Grey's Tavern- 343 South Elm Street (Hamburger Square- Downtown Greensboro)
Best Fries in town, great people, and unpretentious affordable goodness make this a great neighborhood spot to meet up and grab a beer and burger.
We Burger Blogged it with owner Grey Davis and business neighbor Katie Southard owner of the Green Bean Coffeehouse.
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| The Western Burger and a Foothills Hoppyum |
If you haven't heard yet, the beloved Green Bean Coffeehouse is adding a second location at the soon to be newly renovated Golden Gate Shopping Center . I am meeting with owner Katie Southard to help do cost projections for the new place and we need to eat lunch. "Let's meet at Grey's." Grey's is perfect for this type of thing. It's good, fast, consistent, affordable, and it's fun to be there! So we pop over for a quick lunch and Grey is behind the bar and we are greeted warmly by him and the whole staff. They seem genuinely happy to see us. Now, I go there alot and Katie is their neighbor, but I notice most everybody who comes in gets this same warm sincere greeting.
We settle in at the bar and check in with Grey to see what's the new happenings on the block. This is another great aspect of Grey's (and the Green Bean as well), it's a great place to catch up on the neighborhood "gossip". We discuss business, downtown happenings, new neighbors-coming or going, and share common grievances and successes.
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| Burgers, Sandwiches, Sliders and Dogs. |
Grey's is tucked between Natty Greene's and the Green Bean on Elm Street downtown. It's a 100 year old building with exposed brick, tin ceilings, a ton of TV's on the walls, a rocking jukebox, and a ton of charm. It was the former Art Store Grey's family owned and that he worked at for several years. In 2007 they renovated the whole place and made it into Grey's Tavern. In a previous life Grey sold paper supplies and worked at the art store, when I asked what's the best part of owning Grey's, he says with a sly smile, "Meeting Great customers like you." We all share a good laugh. He sure knows how to charm a fella, I bet he sold a shit ton of paper.
The menu is a rock solid Tavern menu. Burgers, Sandwiches, Nachos, some salads, Dogs, Sliders. The Bacon Cheddar dog is a pretty crazy standout on the menu, I usually go with the Ranchero Chicken sandwich on grilled sour dough. It's amazing. There is nothing too crazy on the Burger menu except maybe the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Burger, and the vegetarian Black Bean Burger (handmade and awesome). I get the Western Burger- tons of melted Jack cheese, salsa, jalapenos, tomato, and chipotle mayo.
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| I am going to eat you!!!! |
The Burgers are 8oz hand pattied burgers. I wasn't asked how I wanted it cooked, but it comes out a very good medium, just a slight touch of pink. The patty is good and juicy and the tons of melted Jack cheese makes for a great combo. The salsa and jalapenos are put under the patty which I actually don't like, only because the bun isn't toasted crispy, so the bottom of the bun got a little soggy half way through. The bun is good and fresh; I would have liked to have it be more grilled or toasted, but besides soaking up the salsa, it held together well. I think the Chipotle mayo got a little lost in the cheese, but the overall flavor of the concoction is a good mix.
The fries. Oh my! The Fries are the best fries I've had in Greensboro. They are hand cut Idaho potatoes cooked absolutely perfectly and seasoned with salt and pepper. Sounds simple, but it's executed to perfection. Seriously, go have the fries!! I like to mix Texas Pete and Ketchup and dip my fries in that, Grey is quick with a bottle of the Pete.
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| Great bar! |
Munching down on those fries I ask Katie about the new place. The Green Bean has been a downtown institution since 2002. It was one of the first new businesses to open on the 300 block followed by Cheesecakes by Alex and M'Coul's the same year, then Natty Greene's several years later. Katie has worked at the Green Bean from the beginning and bought it from founder Pete Schroth in 2009. Since then Katie has been refining the business to continue to provide a cool place for a diverse community that offers simply the best coffee in Greensboro. It is one of the few places in town to get the much heralded Counter Coffee Coffee. The highly trained Barista's execute espresso like it is art. I've never had a better espresso shot in town. Long time head barista Ashley makes magic happen. The GB is often full and the new location is partially to meet demand. Also, it is a opportunity for Katie to offer a more extensive food menu, something she has wanted to do for years. The new location will have a full kitchen with a menu inspired by Katie's travels to food meccas like Portland. Along with the same great coffee and a unique menu, she is planning on offering box lunches and catering for meetings for such places as nearby Moses Cone Hospital. Katie's good taste along with input from minds that helped create Crafted: A Taco Joint and Hops Burger Bar, I am super excited to see what the final menu looks like!
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| This guy! |
This is the first burger on the Burger Blog I couldn't finish. I am stuffed. Fat and Happy. I had a great beer and a big burger and fries and get out for just over $12. Good Deal. We had a great time talking with Grey, and are not going to be late getting back to work. I'd say a pretty successful lunch for me.
Later on in the evenings Grey's gets a fun bar crowd going. Weekend nights are packed full. Sometimes they have live music and if you like watching the game, every seat in the house has a good view of the TV. On Sundays during football season you can yell at your favorite team along with a spirited crew of fellow revelers. Next time you want to meet up with your friends, feel free to confidently say, "Let's Meet at Grey's"
<----Seriously, how could you not want to hang out at this guy's bar.
