things are still as you wrote about them all those months ago.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I went recently on a night we happened to have a sitter. We were very disappointed - it took almost 10 full minutes for a server to come to our table, she explained she had a table inside and just couldn't make it to our table on the patio. The burgers were overcooked and the lettuce on my burger was wilted.