Burn Out Bar & Grill caters to bacon lovers, big appetites

Sometimes a restaurant’s name is just a name. Other times, there is a passion behind it.

That is the case with the Burn Out Bar & Grill, located on the southeast corner of Maple and Seneca. When husband-and-wife owners Crystal and Robert Wynia were searching for a name and theme for their business, they decided to center it around their mutual love of classic hot rods. “Burn out,” of course, refers to the burning of rubber as race car drivers rev the engine before dumping the clutch, causing smoke to be dispersed, thus warming the tires for better traction and a faster start. (Don’t be too impressed. That explanation came directly from my racing aficionado brother.)

After a dozen years of working in the hotel management industry, Crystal is using her hospitality experience to keep patrons of the Burn Out happy, and most of all, well fed. She has an obvious pride in her homemade items, from the chicken-fried bacon (yes, you read that right) to the chicken-fried steaks and hot roast beef sandwiches. For a bar and grill, the menu is surprisingly extensive.

Upon Crystal’s advice, we chose the chicken-fried steak, the Burn Out Burger, and on the lighter side, the grilled chicken sandwich. The grilled chicken sandwich was simple, served on a hamburger bun with a choice of honey-mustard mayo or Sriracha mayo. We chose the Sriracha, which added a nice kick to what would have been a fairly plain sandwich. Perfect for the healthy eater in the bunch.

But why count calories when you have a smorgasbord of delicious options begging you to try them? Like that fried bacon? My conscience cried no, but my mouth said yes. It’s a delicious balance of handmade breading and thick, smoky bacon. You don’t have to wait for next year’s state fair to indulge in a similar double whammy of decadence.

My husband, a self-anointed burger expert, said the Burn Out Burger rated among his favorites. Several things made it stand out. First of all, the hamburger has bacon bits ground into it, so the meat is already packed with flavor. Then it’s topped with pepper jack cheese, bacon strips (more bacon), jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, onion and the aforementioned spicy sweet Sriracha sauce. If your stomach is of the bottomless-pit variety, there’s the One Ton Dually, which is the Burn Out Burger topped with a spicy buffalo chicken breast. It’s a meat lover’s mecca.

The chicken-fried steak was a very crispy, fairly thin ground sirloin smothered in a creamy gravy served with buttery mashed potatoes. If you want a football player’s portion, order the Cadillac — a 1.5-pound portion of steak prepared the same way. Caution: It’s seriously large, for the serious eater.

The menu also features beef and chicken wraps, hand-battered chicken strips, Reubens, BLTs (there’s that bacon again), and on Sundays only, grain-fed steaks ranging from $8 to $18. Reservations are recommended on Sundays.

The hot-rod theme throughout is fun and lends itself well to a very casual eating experience. Burn Out is not a large place, so get there early.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Burn Out Bar & Grill caters to bacon lovers, big appetites."