Jerry’s Cafe: Are These the Best Burgers in Orrville?

Back in April, when Bobby and I attended the Inaugural Cupcake Tour, we decided to end our adventure by grabbing a late lunch (or early dinner) at a restaurant in Orrville, Ohio. We really enjoy Ming Hing’s lunch buffet, but it was too late for lunch. Our friend, Jessica Robinson, had told us about Jerry’s Cafe. She said that they have really good burgers. The truth is that they advertise their burgers as the “best in town.” Given my propensity for red meat, especially for burgers, I had to give it a try.

If you don’t know what you are looking for, you could very easily pass by the restaurant without even knowing it. It is nestled in the middle of a downtown city block with businesses on each side. Jerry’s just has a small sign over the door. Since we were late for lunch and early for dinner, there were just a few tables taken when we arrived. It is clear by the interior that Jerry’s is a place where people probably come to get a drink after work and maybe stay for a bite to eat. The menu is quite extensive with plenty of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees to choose from.

However, I was there for one thing and one thing only. That of course was a burger. Jerry’s has plenty of options when it comes to burgers, too. After considering all options, I decided to order the Trolley Burger. It comes on grilled Italian bread with bacon, tomato, provolone cheese and ranch dressing. We ordered a basket of waffle fries because they only serve fresh cut fries on Thursday and waffle fries are my next favorite kind of fries after fresh cut. Bobby ordered the Jerry Burger with fries.

When our burgers came out, we decided to share them so we could try each. I started with my half of the Trolley Burger and Bobby started with his half of the Jerry Burger. After Bobby’s first bite, he said it reminded him of my mom’s burgers. (Which if you ask me are the best burgers anywhere.) I didn’t know how that could be because the burger I was eating didn’t taste anything like my mom’s. It was very good, but not like my mom’s. So I put my Trolley Burger down and picked up my half of the Jerry Burger. Bobby was right, it did taste like my mom’s!

The Trolley Burger was delicious in its own right. Bobby and I both agree that the burger is loaded with flavor. There is so much complexity in the sandwich because of how the ingredients mingle with each other.

We asked to see the manager (actually Bobby asked) because we wanted to tell her how much we enjoyed the burgers and to find out how the two could taste so different. She told us that most of the burgers were injected with au jus and grilled over hickory chips. However, the Jerry Burger is a mixture of ground beef mixed with bread crumbs, eggs and their “special seasoning.” That explained the different tastes and why it reminded us of my mom’s burgers. She mixes hers like that, too. Although I don’t think she would consider her seasoning “special.”

Jill Demlow, the manager and the owner’s niece, gave us a brief history of the restaurant, too. It has been in business since 1979. There was a fire in 2011, which caused the restaurant to close for a period of time while it was being remodeled. It reopened in 2012. Jill said she has been there for eleven years.

I plan to go back to Jerry’s, but it will probably be on a Thursday. Thursdays they have a burger special and they serve fresh cut fries. I definitely will need to try a different burger (remember that there is quite a selection) and try their fries, too. I don’t know whether they have the best burgers in Orrville, because I haven’t tried every other restaurant’s burgers. However, the burgers at Jerry’s were pretty darn good.