Adam & Eats: Lewis’ Family Restaurant

 

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

A loyal reader of Adam & Eats emailed last week and reminded me of a place I had almost forgotten about. (Thank you for helping me remember.)

So, I decided to pay them a little visit. And that is why I am very excited this week. I might have found it. I might have found the best damned burger in the River Valley. But beware, this mighty burger is not for the faint of heart or stomach. It takes a person of true mettle to face … the Inferno Burger.

Located at the fork of Zero Street and U.S. 71 South is Lewis’ Family Restaurant. This little joint might not be much to look at — heck I bet you’ve driven by it many times without noticing it. But deep inside this plain white building lies a sleeping dragon. They are undergoing a little construction to update some of the walls, so it is a bit darker than normal in the place.

Lewis’ has adopted the age-old tradition of selling advertising space on their tabletops as well. Also, the portraits of the various severe-looking Lewis Family members that line the kitchen wall creep me out. But, let’s be honest, people don’t eat at Lewis’ for the décor. They eat there because the food is made from scratch and tastes frightening similar to what my grandmother cooked when I was growing up. The waitstaff is also very attentive, friendly, and helpful to those of us who can’t decide what in the world we want to order.

Speaking of ordering, let’s talk chow. Sure the biscuits and gravy are wonderful and made from scratch, but our business lies in burgers. Well, one burger. The burger in question was originally put on a menu as a “limited time only” item, but since the demand for it has been so overwhelming, it has stayed put right on the original insert in the menus.

The burger of which I speak is the appropriately named Inferno Burger. What we have here is a 1/3 pound well-seasoned burger patty, topped with spicy peppered bacon, pepperjack cheese, grilled onions, jalapenos, and Lewis’-own chipotle mayo atop a freshly baked, homemade hamburger bun. There are many reasons why this burger is friggin’ amazing. Allow me to enumerate.

1. Who still makes their own hamburger buns from scratch?! Answer: Lewis’.

2. This burger manages to make perspiration break a sweat, while maintaining all of it complex flavors.

3. It actually says “Not For Wimps” under the burger’s description on the menu.

4. It comes with Cajun fries.

I could go on, but if you are not sold on it by now, you never will be. For those of you whose interest I’ve piqued just remember, failure to eat this burger is a sin worthy of an eternity in Purgatory.

Once again, a great big “Thank You, Sir!” goes out to Chad Barbry for his email reminding me about Lewis’. Until next week, good eating to you and yours.

Feedback
When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.