Mother's Ale House - I had such high hopes...

Where:

Mother's Ale House
95 Mountainview BlvdWayne, NJ 07470Phone: 973-633-7400
http://www.mothersalehouse.com/

What: 

The Whiskey BBQ Burger

Build:

8oz Angus patty, pepper jack cheese, grilled mushrooms, whiskey BBQ sauce and haystack fried onions on Texas toast.

Comments:
Wanna know why the best thing you can order at a newly opened restaurant is their burger?

Because it's a fool-proof acid test for the food quality that you can expect from there-on-out, that's why. And unlike Mother's chef's attempt at cooking a burger, I've never seen this test fail.

It's what I've tried and written about so many times before, if a restaurant can't get the temperature of a burger correct, how could they possibly prepare anything more complicated successfully?

Let me rewind for a second. My wife and I had been wanting to try Mother's after the initial curious crowds waned. Last weekend we saw a shot so we took it. It was Saturday, the 18th of July in the year of our Lord, two thousand fifteen. The sun was out, and it was hot as hell, and it seemed like a beer and a burger could set the world right again. (WRONG!)

Both the facade and interior of Mother's are unique and interesting enough to arouse curiosity. The interior is definitely geared toward liquor sales. (And why not, it's where the money is). There are many bar stools and enough TVs to keep even a non-drinker seated for quite a while.

So far, so good, however - if you're going to charge $7 dollars for a 6oz glass of really crappy house white wine you are going to follow the way of the Dodo.

And mind you, a house wine does not get any worse than the one offered at Mother's. It's Frontera, which is so bad it's only $8.99 for an entire magnum at any local liquor store. Really? You're proud to serve this? What's next? Happy meals? 

Once a restaurant establishes their level of "house" wines and liquors, it is also establishing their base clientele. Nuff said.

Without dragging this on, I'd like to point out to the folks at Mother's that you've got a potentially very cool business about to happen if managed correctly, and I'd love to see it succeed. I realize that you recently opened and are working out some kinks, but is there any reason that there should be dirt, crumbs, napkins, etc., on the floor under the bar stools that looks as if it hasn't been swept since the previous day? If nothing changes, I'm afraid you'll be on the road to becoming the new and improved Gabriel's.

My wife and I both ordered our burgers medium as our waitress told us that "medium means pink inside with a tiny bit of red in the middle".  

Mmmmmm, no, medium means that your burger will be cooked Buzz Lightyear style, to infinity and beyond.

But to be fair, as well done as our burgers were, and although being very obviously dry, they were still quite tasty. This made me think how really great these Angus burgers would have been if only cooked with some care. 

I will definitely return to MAH for another sample of the burgers. I am pulling for this place... I sincerely hope it does not disappoint again.

This burger gets a 4/10 on the BC rating scale.

My photos below will fill in any details of the story that I've missed...

My wife's burger looked like it had potential also... what a shame...