Traci's Sports Lounge and Grill

          With Josh dealing with his own teen-aged life, I found myself up near my old stomping grounds of Loveland and decided that my friend and I would try out a place that I had passed several times but into which I had never stopped: Traci's Sports Lounge and Grill. Located at 784 Loveland-Miamiville Rd. (and on the web at http://www.tracissports.com/), Traci's bills itself as a "casually posh social lounge" crossed with the "energy of a sport's bar." Quite a combination.
          Opened by former Cincinnati Ben-Gal cheerleader and current coach Traci Napier in December, 2010, Traci's is at its heart a sports bar. With lots of big screens providing a myriad of events and, at least on my visit, a friendly and efficient bartender/server, the place is inviting and, one can imagine when crowded, very electric. Above and beyond that, though, is the fact that the chairs and bar stools in this place are actually comfortable. When was the last time you were in a sports bar where the seats were, how can I say this, actually a little plush? Maybe that's the "casually posh social lounge" coming through.

          When we walked in we were immediately asked if we had been there before. Upon hearing that we hadn't our bartender/server (it was a slow and rainy Saturday) told us that this place was mostly a bar and so the food reflected that. One look at the menu and that was confirmed. But the reason I was there was the burger and that sat right at the top.

Burger

           I ordered up Traci's Regular Burger, a quarter pound of 100% Angus beef, and splurged the fifty cents to add a slice of American cheese. I then added in another buck fifty to have fries with my meal.

          The burger arrived in due time and the large Kaiser bun was just about the right size. I noticed immediately that the fifty cent slice of American cheese wasn't actually melted on the burger but rather had been plopped on the patty after it came off the grill.

          This may be 100% Angus beef but it had been frozen before it kissed the grill. Never a good sign. And that was reflected in the quality of the burger. While the lettuce and tomato were fresh (in fact there was almost too much lettuce and became a near hazard as I worked my way through the burger), they couldn't really enhance a burger that was rather lifeless.

          Add to that the fact that my dollar fifty shoestring fries were beginning to get cold by the time they reached the table and it's easy to say that this wasn't one of the better burger joints in which I had ever eaten.

          I imagine that if you wanted to come, hang out with some friends, have a beer and some wings and watch some college ball on a Saturday afternoon, Traci's would be a good bet. But to go out and have a burger, you are better off going to any number of other joints.