The Friday f.e.e.l
(food. e. e. l)
Mercury Burger Bar….Not your average Bar
At first glance you may pass by the Mercury Burger Bar that sits on the corner of Michigan and 14th in Detroit’s historic Corktown. On the outside it has a 60’s rustic vibe, however you would be doing your tastebuds a disservice by not partaken in the variety of flavors that await for you inside.
Owner, Dave Steinke lived in Corktown right after he graduated from college and returned back to start this gourmet, but not fluffy burger bar. “This is a iconic location and we wanted to do something to honor the location, but we didn’t want to compete with our neighbors.” Steinke continued,”We really don’t have a lot of overlap with the other restaurants, they support us and we support them.” Supporting Detroit is a very high priority on Steinke’s list. “Most of our vendors and produce comes locally, along with most of the employees are local.”
To create the diverse menu, Steinke enlisted Chef Ariel Millan to bring life to the culinary vision. The Mercury Burger Bar has something for everyone, from burgers, hot dogs and shakes to salads, fried green tomatoes and Chardonnay. Not into Beef? No worries, their handmade turkey burger or chicken sausage can meet your palette’s need. The hours are even accommodating to every type of customer, in a month they plan to introduce a breakfast menu to add to the existing lunch, dinner and late-night menu. There are too many items to list in one review of the burger bar.
However their best-sellers consist of the S.W. (Southwest) Burger, which I had the opportunity to try. Now, I would not normally opt for a Southwest anything, but upon the persuasion of General Manager, Kimberlia I bit right into the flavors of this burger. Topped with a chorizo slider, jalapeños, muster cheese, avocado and salsa on the side, there was not any sense that was not engaged in taste as I consumed each bite.
But WAIT, it did not end there, although the S.W. Burger is Kimberlia’s favorite, Steinke’s and Chef Ariel swore by the grilled bologna sandwich. However, I was beyond full at this point, so I had the late-night menu Ring bologna Slider to see what all the praise was about. Topped with spicy mustard, red onion marmalade on a sweet roll late nights in Detroit cannot get any sweeter. Combine great food, drinks, warm ambiance and great attentive service, there was no question that the Mercury Burger Bar gets my thumbs up approval.
Visit the Mercury Burger Bar at 2163 Michigan Avenue Detroit, MI 48216, (P) 313-964-5000, (W) www.MercuryBurgerBar.com. Hours: Monday-Sunday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.
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