Review: 1720 Burger Bar

_____________________________
 

WHY YOU SHOULD GO

This new-to-the-Florence-scene eatery occupies the former Jack’s Place location at Woody Jones Blvd. And, that’s because the owner(s) of 1720 Burger Bar are the same owners of the previous Jack’s. You can dine-in for lunch or dinner. There is a bar, which serves alcoholic beverages, has two big screen TVs, one for watching and one for playing the Wii (at least Wii Bowling was on when we came in). The burgers have names of characters from 1980′s television shows. Cool and fun!

WHY WE WILL GO (AGAIN)

I would like to try some of the other appetizers and other burgers as well, especially the Tater Bombs (potato rounds filled with bacon, onions and cheese inside) by itself. The burgers had a great crust, were cooked well, and not dry at all.

DINING EXPERIENCE

We dined at 1720 Burger Bar for dinner one Thursday night in January 2012. We were driving on Woody Jones Blvd going to another eating establishment when we happened to notice that 1720 Burger Bar was open. We thought why not try it out? We were greeted warmly and seated. Our server gave us the menus and explained the specials for the night, which happened to be their soft opening. The specials for that night only was that all food was half off and, there was free Bud Light. The menu was small as they were just starting out and, the soft opening was their way of working out the kinks to see what worked and what didn’t.

_

My husband and I ordered the wings with a mild sauce and ranch dressing as our appetizer. The wings were fresh, steaming hot and had a wonderful peppery and/or spice rub flavoring.

_

My husband ordered the Boss Hogs’ Boars Head Burger (normally $8 or so), which had cheese, grilled ham & bacon on a half pound hamburger with sweet potato fries. He had the Bud Light and water. The sweet potato fries were good but could benefit from a small sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

I had the Mr. Belvedere Breakfast Burger (normally $9.25 or so). This was a half pound burger with cheese, grilled ham, tater bombs and, surprise, a fried egg! This was very delicious. The yolk was just a tiny bit runny, which to me, made it better. I had fried okra as my side and, it was wonderful. I had a margarita along with water. Again, the burgers had a great crust, were cooked well, and not dry at all. By the way, we both ordered our burgers well done.

_

The manager of 1720 burger Bar came over to speak with us. We told him that our experience was wonderful, to keep up the good work, and to expand. When we had first arrived, there were perhaps five or six customers already seated and enjoying their meals. While we were dining, anywhere from five to ten people or so came in and mostly hung out at the bar. 1720 Burger Bar seems to be picking up speed!

SELECTED MENU

Appetizers:

Wings – fried crispy then tossed in the flavor of your choice: hot, mild, house (sweet and spicy Asian sauce), and teriyaki – 6.99
Fried Pickles – thick-cut dill pickle chips,double battered and fried crispy, served with ranch dressing and 1720 sauce – 5.99
Tater Bombs - their house specialty – thick tater tots on steroids stuffed with cheese, bacon, chives and special blend of spices – 6.25
1720 Nachos – tortilla chips covered with mounds of pulled pork in their sweet & spicy barbecue sauce, sour cream, jalapenos, tomatoes and garnished with green onions – 7.50

House Specialty Burgers are seven ounce patties of premium meat, cooked to order, and a basic burger can be customized with whatever additions you can imagine, i.e., blue cheese spread, grilled pineapples, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms to name a few at additional charges.

Kelly Keposki – Buffalo sauce, blue cheese spread, ranch dressing, bacon and fried onions – 8.25
Mr. Belevedere Breakfast Burger – grilled ham, fried egg, Vermont sharp cheddar cheese and tater bombs – 9.25
American Ninja – teriyaki based, grilled pineapples, fried onions, and pepper jack cheese – 8.00
Boss Hogs, Boars Nest Burger – grilled ham, bacon, American cheese, sweet & spicy barbecue sauce, and fried onions – 8.50

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT

As of this posting, 1720 Burger Bar has only been open for almost a full month. The only suggestion that I have is to increase the number of items available on their menu but, do not completely slam the customer with so many different options that they wouldn’t know where to start.

PHOTOS AND VIDEO

Category: CONTRIBUTORS, Restaurant Reviews