The Peppercorn Bacon Burger at the Corner Pub & Grill

Ian Froeb

The "Peppercorn Bacon Burger" at the Corner Pub & Grill

​I've wanted to visit The Corner Pub & Grill (13645 Big Bend Road, Valley Park; 636-225-1300)* ever since I reviewed the terrific new restaurant from the same owners (and located in the same shopping plaza), The Tavern Kitchen & Bar.

The menu at the Corner Pub & Grill features straight-up bar-and-grill fare: wings and other crowd-pleasing appetizers, pizza, sandwiches and burgers.

Oh, yes, there are burgers.

* - There's a second Corner Pub & Grill at 15824 Fountains Plaza Drive in Chesterfield.

The burger selection includes the impressive specimen pictured above, the "Peppercorn Bacon Burger" ($8.99) a patty topped with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, the housemade peppercorn sauce and...something else...I can't quite remember what it was...oh, yeah, a giant beer-battered onion ring.

Yes, it looks like something you'd shovel down your gullet at Applebee's, but it's pretty damn good. The patty is good, not great -- my medium-rare was more like medium -- but I really dug that peppercorn sauce. It has both a little heat and a distinct black-pepper flavor that gives this burger character.

The onion ring...eh, take it or leave it. I love good onion rings, and taken by itself, this one was good, but between the sauce and the juices from the burger and the tomato, the exterior turned mushy fairly quickly.

The waffle fries, my choice for the obligatory side, are excellent, crisp and salty. You can order them in a starter called "The King of Waffletown" in which they are smothered in bacon, cheese, sour cream and green onion -- reason enough for me to return here.