Winthrop student’s guide to local restaurants
Located across from campus in a small building that used to house local bar Daddy’s Money, a new burger and beer restaurant thrives with the local crowd. Burgers & Barley features an extensive burger, salad and mac and cheese menu with specialty sandwiches including the “Brinner Burger” — a burger topped with cheese, mayo, bacon and an egg served on a glazed doughnut bun.
When I first walked into the restaurant, I noticed how spacious and clean it was, while simultaneously having the authentic “dive” feel that I like in a burger joint. The menu includes a combination of original and classic favorites with a twist.
After extensively surveying the menu, I settled on ordering the “Clean Eatin’” burger with sweet potato fries — or “classic sweets” as they are called — on the side. The “Clean Eatin’” is a black bean and quinoa patty with goat cheese, avocado, mixed greens, tomato and a roasted red pepper on a whole wheat bun. I pride myself on not being the type of person who makes a million substitutions to a food order, but I opted to go without the avocado. 
The key to a “healthy” veggie burger is whether or not you can tell it’s healthy. As a vegetarian who tries to eat a clean diet, I’m always in search of healthy and delicious options, especially with burgers.
I was pleased with how the burger looked when I got my food. I was most excited about the goat cheese, and I had been given a hefty helping. The waffle cut sweet potato fries were the perfect combination of salty and sweet — an essential for these type of fries. As someone who actively seeks out restaurants with sweet potato fries, I will say that these are the best I have had in my life.
The burger itself had a nice combination of flavors, most of which came from the red pepper and goat cheese. I will say that I could tell that the patty was healthy, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. My father, who accompanied me, ordered the “Dirty South” burger, complete with chili and a fried green tomato, and praised the quality of the beef patty.
The service was incredibly attentive, friendly and fast. Overall I would rate my experience at a 7/10 with the fries specifically earning a 10/10. The location of the restaurant is perfect for students without access to a car, and it’s late operating hours (until 2 a.m. some nights) make it a perfect spot for the midnight study breaks. I will return to Burgers & Barley when I am in need of sweet potato fries and a tasty burger, which happens more often than not.
This is the first installment of the “Winthrop Eats” column, check back every other week for a review of a local restaurant.
