cotton bottom

October 16, 2009, Friday. I actually had to go to work on Friday: a temp job at a small law firm downtown. They were so impressed with how well I did (making changes to documents) that I actually had to stay late - until 6! on a Friday! for a temp job! - so we could get a package out that they totally didn't expect to get out 'til Monday. I'm just that good. But, since that had been the most I've worked since September 21, I was exhausted and so H and I had to go out for beers and food - I couldn't possibly cook.

We turned once again to our trusty Insider's Guide and, once again, it did not let us down, this time directing us to the Cotton Bottom Inn (2820 E 6200 S, in Holladay). This place is local with a capital L, and a wicked dive that probably hosts a bunch of bikers in warmer days. We'll go back in daylight sometime and get a photo. It's tucked into this nice neighborhood in Holladay, with an unlit sign from about the 1950s, lights in the trees, rock-n-roll piped outside. It's tiny, with a small bar, a few tables, a pool table and a juke box on which the bartender kept playing Janis Joplin.

They serve beer (we had Emigration Amber by Squatter's Brewery) and the menu, a chalkboard on the wall, lists: garlic burgers, garlic cheeseburgers, burgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, cheesedogs, grilled cheese and "grilled cheese loaded." As intrigued as we were by "grilled cheese loaded," we both got garlic cheeseburgers which our guidebook called "legendary." (If by "legendary" you mean "can still taste them in the morning," then yes, they were definitely legendary.) These burgers were huge, smashed thin and redolent of garlic. They're served with lettuce, pickles, tomato and sliced onion on fantastically chewy crusty bread, garnished with a pepperoncini and a bag of Lay's Classic potato chips. Awesome.

Note: even though both H and I worked on Friday, we weren't able to leave Becky at the apartment because the landlords were doing their annual smoke detector/sprinkler checks. She got to go to work with H, like she did all last winter in Maine, and since he parks in a covered parking garage, she was well-shaded and comfortable.