Restaurant Review: B Spot in Woodmere, Ohio

Our latest family outing involved a trip to Cleveland, Ohio--and an overnight stay in nearby Beachwood, Ohio.  As our trip plans took us to Beachwood a little before dinner time; I began searching for a new-to-us restaurant in the area.  As I researched, I discovered a regional chain called B Spot, just down the road from our hotel, in Woodmere.  The gourmet burger chain, the creation of Chef Michael Symon, has locations in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, and Indianapolis.  Since we frequently find ourselves in one of those cities--and live minutes from one of the locations--I thought it would be a nice chance to check it out.  What was our review of B Spot in Woodmere, Ohio?

B Spot has a "hot spot" location in Beachwood/Woodmere.  Visitors will find B Spot in the heart of the Eton Chagrin Boulevard Mall/Shopping District.  Columbus, Ohio, residents may compare this area to Easton Town Center or Polaris.  B Spot's entrance sits off a large parking area and offers both indoor and outdoor seating areas.  We expected a bit of a wait since Eton was fairly crowded--but, we were offered immediate seats. Since the predicted rain for the weekend was still some time away from us; we opted for a patio table. 

The service was prompt and friendly--but... Our server arrived immediately to take our drink orders.  The girls ordered their usual lemonade and iced tea.  I noticed that there was a charge for lemonade refills while other sodas and iced tea were refilled free.  This caused a moment of pause--but, it was pretty insignificant.  My husband asked about the available draft beer selections.  Our server noted rather curtly that the draft beers held a special designation on the menu.  He made a selection from those options (which he had already considered).  She said that that beer was out of stock. (This was the reason he had asked about the available beers on tap.) She made a recommendation for a similar beer.  He opted for that beer.  She returned a few minutes later to let him know that that beer was also "sold out".  (Again--this this was the reason he had asked about the available beers on tap.)  She made another recommendation.  In the end (I think) he opted for Rogue Ales, a Chocolate Stout--and it was actually on tap and available.  Next, we ordered our meals.  There seems to be some hesitation to modify the pre-set sandwich toppings--so our middle daughter simply opted for a salad.  The burgers and brats are served without side dishes--so we decided to share a side of french fries.  

How was the food?

 The Roman Salad

A Caesar style salad is always my middle daughter's meal selection when faced with too many sauces and "mandatory" toppings on entrees.  Her salad was a mix of romaine, radicchio, parmesan cheese, & caesar dressing.  The menu said it had croutons--her salad didn't--but, it was large enough that she needed a box for leftovers.

 

The Clevelander Brat 

 

 

The youngest ordered this beer brat topped with coleslaw, hot sauce & fries.  She shared a little with her dad--but, not much.  She was pleased--but, would have liked a little extra hot sauce.  There was an assortment of sauces on the table--but, hot sauce was not in the assortment.

The Yo Burger

 

 

Chris ordered the Yo.  It's a beef burger topped with fried salami, capicola, hot peppers, shasha sauce & provolone cheese.  It wasn't overloaded with toppings or sauce--but, still required that we cut it in half to eat it.

The Smasher's Special

 

I ordered the burger of the month.  In May, the Smasher's Special was a beef burger topped with gyro meat, tomato, red onion and tzatziki sauce.  I didn't get a taste of the youngest daughter's bratwurst--but, my burger was, in my opinion, much better than my husband's.  (He thought his was much better than mine; however!)  As with The Clevelander, I felt I would have liked just a little more sauce with my burger, as well.

We shared an order of Lola Fries--shoestring cut fries.  The menu states that they are cooked in lard and seasoned with rosemary.  The fries were well cooked (lard does yield yummy fries).  I didn't really notice rosemary and the husband and youngest actually used the assortment of sauces on the table as dipping sauces for the fries.  

 

We also shared two of the Chocolate Banana Marshmallow Milkshakes.  I didn't take photos of these because they turned into a bit of a "mess".  The young man who brought out the milkshakes asked if we wanted help to pour them from the metal shake cups into the tall, serving glasses.  (These shakes are topped with a layer of roasted and stuck-together marshmallows while IN the metal shake cups.)  We said yes.  He looked a little antsy--and said, "Do you think you could get it?" and proceeded to immediately leave the table.  Umm.  No.  We didn't think we could get it--but, we were left with two little girls who were really only there for the milkshakes--so, we tried.  We spilled a lot of one--then gave up and asked our server to help us when she checked our table a few minutes later.  She spilled a bit more, but, less than we had.  The shakes were good--and certainly large enough to share--but, with the marshmallow "seal"--they probably should have been poured away from the table.  It was a mess--and the mess remained in the middle of our table for the rest of our meal.

Then...it happened.  

A gust of wind caught a large patio umbrella at the edge of the patio and, somehow, lifted it from its base and toppled it down behind my husband and youngest daughter.  My husband jumped up from the picnic table seat to shield her and move her forward as the umbrella fell.  The umbrella missed her head by inches and he scraped his shin on the table in his rush to move her forward.  

A server from inside quickly came to pick up the fallen umbrella and immediately checked on my husband and daughter.  He was very apologetic and went to notify a manager.  At this point, we really just wanted to leave--but, the girls had milkshakes to finish.  

 

A couple of minutes later two employees rushed out onto the patio to lower the remaining umbrellas.  One commented that "most of the umbrellas are broken anyway" as she struggled to lower one.  

What?  

If that was the case--why were the umbrellas out there to begin with?  

And--from a common sense, customer service standpoint--I think she could have kept that comment out of earshot of the family "attacked" by the falling umbrella....at least until the dust settled a little.

 

The manager appeared several minutes later with a clipboard to make an incident report and document my husband's injury--which we didn't feel was necessary and declined.  The manager was very concerned about his paperwork--and about our decision to decline a report--but, he made no move to comp even a lemonade for the incident and quickly returned indoors without offering as much as a Bandaid.

 

We spent the last 15-20 minutes of our meal under the shadow of the "umbrella incident".

 

Would I recommend B Spot in Beachwood, Ohio?  Even setting aside the "umbrella incident" and the spilled portion of the milkshake which remained on the table--it was really just an "okay" dining experience for the price.  It is a gourmet burger restaurant with a little something for almost everyone on the menu.  My burger was good--but, it isn't a regular menu item.  There is a children's menu with typical "kid's menu" selections and prices for younger diners.  Burger & Brat side dishes must be ordered separately.   While there is a Build Your Own Burger option--the topping options still led to a 12 or 13 dollar burger with only cheese and a few toppings.    The burgers, brats and milkshakes are large; however, and the separate side dishes are easily sharable for the table.  

 

I'm still thanking my lucky stars that the umbrella situation only left my husband with a whacked shin!  I was disappointed in the manager's response--especially after hearing the employees discuss the umbrellas.  My husband suffered only a scraped shin--but, it certainly affected our meal--which was already on the downturn in light of the milkshake.  It still bothers me as a mom that the members of the staff consider the umbrellas unsafe and "broken"--or at least joke about them--but, continue to use them near families and children. 

 

In the end, none of the meals served were outstanding for the price and atmosphere--and nothing in the dining experience left me interested in returning to this particular restaurant.  The overall experience will also cloud my view on risking a visit to any other location of the chain. Would I recommend BSpot in Beachwood?  No.  The food is okay--but, if you plan to spend $75-$100 on dinner for a family of four--there are too many other options in Beachwood.