The Mound Café (or Indian Mound Café if you will) is one of those old style neighborhood joints sitting in an old style neighborhood. Located at 5226 Montgomery Rd. in the heart of Norwood, at the corner of Indian-Mound Ave., this is one of those places that will make you feel right at home even if it’s the first time you’ve ever visited. On the day I visited (Josh was in school) there were only a handful of people in the place but the guy behind the bar who doubled as the server knew about half of them by their first name. In fact, one woman walked in and as he said “hi” he asked if she wanted her usual or something else. She ordered something else but didn’t have to look at the menu in order to choose.
While the menu is mostly sandwiches and bar food staples, the smell coming from the kitchen’s flat top grill testified that many a local had eaten here before me. The place is large, with two dining rooms flanking the large bar area offering up plenty of seating. One of those dining areas features some bar room game favorites such as shuffleboard. The place is also rather bright with large windows across the west side letting in plenty of light.
The Burger
It’s easy to choose what you want to have when you’re writing up a burger blog and the menu is this simple. I ordered up the ½ pound cheeseburger. Costing all of $4.50 this was quite a deal even when I tossed in the extra $1.50 to make it a sandwich basket; basically adding fries.
The burger was run through the garden though I asked for no onions. And the garden was fine. The tomato was fresh and plump, adding to the natural juices that dripped into my basket from the burger. They didn’t pile in too much lettuce. I don’t understand why some restaurants insist on putting a half a head of lettuce on a burger when most people pick the excess off before eating. Also, there were plenty of pickle slices.
Biting into the burger was delightful. The bun was soft and helped soak up some of the juices (though plenty dripped into the basket). The burger itself tasted like a burger. I’m not sure what type of meat they used but it was fresh and tasted like ground chuck.
The fries that came as the result of my ordering a basket were crispy shoestrings. I haven't had shoestrings in a while and these were done up right. I think because shoestrings are so much thinner that they can often be overcooked. But these were done just right and in what had to be very fresh oil. Good stuff. Nothing great but good. Just like the burger.
It wouldn’t be fair to compare this burger with The Mound Café’s neighbor just a little further north at the corner of Montgomery and Quatman. That burger is one of the all-time favorites of local burger fair having won a well-deserved reputation. Just keep in mind that Floyd Mayweather may not be a heavyweight but he still can throw a knockout punch. The same holds true for the burgers of The Mound Café. The next time you’re around Norwood, forgo the more famous burger in that neighborhood and give this one a try.
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