S&L Burgers

If there is one piece of wisdom I can pass on to you, kind reader, it is this: the nondescript eating establishment that always has tons of cars in the parking lot is worth trying. Especially one that has a disclaimer on top of the building "Warning: Our burgers are habit forming." Thing is, it is the absolute truest statement a place has ever made
Game Teen attended a school near this place in South Lakeland, so I'd passed by it a handful of times and tucked the observation away that there were always cars at the little white building. Always. That they advertised those burgers, when I'm something of a burger snob meant that sooner or later, I'd pass by when I was hungry.

Then I started at Poly. There were days when I'd have a kid who missed the bus, or I'd have to go to the school for some reason. Not one to make wasted trips, if I was called down to that part of town, I was heading to campus to study. Pretty soon after beginning at school, fate intervened and I was hungry. The rest is history.

I am so happy that the amount of cars rather than the attractiveness of the building has not steered me wrong once again. The burgers are fantastic, as are the onion rings, the salads, the pancakes, the corned beef hash, the sweet tea. Ironically, though, while I'm usually unpredictable in my dining choices, the staff here pretty much pegs me when I sit down at a table for a sweet tea and a patty melt.

That patty melt is near perfection. A burger with a perfect char, plenty of caramelized onions, melted american cheese and a slightly greasy, but oh-so-tasty rye sandwich. Yes, I've eaten the other burgers on the menu, the chicken sandwiches and even the salad (really tasty), but the patty melt wins me over almost every time.

Last week, I introduced a friend to this little gem as a reward for helping me sort through the crap de Jane, and she was hooked, too. She tried to take her folks the other day, and I felt bad that I hadn't informed her that they close by 2:30. That was remedied today, they also got to try the goods, while once again, I got asked 'patty melt and tea' so fast that Joe didn't even know I'd ordered!

When you find a place that serves great food where the staff pays attention to your likes and dislikes, the tendency is to want to keep that news all to yourself. But I'd rather be irresponsible and have other people get hooked on those burgers-then maybe they'd want to open one on the other side of town!