James' Third Base

Usually when I think of third base, two things come to mind: baseball and the backseat of my car in high school. On a day when Josh was working hard in college, I had a a meeting at my accountant's office. On the way back home I discovered another kind of third base as I slid into James' Third Base Sports Bar and Grill.

Located at 1079 Reading Rd. in Mason, Third Base lives up to its name, at least in terms of the decor. It is you typical sports pub with TVs playing all of the available sports channels. They see themselves as much a neighborhood casual restaurant as a sports pub and do their best to combine the two. The menu is fairly extensive compared to many similar places. They offer a fairly wide selection of sandwiches, salads and wraps to compliment the traditional bar food appetizers.

But I was there for the burger. The lunch menu (when I was there) only offers a single steak burger but at dinner time you can get the double and even a triple. I settled for the single with American and a light run through the garden.

When you call your burger a steak burger the diner just assumes that the meat is ground sirloin. I'm not sure what it was but mine didn't really have that sirloin flavor. It was well cooked and fresh but tasted more like an 80-20 ground beef that had been slapped together. In short, there was nothing special about it. And at $7.49 ($8.49 at dinner time) it seemed a tad over priced, especially when I could have driven a couple miles and eaten at a Five Guys.

Don't get me wrong, Third Base is a decent place. I'm sure during peak sports times the place is rocking and folks have a great time. Perhaps I was anticipating more from what was called a steak burger (shoot, this wasn't even Steak N Shake quality) but I left disappointed and wondering why my money really went. It was kind of like leading off the inning with a stand-up triple and being stranded when my teammates couldn't get the ball out of the infield. Oh well. There's always next season.

Hooters

I was out of town on some business while Josh was back home attended to his college classes. Some of the people I was working with wanted to head to Hooters after work. Now I've been to Hooters a few times (always for the food, never to look at the girls) and know that they have some decent grub, especially their wings. When we got there they had a special on their burgers and it dawned on me that I hadn't ever devoured one of their meaty offerings.

Hooters was started in Clearwater, FL in 1983. The business was incorporated on April Fools day because even the six business men who founded it didn't think the concept would succeed. They were wrong. The casual dining chain owns 140 restaurants and franchises 430 more. They also operate a Las Vegas casino. To find one near you (if you don't already know) check them out on line at http://www.hooters.com/Home/Default.aspx.

The Burger

I was a little apprehensive about ordering the burger. As I said, I'd had their wings on numerous occasions and had even eaten a few other sandwich specials over the years. But the burger was virgin territory for me. But I was game and so I ordered up a "build your own" burger with pepper jack cheese and my choice of garden. 

The food arrived in a decent amount of time, hitting the table hot off the grill. The burger was thick and juicy, the bun soft, yet firm. I was still a little worried considering the luck I'd had at other chicken/wing restaurants in the past. But I'll be honest, this was a pretty decent burger, especially for a chain. The meat was fresh with a nice flavor. All of the ingredients complimented each other and none really stole from the flavor of the meat, even the bit of bite from the pepper jack cheese.

I wouldn't go so far as to say this was a great burger. But it ranks up there with a Friday's burger, perhaps. Well, close to it anyway. The fries were decent and the service was fast and friendly (and not bad to look at considering that we met one of the Hooters girls who was featured in the 2014 calendar). I don't go out of my way to eat at a Hooters and this burger isn't going to change that. But if I'm in a position to nosh at one of these I might actually consider the burger next time and not just dive into the wings.

Andy's Cafe

With Josh being the good college student and attending classes, I had to run over near Elmwood to pick up some materials for an upcoming commercial shoot. I was pretty familiar with the area because I had spent an extended time working with a production company that was once housed over there. For that reason I knew there were a few nice little neighborhood diners in the area and I decided to stop in Andy's Cafe for lunch.

Andy's is a true neighborhood place and one of the joints we would go on occasion for lunch. Located at 7201 Vine St., just south of where Paddock meets Vine at the "big Indian sign," it is a small corner building with the bar and a few tables in front and more tables in a back room.

They call themselves a "family restaurant" and it comes across not only in the people who work there but those who frequent the place. While I was sitting there I saw several people stop in, see someone and not only say "hello" but ask about their family. This is a place where everyone not only knows your name but your family as well.

I hadn't had one in a long time so I ordered up a Big Andy double decker burger. This is a freshly made burger with beef that took a little time to prepare. They were frying it up on their flattop just for me.

When it arrived it looked perfect. There was that char around the edges of the meat that a good cook knows how to make. The two beef patties were stacked high on a standard bun with my garden sitting on top. I bit in hoping this was going to be as good as it looked. I was only a little disappointed. The beef tasted fresh and had that perfect flattop grill flavor. The tomato, understandably considering the season, was not the best but the cheese, the slice of American cheese tasted like it was bulk purchased Kraft. For me that really drew down what otherwise was a pretty good burger.

Overall I enjoyed my trip to Andy's Cafe. I could have done with a better slice of cheese. But the ambiance is neighborhood joint cool and the service was friendly. If you are ever traveling along I-75 around meal time you might want to hop off at the Paddock Rd. exit and head west a block to Vine then south to Andy's. And while you're there, check out that "big Indian sign."

The Best Burger in America

With Josh in college and Mark on the road, this week we're posting an article we found on line touting the best burgers in America. Now, of course, we all know, just like this column, all such lists and rankings are totally biased. It really depends on what folks are looking for. And one person's favorite may not make another person's top 10.

A quick look at this list reveals quite a range in prices. Now granted, we have only tried one of these (it happens to be the cheapest) but if the others are as good then we would like to tout those as well. While we might want to try them all but come on, a $26 burger? On our next trip to New York we might just give it a try.

Check out the list and let us know if anyone has eaten at any of these: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/best-burgers-america-160524886.html