My first real hamburger in Sweden

My coworkers and I went bowling on Thursday night, and since most people know that the average person bowls better with a beer in his or her belly, we decided to go out for dinner and a drink first. One person in the group really wanted a hamburger, so we ended up at O'Leary's Sports Bar. Step into O'Leary's and you instantly feel like you're back in a normal U.S. establishment...every inch of the walls was covered in Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics paraphernalia. The waitresses were casually dressed in jeans and t-shirt jerseys with some O'Leary's slogan written in English on the backs. There were dart boards in the back, and there were as many TVs as one could hope for at a decent sports bar. They also had Sam Adams on tap, which was nice for a change.

The menu was full of the American basics. Hot wings, mozzarella sticks, a nice list of hamburgers and all the other usuals which I just glanced over. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I've had hamburgers here in Sweden, but fast food burgers really don't count. We also tried to get hamburgers at a Scottish pub about a month after we moved here, but were unfortunately served open-faced hamburgers. Disappointing if you ask me. If you don't get the top half of the bun, is it even a hamburger? Seems more like a ground beef patty served on a pile of bread and lettuce in my opinion.

The atmosphere, the Sam Adams and the hot jalapeno burger were great. A near-perfect reminder of home. I have to say near-perfect because there were just a few things that, once noticed, were a persistent reminder that yes, I was still in Sweden.

First, I mentioned to my coworkers that it was nice to finally eat a good burger in an American sports bar. "American? I thought this place was Irish!?" Based on my description so far, would any of you readers have called this an Irish joint? I didn't think so. The only thing Irish about this bar was the name.

Then there was the fact that every TV was tuned in to the Norway vs. Sweden women's handball game. I really like hand ball. Fast paced, lot of contact, not too high scoring, really goofy moves by the goalies on penalty shots. Very fun to watch. The fact that this particular game had 10 girls that look like extra blonde Mirandas didn't hurt anything. That aside, handball in a sports bar? That would be like going to a sports bar in the U.S. and having every TV tuned in to curling or field hockey. It was just out of place.

Lastly, everybody ordered hamburgers. I was excited. Swedes don't eat hamburgers that often. As I said before, I felt at home. As we started eating, only one other person picked up her burger, and she probably did that because I already had a tight hold on mine. The other three proceeded to cut into their burgers with a knife and a fork. That's the usual here, but it was way too civilized.

Conclusion: O'Leary's did their best to take me home, and if they had baseball, football or basketball, they might have tricked me, but in the end it's still Swedish to the core.