By: Ben Hodes
Cowbell Burger & Whiskey 201 N Tryon Street 28202 Open from 11am to 11pm ★★★★☆
One of Charlotte’s best known burger joints is Cowbell Burger & Whiskey, so I decided to check it out and see if it could live up to the hype.
Cowbell is easy to find, located just a few blocks from places like Discovery Place, Levine Museum of the New South and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.
Cowbell burger is located at 201 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202 Photo by: Ben Hodes
The restaurant has a typical modern bar look, with dim lights and flashing neon signs on the walls. The TVs and speakers have 80s and 90s rock music videos playing. With about half of the seats located at the bar, there is only room left for two person tables and a couple of booths. The crowd consists mostly of young business people out for a drink after a long day of work.
The burger to try is”Boogan’s Bacon”($11). The toppings include bacon marmalade, bacon strips, lettuce, roma tomatoes, sliced red onions and roasted garlic aioli sauce all on an onion kaiser roll, cooked medium rare to get the best flavor. Fries and mac and cheese went great with the burger. The service was excellent and drinks and entrees were brought out quickly. The burger looked very appealing, with an even better flavor. It was juicy, and with every bite, a little more roasted garlic aioli would trickle onto my plate. The lettuce and tomatoes were a great complement to the cholesterol-raising bacon marmalade-covered bacon strips. While the fries themselves were average, topping them with parmesan cheese made them unique and memorable. The macaroni and cheese was served in a small bowl, but had big flavor. The noodles were almost overwhelmed by the powerful cheese sauce. This sauce was so rich it could’ve owned a penthouse in Uptown Charlotte.
Usually I turn down dessert, but the menu was worth a look. A house specialty, the Velvet Revolver, consists of fried ice cream paired with red velvet cake, all drizzled with chocolate sauce. If that is too filling, turn to the milkshakes, which come infused with a parallel liquor (maybe worth a try in a few years). I decided on the banana pudding shake consisting of a vanilla milkshake base, creme de banana, fresh banana, and Nilla wafers. The milkshake had a great banana flavor that stuck in your throat even after the glass was empty. Although $7 is a high price for a milkshake, give it a shot.
The Boogan’s Bacon Burger is pictured above and is only $11 Photo by: Ben Hodes
This place was a great find with delicious food. It is a cool little place to spend an evening with your friends, or for a casual but still impressive date.
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