Bark at the Moon

Wordplay's fun, right? Take a common word, twirl the context around a lil' bit, get a satisfying internal chuckle...we humans love the wordplay. Without it, we would be but bitter chimpanzees, evolving at a snails-pace, begetting wildly & wondering why Ann Geddes won't take adorable photos of US instead of stupid babies. This is all foretold in the bible, people. JOHN NUMBER COLON NUMBER, PEOPLE. LOOK IT UP.

While we're on the subject of wordplay, let's discuss wordplay in the world of food. It's pretty much a given...if you're running a restaurant, give your foodstuffs quirky names & watch the chuckles roll in. Got a disgusting 6,000 calorie burger on the menu? Call it the "Triple Bypass." Chuckle when your spokesperson dies. Want to make light of everyone's favorite gay, sweater-vest-sporting former Republican presidential candidate? Add a "Santorum Salad" to the menu. Chuckle when he bows out of the presidential race. Some dude in Miami just gnawed off another dude's face? Announce a new sandwich on Twitter & then chuckle quietly to yourself whilst quickly withdrawing your idea. Also, see everything made at Guy's American Kitchen & Bar.

Here in Park Slope, Bark is jumping on the food wordplay bandwagon with their "Barkbecue Burger," the first in a line of forthcoming monthly burgers. For the entire month of March, for $8 you can pick up said awkwardly-named burger, which features bacon, cheddar & beer-battered onion rings...and OBVS BBQ SAUCE.

I gave it a try for the first time last night & after attempting to validate their expensive hot dogs for a while now, I've moved on & am OK with the "Barkbecue Burger," however stumbly the words roll off my tongue.

Inside the potato roll, we've got, from top to bottom, bacon & onion rings & cheddar and some BBQ sauce before the burger, a layer of lettuce & some more BBQ sauce. All told, it's sort of a ridiculous blend of flavors & textures. The burger itself wasn't anything spectacular, but there was a nice char on the outside. Since I'm a condiment-monger, what I found most appealing was the blend of sweet BBQ sauce & salty, melted cheddar. They really did the job in tying together the external crispness of both the onion rings & the burger with their softer insides.

If the Barkbecue burger is any indication, the burger of the month gimmick is off to a good start. Let's just hope that next month's burger isn't a....fuck, I don't know...a "DOUBLE S-TAX" or some shit...ugh...I guess post your Bark burger name suggestions in the comments & if yours gets chosen then HOLY FUCK because Bark just stole your clever idea from a FIPS column!

Oh...& yesterday, if you tagged them on Twitter (@BarkHotDogs) with the word #barlbecueburger [sic] & then ordered up the Barkbecue burger, you'd get a free Narragansett Lager. BAM. Personally, I was too drunk last night to take advantage of the offer but, from how it was explained to me, that shizz is going on beyond yesterday. Anyway...if it works out for you, you're welcome.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com and eatdrinktaco.com.