Oakley Pub and Grill

                Located just steps off of Oakley square at 3924 Isabella Ave (and online at www.oakleypubandgrill.com), the Oakley Pub and Grill is a nice neighborhood place that has been a staple in the neighborhood for several years. This place is regularly voted into the various top burgers in the city polls. Recently their Soul Burger cracked Cincinnati Magazine’s top 10 best at number seven.

                The place is comfortable with enough TVs so that there isn’t a blind spot in the place anywhere. They utilize the space well with what appears to be enough booths and tables and chairs along the bar to seat a good sized crowd.

                This was one of those times when Josh was in school and Mark was meeting someone and so he was flying solo on this review. But that isn’t to say that Josh has never eaten here. About a year and a half ago we both ventured into OPG to check out their highly touted burgers and, on that trip, were very disappointed. There was a flavor to the meat on that trip that just didn’t sit well with either of us. In fact, for one of the very few times in his life, Josh didn’t even finish the burger.

                Hoping this time would be different Mark settled in and checked out the menu.

The Burger

                I ordered up The Burger, a half-pound of Black Angus chuck that is fresh and hand patted to order. Since OPG is one of the ever shrinking number of places that actually cooks your burger to order, I called for a medium rare number with the garden and provolone cheese.

                The burger arrived promptly and was indeed cooked to order. It was thick, juicy and actually tasted like beef. This was definitely better than the last time I had been there. The fact that the garden didn’t offer up a tomato was kind of disappointing but at least the pickle and lettuce was fresh and complimented the beef and cheese. The bun, on the other hand, was a bit much for the burger. Even weighing in at a half pound (pre-cooked) it was a bit small for the bread. And while the bun wasn’t actually stale it didn’t really taste fresh, either. Perhaps it was day old or something.

                Burgers come with steak fries and these were nothing special. They were nice and thick the steak fries are supposed to be but the flavor was lacking. Actually it was pretty much missing. I know I’m a bit of a fluke of nature but I actually enjoy eating a French fry without dipping it into ketchup. I like the flavor of a good fry with just a kiss of salt. But these offered up none and the only way I could get through them was to do the obligatory ketchup dunk.

                Unfortunately the fries and bun weren’t the only thing of question at OPG. The service was rather flat. Granted when we came in and immediately found a booth our server came over offering menus and taking drink orders. He came back shortly to take our order. But it just seemed as though he really didn’t want to be there. He didn’t screw anything up in our order but he absolutely lacked personality. It was as though he were as bland as those fries.

                Remembering back on the time Josh and I had ventured in, it seems that the server that day was rather plain as well. In fact when Josh pointed out that there was something about the burger that he just didn’t like the only thing the guy said was, “Well, not everybody likes everything.” Now that wasn’t a mean or angry reply. Rather it was just such a flavorless response that seems to reflect the attitude of the entire restaurant.

                After this trip I have to say that the burger itself was worth the trip to the Oakley Pub and Grill but nothing else would warrant not crossing the street to Arthurs to get a combination of good food, great service and a fantastic atmosphere.