Food. Dining. Restaurants. VCU.Home Team Grill: Sports, Burgers – all you need.
Words and Photos Cory Johnson
A sudden roar can be heard from half a block away on Main Street, and I realize that I won’t be able to get a seat inside.
On a Saturday afternoon in mid-October, Home Team Grill is packed with sports fan. Rainbows of sweatshirts, hoodies, and hats in team colors litter the inside of the restaurant. The bar area only has standing room and every table and booth is filled with fans, watching one of many games playing around the bar.
But while people typically come to the sports bar to socialize over a game, I come for the food.
Since I arrived in the heat of game time, I was seated outside– a retractable glass partition that separates the inside and outside space was opened to give great view of the games inside.
The wait staff is spread thin as only four waiters circulate the entire outdoor and indoor areas and one hostess seats incoming patrons. Since the wait staff is sparse, the time it takes to order and get service is a bit long. But at a sports bar, service isn’t typically a priority.
In the 10 minutes it takes for me to order and receive my water and coffee, I look over the menu.
Prices are on the high side, with no main dishes (including some sandwiches and salads) being priced under $10. This may not be the place for students on a budget, but one of the staples of Home Team Grill is their burgers. Where a burger and fries on a regular night will run about $11, the bar offers half price burgers Tuesday nights from 4 p.m. to 11p.m.
There is a burger for everyone on this menu. Each one a half-pound of beef (or a veggie patty) and having a style and taste to them not only communicated in their names but also in their taste.
For this review I had the Cowboy Burger– cooked medium-rare and topped with A-1 Sauce, blue cheese crumble, onion straws and chipotle ranch dressing on a kaiser roll.
A-1 sauce and blue cheese is a sinful combination that compliments each other sensually. The taste roles over the tongue as the crunch of the onion straws and juiciness of the burger create an immaculate eating experience. The ranch dressing and seasoning of the meat are the icing of a wonderful sandwich.
The fries that come with the burger are also well seasoned, especially if you love salt.
Though the service may be spread thin, and it took a bit too long to get my check, that’s not a reason to avoid this place.
If the Cowboy Burger is any indicator of the quality of the rest of the menu, Home Team Grill is worth the $11 to eat there. The atmosphere is lively filled with the camaraderie that is found in the sports broadcast around the restaurant with every group cheer or groan.
Final Verdict: At the crux of everything, that’s a sports bar’s job: provide great food and atmosphere for watching a game.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
[...] get enough of it. And he’s really good at it. If you don’t believe me check it out for yourself. Most importantly, Cory is a huge fan of VCUArts (as documented on his radio show, The Mainstream). [...]