CLEVELAND, Ohio – Reader’s Digest, the venerable story-light humor magazine that has been around 100 years, has named Swensons as the home of the best burger in Ohio.
Here’s what the magazine said about the Akron-based company’s Galley Boy:
“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in Ohio who hasn’t tried a Galley Boy. … This double-patty burger is served on a buttery toasted bun with cheese and two secret sauces. Though the popular drive-in (with multiple locations across the state) has never shared what exactly those secret sauces are, they best resemble tartar sauce and barbecue sauce. The burger is finished off with a signature olive on a toothpick for a recognizable flair.”
Swensons is almost as old as the magazine, with roots dating to 1934. It has continued expanding in the Greater Cleveland market. This year, it opened a location at 7414 Brookpark Road, Brooklyn. Most of its more than a dozen locations are in Northeast Ohio.
Swensons is famous not only for its Galley Boy but its old-fashioned drive-in service, with runners ferrying food for customers to eat on a tray hooked up to a vehicle’s window.
Here’s the state-by-state breakdown.
I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.
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