Ollie's Trolley

Burger #20: Ollie’s Trolley – Mushroom Burger – $6.95

It's a Trolley!

Here goes burger #4 of the last week of my burger quest.  Ollie’s Trolley made me happy, plain and simple.  The made me so happy in fact that I rated them as my #9 best burger of 2011.  The top 40 list rated this burger at #20 and it was the 39^th burger in order that I’ve had.  You can find the small shack on Central Parkway and Liberty.  It has been open for 20 years but they stayed so small that they don’t even have a website.  This is one of the places that shocked me the most on my list since there is nothing around the place but the Sam Adams Brewery.  Maybe the customers come over from the nearby Music Hall or Findlay Market.  Now, seeing as I grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood back home, I’m comfortable in any kind of situation, but I will add that I was the only non-minority there and after getting some stairs, I got asked if it was my first time.  So I started a conversation with the cook and found out that everything they have is home made and their main business is catering.  I had no idea. 

There is no menu online, so I took a pic.

When you look at the menu, you’ll see the huge southern influence.  I should add right now, that just walking up to the place my mouth started watering.  They have a big grill outside smoking bbq which I plan to try when I go back.  The bbq and soul food have won numerous awards in the city.  Some of the best looking items were the smoked turkey, whole chicken, and ribs.  The sides include black eyed peas, collard greens, pinto bean, and home fries.  I also saw a big sign for dirt cheap, 3$, peach cobbler, so I had to grab some to go and it was a BIG container. 

Mushroom Burger and Ollie fries.

There are a good number of burgers on their menu.  Burgers come with a ¼ to ¾ pound patties.  The kinds on the menu are the bbq, bacon, Texas, big Ollie, Marvin, mushroom, or the veggie burger.  I was supposed to get the Ollie burger, but the mushroom burger sounded really damn good at 4.95$.  The meat had an awesome seasoning on it, and it was nice and greasy, even though they cooked it through in the middle.  It had on it bacon, grilled mushrooms, onions, and Ollie sauce, which had a kick to it.  The bun was fresh and they toasted it like a champ.  Include Ollie fries for an extra 2 bucks, which were also some of my favorites of the year with a Cajun seasoning on them.  It’s the little things that make a dining experience unique and this trolley did the right ones.  This was one of the best burgers I’ve had all year for the price, 6.95$, and how well they seasoned it. 

Mmm...bacon!

If I were trying to keep up with having great food at a great price, this is one of the best places you can have.  I made it my #9 because they went above and beyond in making the food flavorful.  My next review will be last one… burger #40.  I can’t believe I’ve written 39 reviews already!  L