I could have sworn that I had previously blogged about the Brake Pad, but looking back I have not.  My sister-in-law and her family live in historic College Park and we seem to end up at the Brake Pad primarily with them, and generally while there’s a Georgia game on the TV (her husband is a grad). Today, after the College Park Festival, we found ourselves there for the second half of the UGA / LSU game.  (Taking a cue from TMZ, to protect the innocent, I’ve blurred the faces of those who might potentially be recognized.)

We were seated just inside one of the garage doors – this is the view looking back toward the pumps from our table, while we were waiting for our food.  As the Brake Pad used to be a gas station, the restaurant is literally on the corner of Main Street and Rugby in College Park and, consequently, parking is a bit of a challenge.  The place has a great neighborhood vibe. Everyone seemed to know everybody else. Except us, of course. The menu is burger-focused, with a few other sandwiches, salads, quesadillas and tacos, along with a selection of apps and table snacks. 

Looking carefully at the burger menu, they’re very clear that the burgers are a 1/2 pound of all natural ground beef.  The black bean burger is a “house-made patty with chipotle aoli.”  The description of the sourcing of the turkey burger was, however, conspicuously absent.

After asking the waiter how the turkey burger “was”, Jo trustfully ordered a turkey burger with bacon and cheese.  He was wrong – it was okay (not good), but fairly dry.  I’m guessing that it was frozen patty, but I could be wrong.  On a pleasantly positive side, they offered tots as an alternative to fries. 

Believing that I’ve had a burger on each previous visit here, I chose the Cubano, with tots.

I was very specific in ordering my Cubano “without pickles”. Interestingly, while the sandwich had no pickles on it, there was a big old honking pickle on the plate.  Jo, valiantly, swept in and yanked the pickle off my plate, avoiding a potential pickle-related scene.  My sandwich was very good. It didn’t rival a true Cuban sandwich but was a very good burger joint interpretation.

It’s a great neighborhood place – a spot where you can know the bartender by name (and most of the folks there seemed to know them all).