Social Occasion
Want to meet new people, hear new (old) music, eat, uh...new ice cream? Head to Bobbie's Dairy Dip at 5301 Charlotte today (Saturday, June 28) around 6 p.m. for the half-century-old burger stand's Ice Cream Social. Order up a hot fudge cake (two spoons, please) and stake out a spot to hear Caitlin Rose, James Wallets, Sawgrass, Danger and The Steel Cut Oats play, starting at 7 p.m.
Here's hoping you have better luck than we had at Bobbie's last night, though. The burger was unusually small and dry, and the sweet potato fries were literally blackened and had an unpleasant aftertaste of burned oil. The whole vibe at the place was just...weird. After being open more than 50 years, a joint's entitled to an off night now and then. But Bobbie's, a local treasure, isn't a place anyone wants to see start slipping.
Comments
Was that the night they had a guy with sunglasses at the window? He really seemed out of it.
Posted 06/30/2008 at 09:24:57 AMI love Bobbie's to death, but quite frankly, I have never understood the praise that their burger has gotten. Time and time again I've tried it and every time it's just like you described, Pink - bland and dry.
I pretty much just go for the ice cream.
Posted 06/30/2008 at 11:07:15 AMThat's definitely the way it came across at our burger tasting a few months back. But right after Claire Mullally took it over, the upgrade in the burgers was notable. The meat had better overall quality (e.g., no gristle, which used to make me gag at the old Bobbie's), and the thin patties were grilled just long enough to get the kiss of flame without turning into beer coasters.
Then again, Bobbie's ice cream covers a multitude of sin, though Mrs. Pink swore the other night that the soft serve was so soft it was almost milky.
Posted 06/30/2008 at 11:17:25 AMAs many Bobbie's fans know, Claire Mullally, mother of sweet Jack, wife of musician Greg Trooper, lawyer by trade, sold Bobbie's more than a year ago. She is currently lawyering in NY and living in Far Rockaway. Not only has Bobbie's not been the same since she sold it, but neither have the monthly meetings of the Mother's Resource Group, aka The Anti-Social Drinking Mothers Club, a group of 12 mothers (now 11) that gathers monthly at my house to eat and drink. I took my kids---who count Bobbie's as one of the culinary touchstones of their childhood---there late last summer to see how it was transitioning, and we were all so disappointed and saddened we have not gone back. Even the ice cream is different. Claire sends her best from New Yawk.
Posted 06/30/2008 at 12:31:41 PMThanks, Kay. I figured (probably wrongly) most people here knew that Claire Mullally was no longer running Bobbie's. I'm glad you pointed it out—especially since the problems I've had with Bobbie's have all been post-Claire. (The place was bought last year by Sam Huh and Geoff Collins of J&J's Market on Broadway.) The great thing Claire brought to Bobbie's (besides her ability to make everyone feel welcome) was quality control. That's what seemed conspicuously missing the other night, sad to say.
So is the Mother's Resource Group an auxiliary of the League of Beleaguered Women?
Posted 06/30/2008 at 02:41:25 PMbut at least our paychecks don't bounce anymore.
Posted 07/06/2008 at 03:13:29 PM