The Great Ohio Best Burger Hunt, Part One::The Rossi Burger

I feel, at the beginning of this burger hunt, I should specify that I am not a burger aficionado.  This is really Husband's department.  While I like to try something new every time I visit a restaurant, if Husband has a good burger/risotto/squirrel cake/what-have-you, he will order it every time he visits the restaurant.  Maybe this is a characteristic of the male of the species.  Everyone I know who goes to G. Michael's for the fried chicken, as mentioned before, is a boy.  At any rate, I rarely order a burger of my own free will.  Actually, I suppose that isn't true.  I am particularly fond of a certain sort of odd burger - we'll get to that at a later date.

So it happened that Husband and I decided to test the Rossi burger for our inaugural burger.  It's close to home, they have killer pizza if we don't like the burger, and they have a decent little wine list for a bar (we opted for a $21 bottle of Grüner Veltliner whose name escapes me at the moment.  An admittedly odd choice for burgering, but what we were in the mood for, nonetheless).

Here's how it worked:  Husband and I cut the burger in half; he ate his half and half of mine.  We made notes to ourselves and did not discuss the burger.  I wrote my portion of the review and gave it the fry rating, and Husband did the same.  He emailed his review and I will post it below, under my review.  Here's the rating system:
1 fry = eat at your own risk
2 fries = acceptable, decent burger
3 fries = good burger, would eat again without reservations, sticks in memory
4 fries = excellent burger, will definitely eat again,
5 fries = transcendent burger, will dream about until such time as can revel in its burgery glory again and again.
We will each assign a fry rating, and then will average it for the end summary.

There is only one burger on the Rossi list; for this reason, we took the opportunity to order the Rossi burger and then back it up with a pizza (sausage and giardiniera, baby, it's the best). 

Lisa's Review
I thought this burger was a really, really good, solid burger.  It came with lettuce, tomato, pickles, raw red onions, mayo, and American cheese.  This is where things become more than their parts; I don't care for American cheese, I'm not particularly fond of tomatoes on sandwiches (in April, anyway). One thing I liked about the presentation was the entire burger came already assembled:

It was very tasty.  The onions weren't b-o-ey, they were crisp and sweet.  There was a very nice balance of burger/pickles/mayo/tomato.  Neither of us added ketchup or mustard.  One thing which impressed me the most about this burger is that I didn't have to add salt.  The meat tasted very high quality and was perfectly seasoned.  It was expertly cooked and juicy.  I was mesmerized by looking at the burger meat, squishing the bun, and watching the juices flow.  The burger is only made a better meal by the addition of the Rossi's great house made fries.  My only complaint about the fries is that, although delicious, they have a tendency to be a little limp.  (This doesn't bother Husband at all).  We ordered the fries with basil aioli as an appetizer and still ate all of the fries that accompanied the burger:

Just so you don't think we're gluttons, we took half of our pizza home.  And ate it later that night, whilst watching the Sopranos.

I have to give this burger 4 solid, aioli-covered fries.

Husband's Review:
Our first stop on the Burger Trail and the bar has been set high.  From the family of restaurant/bars who brought the city such infarction-inducing delights as the Triple Press Burger (three patties with cheese and a fried egg), comes the  Rossi Burger.  A well-grilled and thick patty is set between a softly sweet Kaiser Roll.  It’s set apart from the rest of the herd of bar burgers by the right combination of toppings…sweet red onion, tangy pickles and a rich base of Mayo.   This tasty burger is made even better by thin homemade fries and basil aioli…an accompaniment so good, we had an order as an appetizer.  The combination of a flavorful burger and top-notch fries more than justifies the asking price of $8.50.  4 Fries.

In summary, this is a fantastic burger.  I, a non-burger-orderer, will certainly have this burger again.  We both agree:

Info:  The Rossi Bar & Kitchen 895 N High St (in the Short North) 614.299.2810