Cheap eats: Quatman Café

The Cheeseber Special at Quatman's Cafe in Norwood (Credit: Tony Tribble | Special to Metromix)

Get into the supremely important debate over who serves the best burger in town, and someone will inevitably mention Quatman Café. We've heard the Norwood eatery serves 'em up big and juicy, and so a friend and I ventured to the quaint restaurant recently for the Sunday special: cheeseburger, fries and drink for just $6.19.

The mood: The no-frills vibe hits you as you walk in the door. No one greets you or seats you. Customers eat from paper plates on red checkered tablecloths. The menu is posted on the wall. A server shows up, pad in hand and waits for you to speak.

Basically, if you don't know the drill, you better learn - fast.

We get the cheeseburgers, of course. Everyone around us is eating the same, from the hipster kids with their edgy eyeglasses to the older folks, who do more eating than talking. We get a couple of beers, too. It is, after all, past noon.

The food: Our server plunks down two plates with a formidable opponent sitting on each. Quatman's cheeseburger is huge and, in fitting with the theme of the place, minimally accessorized: just a hunk of onion and a pile of pickles on the side. Fries are skinny and crisp, but you don't really care about the fries, do you?

Quatman makes a burger as my mom used to: plenty of juice but not a hint of pink, and thick enough that getting your mouth around it requires a bit of effort. This burger lacks the flash of, say, the patties at Terry's Turf Club - you won't find foie gras or a red wine reduction here, unless someone has smuggled it in - and you won't find a mettwurst atop your beef, a la the Girth Burger at Zip's.

Still, Quatman's is a solid, tasty burger that will fill your belly and put you in such a food haze that you'll be forgiven if paying for the meal leads to some confusion. Just head to the register and tell them what you ordered. They'll take care of you.

(Side note: The Miller Lite came in cans, but the plastic mugs were frosty and chilled. Again, simple but effective.)

The damage: $16.19.

The verdict: A friend of mine went to Quatman Café a few days before I did and had little good to say about the experience. After my perfectly pleasant time, I went back and asked him what the problem was. "Maybe I caught it on a bad day," he said, noting big crowds and a long wait time for his food. Perhaps the trick, then, is to hit it during a slow period. You'll leave with a full belly and a full wallet - and the ability to argue just where Quatman Café fits in the great burger debate.

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