Kian n' Rylee's Pub & Patio inventive menu and great service

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Kian n' Rylee's located at 561 Main Street in Hyannis offers 25 types of burgers.Laurie Higgins

HYANNIS — It's usually a good idea to pay attention to the things a restaurant plays up in its name or on its menu because it's a nice clue as to what the owners think they do best. In the case of Kian n' Rylee's Pub & Patio, two things came to our attention right away. The word patio is emphasized in the name and they claim to offer Cape Cod's largest burger menu, with 25 styles to choose from.

The actual restaurant has a very small dining room and bar decorated in gold and black, making the spacious outdoor patio a better choice indeed. As a bonus, the patio offers a festive view of the crowds wandering by on Main Street. Some tables have umbrellas, but even the ones that don't are shaded by trees, making it a pleasant place to relax.

If you go:

Kian n' Rylee's Pub & Patio

561 Main St., Hyannis


Hours: 11:30 a.m. to midnight daily through September and weekends in October.

There really are 25 burgers on the menu with some fun and creative choices to top the half-pound Angus beef patties. After careful consideration, my husband chose the “Peter Piper” burger and added provolone cheese ($11.98). The burger came with grilled onions and cherry peppers, which he loves so much that a nice section of our garden is devoted to growing them.

When the burger arrived, it did not have the cheese he requested. The server took the burger back and returned it with a slice of melted cheese on top. It's hard to say whether the additional heat used to melt the cheese was the problem or whether the burger was overcooked to begin with, but it was close to well-done by the time he took the first bite, rather than the medium rare he ordered.

Even overcooked, it was delicious, with a big beefy flavor perfectly enhanced by the spicy peppers. The burgers all come with lettuce, tomato and pickles with a side of batter-coated french fries. The fries were crispy and hot.

I chose the clam cake platter ($14.99). Two perfectly golden medallions of clam cakes rested on top of a mountain of those crispy fries, making it a huge portion. The clam cakes were tender and full of pieces of chopped sweet clams, giving them a really nice clammy flavor. The little bits of onion and peppers added to that profile. The cakes were lightly coated with Panko (Japanese-style) crumbs creating a nice light texture. They came with both tartar sauce and a slightly spicy homemade remoulade sauce that was delicious. A side of cole slaw was fresh and homemade, but kind of bland.

To start, we shared a bowl of the “Loaded Chili.” The chili itself was fabulous, with nice chunks of ground beef and plenty of cherry peppers to make it nice and spicy. It's easy to see why it won second place overall in the Savannah Chili-Fest in 2004. The flavors were fabulous. The loaded portion consisted of shredded cheese, sliced red onions and more slices of cherry peppers. It is enough to be a meal unto itself.

When the chili arrived, it was only lukewarm. Our server brought it back to the kitchen and when a new bowl arrived, piping hot and with fresh toppings, we were impressed. It wasn't simply reheated in the microwave. Someone took the time to present it perfectly on the second try, showing that the kitchen cares about the customer.

Service was friendly and quick. While no one specifically checked back to make sure our food was fine, the servers on the patio worked as a team. They paid attention to all the customers, not just their own, making it easy to flag someone down when we had a problem. Teamwork like that enhances the dining pleasure for everyone.

Our experience at Kian n' Rylee's wasn't perfect, but it was very pleasant. Mistakes are bound to happen in August when the crowds are at their height. It's how quickly and cheerfully a mistake is resolved that matters in the long run, and they get an A-plus in that category. I'd go back in a minute.

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