Stacked Pickle

I randomly met a person who works at the Stacked Pickle and I was interested in tasting their burgers after what he had told me. Sounded like they try to make pretty fresh burgers. It’s a small chain located just throughout central Indiana. We figured it would be an easy place to take the kids—and it was. They have a pretty wide menu featuring the usuals of what is essentially a sports bar. Burgers, fried stuff, wraps, salads, and pizza.

Since I wanted to try a burger, I ordered, well, a burger. The hangover burger to be precise (still not sure why an egg on a burger makes it a hangover burger, but whatever). It is a ½ pound burger topped with a fried egg, bacon and cheddar cheese ($8.39). You also get a side with it. I opted out of the fries, since both kids were getting them, and got the fried pickles at no upcharge.  The burger was a pretty decent burger. They asked me how I wanted it cooked, and get this, they actually cooked it that way. And the menu shows the egg cooked sunny side up (and thus, runny). While it wasn’t sunny side up, it was still runny and broke all over when I cut into it. Perfect. (I hate it when a menu depicts an egg that way and then cooks it hard). The bacon was okay—for some reason, rarely does burger bacon measure up to just straight up bacon. I guess maybe places don’t want to waste the good stuff on a burger, but I would appreciate a quality crunchy piece.  Overall, a pretty juicy burger with a good taste. I liked the fresh set up on the side too—lettuce and tomato as well as my favorite—razor thin slices of red onions.  The fried pickles were some of the better I have had. Fairly thick slices of dill pickles—but not over-pickled pickles and they were hand breaded. The ranch dressing that hubby got with his pickles (I didn’t get a sauce for some reason) was out of a bottle and not exciting, but the pickles were good.

Hubby had the Cuban sandwich ($7.99) and really liked it. It wasn’t exactly traditional, but was pretty tasty. There was pulled pork topped with ham, mustard, pickles (the same ones from the fried pickles, just not fried), sautéed onions,  and Swiss cheese all on a pressed hoagie bun. I love mustard and pickles, so I am a natural for this sandwich, but I was surprised how much hubby liked it, since he isn’t usually a fan of pickles on sandwiches. He kept talking about it. It was very soft bread, not as flat as a traditional Cuban, but the pork was well-seasoned and tender. The ham was almost unnecessary. I know hubby would happily come back and eat this. Or my burger.

My daughter had the fish and chips ($10.49) and they were a let down. There are three large pieces of cod, and they look nicely battered, but as soon as you bite into them, it seems pretty clear they aren’t being battered in house. The outside crust is pretty much totally separate from the fish. I’d take a pass on these. Their fries are beer-battered and are decent battered fries, if that’s your thing. My son had the buffalo chicken sandwich and I felt like it was pretty weak too, especially compared to some you can get around town (and I should know, since I went on a buffalo chicken sandwich bender a few weeks back). It says it’s hand-breaded, but I dunno, it didn’t have a lot of crunch to it. I hated the blue cheese dressing they were using. It tasted all preservativey and fake. The blue cheese dressing is one of the key factors of the buffalo chicken sandwich for me, and this one was subpar.

Overall, go with things that are made fresh here, and you’ll do pretty well. Make sure and question any fried things and dressings—but the burger and the Cuban were solid.

Stacked Pickle

4705 E. 96^th Street

Indy 46240

317/669-0192

www.stackedpickle.com