Barley and Burger

Rocky Mount, NC

There has been a lot of buzz about Barley and Burger lately. I felt it my duty, to each of you 7 readers, to go check it out. Alisa and I were both off for Good Friday, so we made the journey. It was raining when we got there so I give the weather outside a 2/10.

Moving inside, we were greeted by a hostess who was very friendly and seated us immediately. Our server came over right away and took our drink orders. The cop in me did a thorough scan of the premises. What I found was a bunch of cool pop art. I remarked to Alisa that I needed to steal (or buy) several of the canvasses hanging on the walls. My favorites were the Napoleon Dynamite and Samuel L. Jackson ones. We were seated under “Here’s Johnny.” I noticed that our waters were served in NC brewery glasses. Alisa got our hometown favorite TBC and I got Crystal Coast Brewing. I thought that was a cool touch.

I looked at the menu and took a while to decide what to try. We ordered some fried pickles for an appetizer and I ordered the Big Kahuna Burger, but substituted grilled chicken for burger on mine. I told myself I was eating a little more healthy, but how healthy can a sandwich with pimento cheese, fried pickles, and bacon be? YODO. I couldn’t drink any beer because I was driving, but I noticed that they had some really good craft beers on tap as well as a couple national brands.

Our fried pickles came out shortly after we ordered them. They came with ranch and some sauce that was mayo with barbecue sauce mixed in as far as I could tell. With ranch, the pickle were awesome. After a short wait, our orders were delivered to the table. I snapped the picture above of mine. It doesn’t really show the food well. But, I am an eater, not a photographer. I apologize for the picture of what appears to be a soup sandwich. My sandwich was just stupid good. The pimento cheese was melted and runny. It helped to cement the bacon and pickles to the grilled chicken breast. The chicken itself was flavorful and tender. The bun was toasted so that there was a little crunch, but not enough so that it cuts the roof of your mouth. (You know what I’m talking about.) The tater tots on the side were OK. Nothing special. But, they were nice and crispy. I would recommend that if you get them, you ask for some ranch to dip them in. That would improve them. Alisa got this monstrosity of a salad. It looked like it was really good and she said that it was.

Recap: The atmosphere is cool. The people are friendly. The food is great.

Assessment: Go to Barley and Burger and eat. They get 5 out of 5 Golden Muses (no monetary value).