The Barking Frog
113 E. Canal StreetLong weekend? Well, in a way. J got home from work really early today and she’s off tomorrow…which means we have a day off together! I don’t know if that’s happened since last summer, so we’re really living up in the day and a half we have off together.
Our plans for Thursday night included another trip to San Chez in Grand Rapids and the Sugarland concert at Van Andel Arena. Before that, we had all afternoon and J really wanted to go out for lunch. I could have just waited for San Chez, but she had gotten a recommendation from a friend she really wanted to try, so we made the short jaunt out to Augusta.
The Barking Frog is on Canal Street just off M-96 which is the main road that runs through the small village. The small building sits in the shadow of the towns grain elevator right across the street from a park. The parking is mostly behind the building although there are a few spots right in front.
We were a little passed the normal rush hour and at first, thought we were going to be the only ones there, but when we pulled around back to park, we found a few more cars and considering it was St. Patrick’s Day, it makes sense that there would be people hanging out at 2:00 in the afternoon.
We headed inside to find a large bar taking up most of the space. At first, I didn’t turn around to see another room with a few more tables and a dance floor. What was right in front of me were two large round tables and a handful of pub style two tops pushed up against the wall. I really thought the place was tiny until I started looking around and saw a lot more space, but since we were there for lunch and it wasn’t super busy, it made sense for us to just take one of the large tables in the corner so the bartender didn’t have too far to go to serve us….oh yeah, and there was a large flat panel TV hanging right above it and the NCAA tourney just started…bonus.
Laminated menus were already on the table when we sat down. It consists of the typical fried food and sandwiches. Right up our alley. Our waitress went to get a couple Coke’s while we made our final decisions, but really, can’t you guess by now what we actually ordered.
I got the Barking Burger. The sandwich is two 1/4 lb. patties on a toasted bun with bacon, two types of cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and of course, mayo. I asked to leave the mayo off. It wasn’t, but it took me most of sandwich until I actually got a bite where the tanginess showed it’s ugly head. Other than the mayo, the burger was fantastic. The patties are fresh, hand formed hunks of meat. Each patty has it’s own layer of bacon and cheese and even the bun, which is not the typical food service white bread, had a nice toasty taste to it. Until I got to the mayo, this burger was right up there in my top three in the Kalamazoo area. Hell, it was still delicious and something I would make the drive back to Augusta for.
The sandwich came with chips, but I upgraded to fries. Nothing to brag about here. In fact, they were a little undercooked and limp. They were fast food fries that could have used a few more minutes in the grease. The sandwich also came with choice of coleslaw, cottage cheese, or applesauce. I probably wasn’t going to eat any of them, so I got applesauce. I didn’t eat it and they probably could have resued it since it’s a prepackaged Motts cup.
J was leaning towards the popcorn chicken on the appetizer menu, but ended up with the Buffalo Chicken Wrap. It’s a pretty typical wrap with buffalo chicken tenders, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. She asked to leave the tomato off and they did. Unfortunately, the chicken had the same issue as my fries. Undercooked, limp, and soggy. She got seasoned curly fries with her wrap. Same thing. It’s like the oil wasn’t hot enough or something because everything that came out of the fryer seemed to be a little underdone.
Our bill was a little over $17 and our meal experience was 50/50. I really liked my burger despite the fact that it had mayo. Without that evil condiment, the burger would have been off the charts. The bun and the meat are fantastic. J was pretty disappointed with her meal because most of it seemed to be undercooked. Had the fries and chicken been crispier, I think she may have been happier.
I’m glad she talked me in to lunch because The Barking Frog is a place I never would have found on my own. The place is a perfect small town bar. Several people came and went as we sat there eating lunch and everyone who walked in was known to the bartender and other patrons. If you’re a burger fan, I think this is definitely a destination for you. I’d like to think the misfire on the fryer happened because we were there at an off time…still…worth it for the burgers.
The Barking Burger w/Fries
Buffalo Chicken Wrap
SW Michigan Dining 