Review- Peppy Grill

[Dick Davis]

The Peppy Grill on Virginia Avenue is a Southside landmark. Clearly a literal hole-in-the-wall stereotypical greasy spoon diner, its menu is exactly what you’d expect. They’re open 24/7 and serve a wide variety of clientele. During our lunch there were several “bikers” and others. Mike Magan brought his kids and there was another child there as well. It all worked together to make a memorable experience. We had a good group of ten plus Mike’s three kids. Conveniently there is a “dining room” away from the regular booth and counter in the main room that seats 20. We helped to fill it.
There menu had a good selection of burgers and doubles, but I chose the 7 oz. hamburger steak. It was clearly a hamburger more than a steak but it proved to be good choice. They were willing to cook it medium and provide grilled onions at my request. Visually, the burger and presentation were not the finer points of the experience. Our waiter recommended the sour cream fries which he described as steak fry wedges with chives and ranch dressing on the side. When asked about where was the sour cream he said that’s just what they call them. I connected it with Long Island Iced Tea not really being tea. All agreed. As you see from the photo, the portion of fries was smaller than you might expect but were tasty, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
The burger delivered well, better than the presentation. Tasty beef done on the broiler, three slices of American cheese melted just right, with grilled onions and decent bun, tomato and lettuce. There was no pink in the meat but it was plenty juicy and had good beef flavor. It was not very messy, but good enough to require several napkins.
Of the three Burger Quest trips downtown, this is clearly the best of the three. Be sure and put the Peppy Grill on your agenda if you’re looking for a good burger in a place with some character and characters, but I wouldn’t recommend taking a prospective client there.

[Andrew Ball]

I got more fries than you did. I guess the waiter liked me better... don't go there. I had a double cheeseburger. It met the qualifications for hole in the wall burger. Would I go back - possibly if I'm in the area and thought about it. Tie Dye is still #1 and has nothing to fear from this place.

[Paul D'Andrea]

Yeah, great burger and great time hanging out with everyone. Here's something like a group shot I took:

[Mike Magan]

I recommended this place SPECIFICALLY because they have bad food and bad service.

Well I'm happy to put my big fat foot in my big fat mouth because they satisfied this customer as well as my kids, who all also had the burgers. My 6 y/o Robbie is somewhat of a purist - the only thing he likes around his patty is his mouth, and he wolfed it down with a Root Beer chaser.

I've had a bad experience before but maybe it was because I expected it should be good. This time I expected it to be bad, but they did OK. I also have to respect a place that has become a local institution. Cementing that reputation usually means they serve more than good food - they care about their customers and support the neighborhood from where they operate.