Photo by: William Bilancio
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Last weekend I went out with Marty to check out the Ferraris being shown on Market Street in the Gaffer District in Corning. As we were passing the famous R & M Restaurant, Marty saw they were open on a Saturday night and TOLD me that is where we were going to have dinner.I have been trying to get in to the R & M since I have been back in the area, but haven’t had the time or they have been closed. Many people have told me how great the burgers are there and I being a hamburger snob knew I was going to have to try them out.
You walk in to the R&M, which is just a medium space with about 10 tables and a bar and a small kitchen in the back; BAM the aroma of good cooked food from the kitchen hits your nose and your mouth starts to water and you realize this is a place that serves a great meal. There were a few tables taken, so we just grabbed a seat and waited. I noticed that there wasn’t any wait staff or bar tender around. The couple at the next table leaned over and handed us their menus and let us know they were done. The menu as you can see is pretty straightforward and simple.
We waited a bit and then a big bear of a man Bob Pierri the owner
Owner of the R&M Bob Pierri. Photo by:
Don Cazentre | dcazentre@syracuse.com
came out to take our orders. I felt bad for him; he told us that he had let the waitress go around 4:30 since it wasn’t busy at all. By the time we rolled in it was about 8pm two hours after his normal closing time for a Saturday, and he was in the kitchen making pancakes and burgers as well as taking orders and making drinks. But he was friendly and gracious and was doing great customer service. Marty dropped her fork and he was there in a flash with a new one.
R&M is known for their burgers and have won numerous awards for their burgers. This year R&M took the top prize as Judges’ Choice for burger in the Best Burger in Upstate New York contest with their “Big House Burger”.
Photo by: William Bilancio
Marty and I both had the quarter pound Cheeseburger with a side of fries. It took a while to get our food, but it was worth the wait. As I bit into the burger it just melted in my mouth and had a great flavor. The toppings lettuce, tomato and onions (I added mustard, which took the flavor to another level), were just right without them taking away from the flavor of the meat which was cooked to perfection of a medium burger. The bun the burger rested between was light and airy and had a great buttery taste and soaked up the juice from the burger but didn’t fall apart like a lot of other buns at other places.
The fries were hot and crispy and cooked just right and they stayed crispy even as they got cooler. I love a good order of fries and right now these are at the top of my favorite.
As a person who is always looking for a great burger, I think for now this burger is the best burger in the Corning area. I will be going back to try out some of the other things on the menu and definitely going to try the “Big House Burger”. I want to try to the Rigatoni and the Fish Fry. So if you were looking for a great meal I would go check out the R&M Restaurant.