Taste this: Pimento Burger ($7.99) at Swensons
Creator: Vinnie Cimino, head chef at Cordelia
Creator’s backstory: The Akron native opened Cordelia with business partner Andrew Watts in 2022. It quickly became a local favorite, leading Cleveland Magazine to dub Cordelia its best new restaurant of 2023. In 2024, Cimino was a finalist for a James Beard award. Cimino spent his early career years at The Grotto, Russo’s and Ken Stewart’s Grille before landing at The Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland.
What makes this item special: The Pimento Burger is the second collaboration for Swensons. It’s a new endeavor for the 91-year-old burger chain, which wants to highlight local and regional chefs. And as a lifelong Swensons fan, Cimino was a perfect choice. The Pimento Burger is only available until June 30.
The spice level of the pimento cheese is just right. It offers enough heat to balance out the sweetness of Swensons’ white sauce and patties, but not so much that you’ll have to down milkshakes to cool off. The Kool-Aid pickles add a nice tangy and sharp bite to the burger. It’s a little messy, though, so keep those napkins at the ready.
Eye test: Like Swensons’ Galley Boy, the Pimento Burger comes with the traditional double patties and the restaurant’s special white sauce. Cimino’s version includes onions, pimento cheese and Kool-Aid pickles. Another fluorescent green pickle chip adorns the top of the burger, skewered on a toothpick with the Galley Boy’s signature olive.
Process: “When we were thinking about what we wanted to do, I knew that I wanted to do a rendition of a Galley Boy, one of my favorite sandwiches of all time,” Cimino said.
Cordelia is known for its roasted smoked jalapeno pimento cheese, and Cimino knew that would transfer well. (He estimated that he’s made about 300 gallons of pimento cheese for the Swensons collab.) The cheese is paired with another Cordelia ingredient: Kool-Aid pickles. They’re an homage to Cimino’s grandma, who made them when he was a kid. But as Cimino found out in Cordelia’s early days, sourcing bulk lemon-lime Kool-Aid is no easy (or affordable) feat.
“I’m like, ‘We’re just gonna circumvent this, and then we’re gonna figure out how to make our own Kool-Aid,’” he said. After multiple YouTube tutorials and studying the ingredients list on Kool-Aid packets, he did just that.
“We make our own version of a bread-and-butter pickle. Mix with a bunch of onions and mustard seed and garlic and everything else. And we steep our cucumbers in, we call it pickle water. And then, once they come out of the pickle water, we dye them with our version of this lemon lime Kool-Aid, which is a bunch of ascorbic acid and citric acid and more sugar and more mustard seed and a little bit of green dye to kind of make it all really pop,” Cimino said.
“Taste This” is our glimpse of the Akron area’s tastiest, distinctive and popular (or soon-to-be-famous) food, drinks and desserts — and the local culinary talents behind them. Tough job, we know. Know any menu items we should consider? Tell us here.
Pairs with: Any good burger needs a crispy, starchy side, and, fortunately, Swensons has plenty of options. (I recommend the french fries or Potato Puffs.) For a sweet treat, try one of the Sips of the Month: a Peach Cobbler Milkshake or a Peach Lemonade Whip.
About the company: If you’ve lived in Northeast Ohio for more than a week, chances are you’re familiar with Swensons. The beloved chain has been going strong since 1934 and in recent years expanded its footprint to Columbus and Cincinnati.
How to buy: Swensons has 12 locations in Northeast Ohio. They are open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
