Shane’s streak of new picks continues, this time at a place that I’m not sure how we’ve missed in all of our visits to Barberton but he’s now discovered thanks to social media.

The Corner is very small on the inside. Like we’re talking about ten tables in the space, and a bar with about ten seats. There’s also a patio – but since Mother Nature is playing the “let’s make Ohio the new Caribbean” game with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees before the humidity we of course opted to stay inside.

It was pretty full when we arrived but we managed to snag a table a few steps from the front door. The bartender yelled a welcome to us from behind the bar and then was quick to come over and give us the low down, which included a Wednesday draft special ($1 off) and wing special ($1 wings).

Shane asked what was good on the menu and she immediately recommended the Fatty Melt, which is a burger with grilled cheese sandwiches as the buns.

Wait, what? If that menu item sounds familiar it’s probably because Shane ordered the exact thing at Fizzlestix in Massillon when we were out a few weeks ago. Is this a new thing now? Instead of smashburgers where we put the cheese between the burgers we’re putting the cheese inside buns now?

Sounds like something endorsed by the local heart surgeons to keep them in business.

As expected, Shane’s ears perked up when he heard that was a menu option here. Sold.

And then she said they are also known for their cheesesteaks, so they were just saying all the right things to our table since that’s right up my alley.

Ted – the guy who hates cheese – threw us all for a loop and asked about the pizza burger. Um, ok. Did he forget one of the main ingredients to to pizza is cheese? Weird.

In fairness, he was asking for a recommendation between the pork chops or the pizza burger, so perhaps he was hoping she would say the pork chops. But surprise, she voted for the burger.

Your move, Ted.

Before we get to the actual orders, it’s worth mentioning that the server came over to take our orders sans notepad, a move which often evokes a groan from this group given the number of times we’ve been burned by someone who isn’t prepared for the amount of food we will order and then tests the limits of their memory trying to get it right. Thankfully this time it worked out OK.

I mean, maybe that’s because we ordered everything she recommended to us. But we did throw in some curve balls.

For example, Shane did order the Fatty Melt, but because clearly a burger between two sandwiches is not enough of a meal and he didn’t learn a lesson from last time, he also ordered the polish boy hot dog.

I mean, he also just loves hot dogs too. So there’s that. Although I think he was having a bit of remorse when the hot dog came out first and it was obvious that it was a meal all in itself. Yes, those are fries on top of the hot dog.

So good thing he still had a grilled cheese burger combo still to come.

But, well, right away from that photo it’s obvious that Shane’s grilled cheese buns this week were nothing compared to the giant sandwiches that held his burger together two weeks ago. So I guess the hot dog was a good idea after all?

His biggest complaint about the hot dog was that there was too much bread. But he liked the different flavor combos, including what appeared to be a BBQ ketchup drizzled over the top.

All that for the bargain price of just $5, which was quite honestly a steal.

I did order the cheesesteak, but with a twist. They offer a combo chicken and steak Philly sandwich, and since you rarely see an option to combine instead of having to choose between the two, I took that one. To quote the menu – “when you can’t commit – and why should you – get both.”

I also got a side order of fries. They don’t come with the sandwiches but a side is like $3, so sure.

I don’t have a picture of the fries because they took not one but two journeys back to the kitchen due to a seasoning that I hadn’t seen mention of on the menu but the server said they usually “just add” – which is a fun game to play, no? But in any case, by the time they were finally placed in front of me I forgot I hadn’t photographed them yet. Oops.

So, yeah. But the sandwich was good. It was a bit heavy on the chicken as opposed to a true combo, but still tasty.

Ted did order the Pizza Burger, and then also decided to try out the Wednesday wing special with five of the hot honey wings.

So part of what makes it a pizza burger is the addition mozzarella sticks between the patties. He happily donated those to me and Shane. And for a guy who usually orders burgers with absolutely no cheese on them whatsoever, he was surprisingly chill about the provolone cheese that didn’t come off connected to the mozzarella sticks.

And shockingly he said his burger was “just about perfect.” Which I’d consider high praise, again considering we’ve watched him scrape morsels of cheese off of burgers that mistakenly arrived baring even a little bit.

Chalk this one up in the record books, folks.

For the wings, Ted said he liked the sauce, which was a mixture of sweet, salty and Cajun. He said it was enough to be spicy to him – which we all know is a challenge all in itself – but also had some saltiness mixed in. His only complaint was that the wings are breaded. But he ate them fast enough that the breading didn’t get soggy under the sauce, so winning there.

The Corner did empty out a bit and turn into a hangout for some regulars in the bar area toward the end of our stay, but we never really felt unwelcome or like we didn’t belong. Our server still took care of us until closer to our final round, and the food was very good, so I could definitely see us returning.

Picked by: Shane 

EDIT: by the time we were putting this review together shortly after our visit it was announced that the kitchen at The Corner would be no longer. So it would still be open for drinks, but the team from Fatty’s Cheesesteaks who were operating out of the kitchen would be moving on to find their own space. So you can bet we will be on the lookout for that news in the future and following them to that new space to see what they’re cooking up there.