Brothers Bar and Grill

          Begun over 20 years ago in LaCrosse, WI, Brothers Bar and Grill has grown to 17 locations in 10 Midwestern states. as a place to unwind, grab some food and drink and have a good time. Locally they can be found at Newport on the Levee and also on line at http://www.brothersbar.com/corporate_home.cfm.
           While the setting is like most nicer bar and grills this place seems to have a dual identity that associates with each. Yes there is a large bar area in the middle of the massive room and televisions abound  playing a variety of sports channels. But the booths are also quiet enough and set off to the sides enough for you to feel as though you are in more of a traditional restaurant setting. Yes it's still noise, this being one very large room, but depending on where you're sitting you can have a great view of the river and the Cincinnati skyline.
          The menu is pretty traditional pub grub and grill food and is very extensive. There is a wide selection of appetizers including Wisconsin cheese curds (something most folks in this part of the country haven't experienced). There are also lots of sandwiches and wraps, Nathan's Famous hot dogs and a number of your basic entrees.
          According to their web site and "verified" by our server, the menu at each of the locations is aimed at the local community. Plus, all of the recipes have been developed to be made from scratch daily. "Our sauces, salad dressings, even the potato chips are made from scratch every day. Each store's menu caters to its local customer base and includes items such as appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers and full entrees," it states.

Burgers

          Each day Brothers offers up a lunch special and we went down to get the discounted burgers. We each asked for a Classic Burger with Cheese and waited. But we didn't have to wait long. In addition to there being friendly service the food came out quickly and was hot off the grill.

          The burgers were plump and juicy, tasting of, as they promise, one made on a flat top grill just like they did at the old '50s diners. Everything about these burgers were delicious and neither of us could really think of anything bad to say about them. With crisp homemade chips on the side, Brothers shot up our list as one of our favorite non-local dive joints. 

          Our server, having obviously been through the routine before, brought us extra napkins which we needed. These juicy patties of ground beef are multi-napkin burgers. The buns were fresh and were neither too big nor too small.

          Overall Brothers is well worth a trip to Newport on the Levee, maybe even more than once.

Mad Mike's

          Usually when a place starts talking about serving up "gourmet" burgers, we both roll our eyes, shake our heads and figure we're going to spend $10-15 for something that won't ever make our top 10 list. But Mad Mike's is different.
          With three locations, two in Florence and a new one in Newport (as well as an easy to navigate web site at http://madmikesburgers.com/), Mad Mike's seems to be in the business of making up good, fresh, tasty burgers, completely on site, at very affordable prices. Taking a page from the Five Guys handbook, Mad Mike's uses a counter and grill, spending operating funds more on quality than on a fancy server.
          The Newport location, where we went on a recommendation from a Facebook friend, is very airy and comfortable. There are plenty of tables and a true neighborhood vibe to the place.

Burgers

          Yes, there are gourmet burgers on the grill with everything ranging from a Greek style burger to one dripping in mushrooms or sporting a Hawaiian flavor. But as is our habit, we ordered up the basic build your own cheeseburger and it was mighty tasty.

          Like Five Guys, the burger is really a double with two huge 100% Black Angus beef patties dripping goodness from the bun. Also like Five Guys, the good folks at Mad Mike's essentially give you two orders of fries. Here's a tip, unless you are a French fry junkie, get one order for two people.

          The burgers themselves rivaled Five Guys and might even be better. Wait, no "might" about it, these are very, very good burgers. We left stuffed and raving about how good they tasted. You should make a trip across to Newport (a block south of the Levee) and give these burgers a try. Next time we might give one of the gourmet versions a go.

Hold It!

          First off we would like to thank the tens of people who check out our little burger musings. Due to some illness as well as some quite volatile schedules we won't be posting anything new for a week, maybe two. But we promise to return. In the mean time, you might want to check out the posts for Skinny Legs Pub and Grill and Sonny's Three Meat Burgers (which has changed locations and we will have to check it out) since those are the two most popular of our entries. People as far away as Russia and Australia have been reading about these two. So see what you're missing.