Recently opened, The Appetite is the definition of a hidden gem, hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

When I say hole in the wall, I mean it. This restaurant has very little signage indicating its location. At 2955 S. Hillside St., Suite 500, The Appetite’s door is not facing towards the parking lot, but to the side. If you are driving from the other direction, you could easily miss it.

The ambiance of The Appetite could use some improvement. The seating is very old and looks disorganized. They do have a few cool pieces of art, and while I was there, they played jazz and lo-fi.

For an appetizer, I tried the fried pickles. I ordered the Italian grinder burger, a patty of Italian sausage and other meat on garlic bread, with parmesan fries. I also tried the mad cow burger with spicy fries, which notably had spicy mayo and jalapeños.

Starting with the appetizer, I could tell the pickles were made fresh because they were super hot and tasted better than any other restaurant’s fried pickles I’ve had. The Italian grinder burger had amazing meat. I don’t know what kind of sausage and other meats they mixed in this, but it was some of the best ground meat I’ve ever had. As for the garlic bread as buns, personally, I would have preferred normal buns, but on their own, I think the garlic bread with marinara would be a great side if this were an Italian restaurant.

The “mad cow” burger was recommended by the chef and, I gotta say, I loved it. It was such an original burger that you could taste every little ingredient without being overwhelmed. The drinks selection was very minimal, with the restaurant only serving canned drinks. I got a grape soda and lemonade.

There were lots of other things on the menu like wings and mac ‘n cheese, which were sold out when I went. I would definitely go back and try more things off this menu, but burgers seem to be the chef’s specialty.

They have a furious cow challenge where you have to eat a super spicy burger within six minutes and not drink anything for eight minutes afterward. If you complete the challenge, you get a t-shirt as a reward. They also do a customer of the month competition where you put your name in a jar and you can earn a discount at the restaurant for the entire month.

I hope this restaurant does well because the chef is talented and creative. There are a few things they can improve to make the experience better, but the most important thing about a restaurant is good food, which The Appetite excels in.