Best Burger in Aiken Part 11 - Grumpy's Sports Pub

Location - Grumpy's Sports Pub, 216 E Gate Dr., Aiken, SC 29803
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Geeze. Do I even know what I'm doing anymore? It's been pretty much a full month since my last post. And, truth be told, I've had maybe 3 burgers in that time. Having 3 burgers in that span isn't bad for a guy doing a food blog with a current run of burger critiques... except one was home made, (yes, Kristen, your burger is worth noting here. It was good. Loved the venison meat) and the other 2 were burgers I've had before (if I'm remembering the last month correctly, but I'm getting old so there's that).

I kind of feel like y'all want to know more about that home-made venison burger, but it was kind of too good to share. That, and the creator of said burger is moving to Florida soon.

Sigh... goodbye venison burger. Oh, and you too, Kristen. I guess we'll miss you, but definitely the burger. :-)

Anyways, I'm sorry, guys. Honestly, I needed a bit of a break from the burger quest. I went out of town a little (did some camping, kayaking, beach going) and I MAY have wanted to drag this out a little longer. Can you blame me for that last one?

But, the important thing is I made up my mind and decided I needed to continue. Going into yesterday, I had 7 more places to visit and knock off the list, so I had better get crackin'.

That led me to a place I have been countless times before, but never for the burger. That place is Grumpy's Sports Pub on the south side of Aiken behind Golden Corral and next to... a rotating door of stores. Seriously, nothing ever seems to stay the same in the shops next to Grumpy's on the far end.

I have been for wing night (if you do decide to go on a Tuesday, either go early or go late. Do not, I repeat do NOT go right at dinner time, between the hours of 6 and probably 8. You will regret it because it is packed and people don't just eat and leave. They stay) and I've been for various sporting events. I say all of this because, while I generally like Grumpy's for the food, beverages, and a couple people I know who work there, I have never had an amazing, makes-me-giddy-to-go-back experience mostly because ... the service is average at best and sometimes just down right bad.

I know I'm going to take some heat for that one, mostly because this is a burger quest blog and not a restaurant critique, but I had to say it to set up last night's visit.

Before I get into that experience, here is the burger, the "Grumpy Burger." (Is it just me or does this name set up for like a WWE or MMA or boxing match intro. "Ladies and gentlemen, in THIS corner, weighing in at a half pound of angus beef gently laid down on a fresh roll. Hailing all the way from the south siiiiiiiiide. It's Grrrrrrrrrrrrrumpyyyyyyy Burrrrgerrrrrrrrrr!" Sorry. Couldn't help myself)

OK, so I have to remind myself how this works. I show you the burger. I tell you about the burger and the dining experience, I sum it up at the end, and then you go and try it, right? Got it.

The first thing to note is that Grumpy's is just a tad different than Magnolia's was. Magnolia's is a cafe that grows some of their own stuff and buys the rest locally. They're quiet and small.

Grumpy's Sports Pub: the name says it all. All they're missing is a grumpy old man who resembles Jeff Dunham's puppet Walter (or Vice President Joe Biden) greeting you at the door saying, "Welcome to Grumpy's. Eat your food and get the **** out!" Scowl and all. Maybe spitting a stream of tobacco juice into a cup. (FYI, this is NOT the case. No health code violations going on. Just something I thought would make it funny). I imagine he'd be a hit with people wanting to take selfies with. #Grumpy #youmadbro #hemad

So, as I noted before, I have never had amazing service at Grumpy's. I have had a couple trips there where the server was decent, but on every trip I find myself thinking at some point, "Did they forget about my table?" I realize they are usually very busy (which I am VERY glad to see for a local place), but let's take last night, for instance. I saw maybe 6 or 7 different servers - maybe five and 2 were getting off, two were working the bar. And yet, after I received my beer, I had to wait quite a while and flag down a random server to order food. After that, the check-ins by our two servers was a bit more frequent and that may be because they felt slighted by us flagging down another server. Oops.

Again, I realize it was busy (I walked in and only two tables weren't full and at some point during the dining experience the place was near capacity inside, I think), but having worked in a restaurant and watched the successful servers on some of our busiest nights, I think I have a good idea of when something can be fixed.

But that's not what this is about. This is about the burger. The food didn't take all that long to get to me after I ordered. I would say it was certainly average time. When I got it, the above it what I received: burger in a basket, bun slightly off the melted cheese and a big helping of fried okra.

I do have to say that this burger, like most of the ones I have eaten, was pleasant to look at. It had just looked to have the right caramelization (is that even a word?) on it, the veggies looked pretty fresh, the bun was nice and warm. But the thing that really caught my attention was the cheese. I went with swiss this time and boy was I impressed. It must have been a pretty thick slice because just about each and every bite had a lot of cheese on it. I've been a few other places that the cheese either melted off, was never there, or was just kind of there. Grumpy's knows how to put cheese on a burger.

They don't put any condiments on it, so you have to add your own ketchup and mustard. This may be because they want you to enjoy the burger as is, but I like to add some more flavors.

And that is kind of where I got hung up on here. The flavor was alright, but it was lacking something. There was beef, I'll give them that. And you could taste that it came off a grill that has some flavor on it. But there just wasn't a "Wow" factor. No unique spices jumped out at me and it made me glad I put the condiments on. It was still a solid burger, but as soon as I had taken 2 or 3 bites I knew it was just a middle of the pack, considering where I've been.

Aside from that, the burger was good. It was well-cooked, juicy, and held together throughout. As Joey said about one place he visited, "The bun just fell apart and by the end, you were just taking handfuls of beef and shoving it in your face." That luckily wasn't the case here (sorry carnivorous cave men). The burger and bun held together and was good to the last bite. I mean it, good, just not amazing.

Now the okra? Since Church's Chicken closed down several years ago, I have been dying to find a place with good fried okra. Grumpy's has that in spades and I almost always have to get the okra when I'm there. So that made a good side and slightly different from the usual chips or fries. BUT I will say they have good pub chips and fries as well. Don't hesitate to get these as the side, instead, if that is your thing.

And the beer, a Buckshot Amber Ale by Natty Greene's Brewing Company, was good. Side note, if you want a fun way to track the beers you taste (if you're into that) download the Untappd App to your phone. I was introduced to this when I was in Hilton Head and have been trying to catch up on the beers I have had over the years. To date, I have logged only 24 distinct beers, but I haven't caught up to everything I have had. The guy who introduced me to the app, Jay, had a ridiculous amount of beers and I know my buddy Chris Bradshaw could probably compete. It also lets you rate the beers (FYI, if you put Miller Lite, Bud Lite, or something like that above a 2.5 star, we are no longer friends and I will recommend you take my buddy Chris' beer class that he will now have to make since I mentioned it).

Price: The burger with a side is listed at $9.49 (seriously, just make it $9.50, guys.). That makes it right on par with most of the others. I will say the price of drinks is also good and they have a wide assortment of different beers on tap or in the bottle.
Ambience: Like I said above, the name says it all. It's a bar and grill, but you'll generally see a good mix of people: people dressed like they just worked in the yard next to those guys who just got off the 18th green or out of a management meeting with the occasional suit and tie. It is pretty tight quarters. I feel like they could remove a table to two to make some room, but then it would be an even bigger problem because they can't fit all the customers they have now. They have a lot of TVs spread out so you can watch just about any sporting event you want.

Your current rankings:
1) Magnolia Cafe & Market
2) Betsy's on the Corner
3) Brew Pub
4) Ray's
5) Playoffs
6) Malia's
7) Grumpy's
8) Red Shed
9) City Bs
10) Blue Top

Hopefully I'll be able to knock the last six: Midway Grill, Manuel's Bread Cafe, The Wilcox, Iron Horse, Cork & Bull and Gary's, out before the middle or end of August. Then, I'll just starting writing about anything and everything food. Thanks again for reading!