Our adventures have taken us all around East Lansing and Lansing seeking whatever catches our eye and tempts our appetite. The countless unique restaurants that this area provides gives us a wonderful selection for comparison of the American staple that is beef, bun and beauty.

Despite the individuality the restaurants show, there also seems to be a lot of "sports bars". These can vary quite a bit, and their overall atmosphere seems to depend on the crowds that frequent them. Reno's East Side fits right in with the sports bar population. Reno's East Side is mirrored by Reno's West Side in Lansing, which has the same menu and look but in a bigger building. We may visit there later for comparison, but I suspect that food and service are relatively similar between the two restaurants... If you want to try out Reno's, you're probably safe going to either one.

The restaurant looks like a typical sports bar, with TVs wherever you turn and tuned to various sporting events. It is much more spacious than most sports bars, however. All the extra floor space allows Reno's to have pool tables, air hockey, and video games for patrons to use.

The large areas were a drawback for Molly, who thought that the dark and mostly empty side room we ate in was lonely. She described it as "sitting in your living room alone watching football."I echo the sentiment. Restaurants with wide open spaces make me feel like I am on display for others to watch (and vice-versa), and removes any kind of intimacy between people coming together. Except for potentially humorous people-watching opportunities, this is a bad thing. This problem really only affects one side of the restaurant, which is positive, because the other space is very nicely separated and filled with tables and games.

The Reno's crowd is mostly older than college age- they target middle-class males and their families over college students from East Lansing (despite proximity to Chandler's Crossings and other low-price housing). This turns out to be ok, as most are old MSU fans and don't mind sharing a restaurant with current Spartans. The atmosphere is pretty friendly and inviting, and a lot quieter than other sports bars in the area, even when it is packed during a basketball or football game.

Reno's has an impressive drink menu. Their 24 taps include micro-brews from Michigan as well as Strongbow cider and Uncle John's pear cider(Perry). Dave was especially happy to see the pear cider, which is a pretty rare drink to find in the States. In addition to a great beer selection, they have a huge list of mixed drinks and shots- Reno's clearly encourages eccentric ways to get drunk, which gets their support from me. Unfortunately, the beverage prices weren't particularly good, and you end up paying a bit more than other bars for the same things.


Besides the alcoholic drinks, Reno's also has the audacity to carry both Coke and Pepsi products! Harmony reigns in Reno's bar... Try asking for a Coke/Pepsi mixture and feel the world hug itself. Vernor's, the Michigan original, is also listed prominently among the other beverages, evoking respect from me, Carl, and other ginger ale aficionados.

Reno's provides free popcorn to eat as you wait for your food, which is... popcorn. It's what you expect it to be. You will eat too much of it. That being said, free food is always welcome, even in kernel form. The only other appetizer we saw was Molly's order of mac and cheese bites- pieces of mac and cheese breaded and deep-fried. Yes, they're as good as they sound- I actually think they're better. Molly thought they were "Tasty and fresh", and found that there was plenty to share. If you've never had these before, they're worth trying.

Now we come to the main event: the burgers. Dave and I ordered "Dave's olive burger", Molly had miniburgers, Carl ordered a cheeseburger with gouda, and Amber had the Westsider (BBQ sauce, smoked bacon, onion rings, jalapeno jack cheese). These are among the eight choices of burgers provided by Reno's menu. They are all around $8.00 and include french fries ($1.00 extra for onion rings or waffle fries, $1.50 to load the fries with bacon, cheese and green onions) as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mayo. Something they also include on their menu is the ability to substitute a Boca burger or chicken breast for a beef patty on any burger for free.

The patties are black angus, and although their method of cooking isn't described (I would assume they're grilled) the half pound burger patties were not overly greasy or juicy, and they were seasoned mildly. The seasoning wasn't exquisite, but it wasn't bad at all.

The burgers are served on a kaiser bun, which is generally a good choice. These buns had a hint of sweetness to them. They were definitely substantial to hold the burger without crumbling into oblivion, but some of us weren't happy with our level of toasting. Further toasting would have improved the burger and maybe evened out the strange gum-like texture of the kaiser bun. Mediocre ratings prevailed for the bun, but I personally congratulate Reno's for even trying something different.

Topping quality alone cannot make a hamburger. However, Reno's received unusually good ratings for their topping freshness, which is a sign that they are using good produce. Further investigation of the site includes this disclaimer: "We pride ourselves in buying locally grown and produced products. Many of our breads, produce,dressings, dairy, meats and paper goods are purchased from Michigan based businesses." This is a bit unexpected, and much appreciated. A little bit of support for Michigan and local businesses can go a long way in gaining customer loyalty.

Dave also found that his namesake olive burger was a good choice for another reason: "Olive placement was superior- under the cheese, with relish on the bun" The two-olive punch provided by Reno's Olive burger was surprising to me at first, and the mixture of texture between the olive relish and the actual olives melded with a good dynamic of flavor. Accompanied by the other fresh toppings of the burger, the flavors stood out as unique.

The service that we got at the restaurant was good. This may be attributed to the lack of patronage on a Sunday at 2:30 pm, but nevertheless we got fast and friendly service. Whatever problems that I had with the restaurant came from the kitchen, not the server. My burger was definitely overcooked, and Amber was the victim of a cheese switcheroo: "I don't think I got pepper Jack- I think they gave me mozzarella, but it was still fantastic."

Molly was disappointed as well with her food: "Too well done, no pink whatsoever, and fries that were much too crisp" she vigorously exclaimed. The loaded waffle fries that she had opted to pay extra for were not quite what she wanted. Luckily, the rest of us avoided the waffle crisps and chose the regular fries, albeit loaded. There were no complaints from the rest of us about the fries.

We all finished our meals feeling satisfied and full (albeit dizzy from being surrounded by televisions) , but there are quite a few things that Reno's could do to step up its game. Lowering the prices would be one step- another would be to hire cooks who actually try to cook to order. Overall, I would go back for good drinks, games and games, but at this point it is not a contender for any regular visits.

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ELBC Burger Happiness Analysis:

Doneness/Cooked to Order: 3.5 - I feel like the cooks ignored how I ordered my burger. Other members were happier.

Freshness/Topping Quality: 4.5

Bun: 3.5 - Supposed to be toasted- but were they really?

Price: 3 - David: "You get what you pay for."

Patty Seasoning/flavor: 3.5

Speed: 4 - Molly: "Appetizer and burger timing were spaced properly."

Likability of Waiter/Waitress: 4.5

Accommodation of Special Requests: 3.75

Appearance: 4 - Carl: "Lots of TVs, though all were tuned to NFL (ew.)"

Ambiance: 4

Crowd: 3.5

Cleanliness: 4.5

My Overall Rating: 3.5 - Pretty cool place, and the food was mostly solid, but the cooks failed to deliver what I really wanted, despite the intention of our server. The prices are a bit much, but I'd come here again for a good meal, some pool, and a mug of cider.

Dave's Overall Rating: 3.39 - "Popcorn is cool, Uncle John's Perry is delish- Big variety of food and drink, I will come back for other foods."

Carl's Overall Rating: 4 - "Gouda cheese on a burger? Never heard of it, but they have it and it was good. Toppings were real fresh and the bun was good, yet could have been toasted more. Good beer selection on tap. Overall, the burger was so good, I didn't want to put it down at first."

Molly's Overall Rating: 3.5 - "I appreciated the choice of Miniburgers when that was exactly the dish I was craving; however, I feel like I missed out on a lot of the appeal without being able to drink the beers and numerous fruity drinks- that would have pushed ratings from good to great. Ask me again in a year."

Amber's Overall Rating: 5 - "My burger and loaded fries accompanied by Strongbow were excellent. The ranch dressing was homemade and AWESOME on my fries. I like it, and I feel confident enough to express that."

Burger: 3.75
Service: 4
Restaurant: 4
Group Overall Value: 4
Group Overall Rating: 3.75

ELBC Official Rating for Reno's East Side: 3.75/5