Beef O'Brady's

                While we both enjoy eating at the little neighborhood joints more than a chain, sometimes finding one of the many mid-sized chains with good food and decent prices is always a joy. Such was the case with Beef O’Brady’s. We had avoided going here simply because it is a chain (and come on, they have a college football bowl game named after them) and nothing had really led us to one of the three Northern Kentucky or two Dayton area locations. Until recently.

        Begun in 1985 in Bradenton, FL, Beef’s, as the menu and web site (http://beefobradys.com/default.aspx) would have you believe everyone calls it, is a true sports bar with lots and lots of televisions and a rather hefty menu that goes beyond mere bar food. We ate at the location in Newport at 1723 Monmouth on a Saturday at lunch time. While the place was full, we were seated right away and had views of at least six different games. (By the way, this was the day of the infamous “Cross Town Shootout” which Xavier won but U.C., in the end, showed more class in handling the fight.) The place was pretty raucous but even with the occasional cheering and clapping we didn’t have any trouble carrying on our own conversation.

                The service was prompt and our food came out in a very reasonable amount of time which just added to the overall “good times” atmosphere.

The Burgers

                We both ordered up a “Build Your Own Burger” which allowed us to pick our own toppings rather than order one of the specialty burgers offered on the menu. While this is convenient it can also get to be expensive as each optional topping costs fifty cents.

                Josh ordered his with American cheese, lettuce and tomato (the lettuce and tomato are not add-ons and don’t cost anything extra). We each added our condiments of choice. The burgers are fresh Angus beef that is seasoned with kosher salt and black pepper and served on a toasted brioche bun. You can order up either traditional straight fries or curly fries. We both went the curly route.

                The burgers are thick and juicy and the seasoning is just enough to bring out the flavor of the meat without masking it. The bun is a soft with a nice mellow flavor but is a little thick which makes the burger a bit difficult to bite into. Still, that isn’t that major of a drawback. The fries were OK. Other than them being a bit curly there really wasn’t anything special about them.

                Overall we were glad that we finally “discovered” Beef O’Brady’s. Both of us agree that it ranks higher than a lot of the chain restaurants such as Applebee’s and competes favorably with Friday’s burgers. This doesn’t match the quality and flavor of our favorite local joints but for a chain, it’s not bad. If you’re in the area of one of their locations, you might just want to stop in and give them a try.

Pepper Pod

                You can always tell a local neighborhood place when you enter and feel as though you have walked in on a family gathering. That is the case with the Pepper Pod. Established in 1956 the Pepper Pod has been a landmark at 703 Monmouth St. in Newport. While all of Newport has a rather colorful history, according to legend the Pepper Pod was right in the middle of much of it. Supposedly this fine eating establishment was at one time connected to a rather active house of ill repute. In essence you could order up food and a girl and enjoy both at a low cost.

                Today the Pepper Pod serves a menu that offers up some sandwiches and comfort food. The prices are quite reasonable and while parking in Newport can be a problem depending on the time of day, there are generally some street spots open on this part of Monmouth.

                This was one of those times when Josh was in school and Mark was meeting someone who suggested heading to the Pepper Pod to try out their burgers.

The Burger

                The Pepper Pod’s Regular Cheese Burger is a quarter pound of ground beef that tastes fresh and not frozen. I ordered up a platter with fries and cole slaw. But before I get to the food I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about the service. As I said earlier, walking into the Pepper Pod is like walking into a family or neighborhood gathering. While that’s great if you are part of the gathered group, it can be a bit of a problem if you’re not.

                We walked in and sat ourselves since there was no one offering to seat us and plenty of tables available. While folks were talking to each other around the restaurant, carrying on friendly banter among themselves and the server and bus person, no one even acknowledged us. It took eight minutes from when we sat before the server walked by and said she’d be right back to take our drink order. She didn’t come right back. After dropping off the food at the next table she headed back toward the kitchen and didn’t return for a few more minutes. When she did return she took care of the check for someone leaving and then, finally, came to get our drink order.

                And on it went. It was very frustrating to sit there watching other people being served while we waited. When the food eventually came it was rather pedestrian. The cole slaw was first, tasting just like scores of other restaurants that probably order their food from the same place. French fries were the same, crinkle cut and cooked just right but nothing special.

                Then there was the burger. It didn’t suck but it wasn’t great either. It tasted like a burger with melted American cheese, tomato and mayo. Nothing more, nothing less. This was too bad because the place needed a genuinely wonder burger to compensate for the absolutely awful service.

                If you are heading to Newport to grab a burger there are a lot of options. I would suggest you by pass the Pepper Pod and find one of the others.

Roy Rogers

                In November, 1911 just a couple of blocks north of the Ohio River, young Leonard Slye was born. Though he only lived there for a brief time before his family moved to a farm about a hundred miles east of the city, this was the birthplace of the person who would become one of the most legendary cowboys ever: Roy Rogers.

                A high school dropout, Roy first gained some fame as a country singer with a few groups on some Los Angeles radio stations and then, along with his group, the Sons of the Pioneers, was booked on a couple of short films before landing a couple of supporting roles in features. Legend has it that at a time when Gene Autry was at odds with Republic pictures, the studio decided to give the lead to young Roy. Under Western Stars became a hit and made a star out of the “Singing Cowboy.”

                Back in 1968, Roy, always a good businessman, licensed his name to the Marriott Corporation to adorn a chain of fast food restaurants that featured hamburgers and chicken. In 1982 the franchise was sold to Hardee’s which tried to convert all of the restaurants to their signature brand but a customer backlash convinced them to not only abandon the idea but to change back any locations that had been converted.

                At its peak, there were over 650 Roy Rogers locations, mostly in the east and Midwest. Today fewer than 50 locations survive, owned by 13 franchises. Luckily one of those is on the eastern side of the city, not far from Eastgate Mall. Located at 474 Roney Lane just off State Route 32 (and at http://www.royrogersrestaurants.com/#/home on line), the lone area Roy Rogers is showing signs of wear.

                Though the restaurant is small and has seen better days it is still crowded most days, especially at lunch. And there is a reason for that. It’s the same one that caused customers to protest when Hardee’s wanted to change them over.

The Burger

                Josh was in school (darn that senior year) and I was in the area near lunch time and decided to stop in, having not enjoyed a Roy burger in what seemed like ages. Just as I had remembered it, the place was small and crowded. Even at that it didn’t take much time to look up at the posted menu and ordered up my favorite, a Double R Bar. The Double R Bar is a quarter pound burger with cheese and ham. Yes, ham. Add some of Roy’s barbeque sauce to this and it makes one tasty fast food treat.

                Yes, I said it, I added some things to the burger that normally for this blog I wouldn’t dare to even consider. The ham and barbeque sauce aside, this is pretty much your basic fast food burger. Yes it’s better than say McDonald’s or Burger King or Wendy’s. Maybe even on par with those chain’s better burgers. So don’t expect any magical, fresh and never frozen fast food patty here.

                Their fries, like their burgers, aren’t anything out of this world either. They are basic and in my experience have always been consistent in how they are prepared.

                Perhaps it is the nostalgia or that fact that this is now the last one in the area but I do enjoy these burgers and I will go there, given the chance, rather than stop in at one of the big three. If you’ve never had a burger at Roy’s it is worth the effort, especially if you happen to find yourself in the Eastgate area.

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.

The Blue Jay

                The Blue Jay is one of those great family owned neighborhood places that we just love to visit. Located at 4154 Hamilton Ave. in the heart of Northside, it is a perfect example of what restaurants use to be like before the invasion of the chains.

                At The Blue Jay you can order up breakfast 24 hours a day and, for under $6 you probably won’t have to eat again until dinner, if not the next day. The portions are large and definitely remind you of breakfast at your grandmother’s house; especially if your grandmother, like Mark’s was literally from the “holler” in southeastern Kentucky where breakfast was the largest meal of the day.

                There are other goodies on the menu here, especially very large double decker sandwiches and a host of comfort food. But it was the burgers that brought us on a day when there was a gas leak on Hamilton Ave. That odor of gas a couple blocks away was something from which we desperately wanted to escape. It made you wonder how the (literally) nine workers who were collecting overtime could stand it. Of course only one was down in the hole actually doing anything while the other eight were giving him crap.

                Inside The Blue Jay that odor became an immediate distance memory as the place literally smells of home cooking. It’s quaint and comfortable, even on a chilly day. And the noise here is perfect; people talking, the sound of orders being called out, the sizzle from the grill. This is a joint!

Burgers

                In keeping with the tradition of our blog, we both ordered basic burgers, the double cheeseburger deluxe. Nothing fancy about the name which is fitting for a place like this. We didn’t get a chance to ask but from the taste and how juicy these burgers were we guessed that the beef was brought in fresh daily, never frozen. From how the patties are each just a little different we also guessed that they are hand patted with each order.

                The buns, likewise, were fresh and tasted like Klosterman’s though once again, because the place was so busy and our waitress was running around giving great service, we didn’t get a chance to find out for sure. While the tomato, lettuce and pickle were fresh and tasty they didn’t overpower the burger. One thing that always bothers us is when a place puts so much lettuce on the burger that you have to tear some off in order to actually get to the burger. Are these places trying to hide something? Are they trying to add an extra crunch to their sandwich? Lettuce on a burger is there to compliment not turn it into a salad.

                Our fries were pretty basic restaurant crinkle cuts. Obviously the oil hadn’t been recycled too many times and probably nothing else was ever cooked in it. They were passable, even good with a crispy outside and warm, soft middle, but nothing to stand on the bench of the booth and shout from on high about how these are the most spectacular spuds you’ve ever had.

                Mark had ordered up the cole slaw (he got the fries and slaw as part of a platter for $3) and determined it was in the same category as the fries. It was pretty standard, creamy restaurant cole slaw. But that is much better than ordering slaw and finding some “special” recipe surprise. Besides, this is how you would expect the slaw to taste in a diner such as The Blue Jay.

                While parking in Northside can always be a bit of a hassle, there are a couple of lots and plenty of meters if you take the time to look. And heading to The Blue Jay is well worth taking the time. In fact, if like us, you go for a burger, you will definitely come back to enjoy breakfast.

Dena's Diner

                On a trip up toward Oxford, we stopped at a fun little strip mall restaurant that has been hailed for their burgers. Dena’s Diner is exactly what the name implies, a mom and pop type joint that serves up a bunch of comfort food.

                It really is too bad that this place is located in a strip mall because it so wants to exude the ambiance of an old style car hop diner. Still, this small, well lit restaurant has a varied menu filled with nine burger options as well as daily specials.

                We stopped in at lunch time on a Sunday and most of the tables were filled. Even being a bit crowded it didn’t take long for us to be served and to have our lunches cooked up fresh for us.

                Located at 8375 Colerain Ave. in the Grossbeck neighborhood of Colerain, Dena’s Diner is located very close to Cross County Highway so it is a convenient place to stop.

The Burgers

                We both had a Diner Burger with cheese. This and all of Dena’s burgers is made from six ounce hand patted Angus ground chuck and the freshness showed. Neither of us wanted to pay extra for the fries so we settled for a bag of chips instead, which, along with a small bowl of fruit salad, is included in the cost.

                The fruit salad was a surprise. You’re used to seeing something like that at First Watch and other such restaurants but not a neighborhood diner. The fruit was fresh and juicy and made us feel a little less guilty for having pigged out on yet another burger and not eaten anything “healthy.”

                But the burgers were healthy. They were juicy and tasty and their reputation is well won. Josh even insisted on having a picture of his burger with a bite taken out rather than our typical “before” type shot.

                It’s refreshing when a burger tastes like a burger and not frozen or over seasoned meat. These burgers tasted like their name, a diner burger. Nothing fancy, just like Dena’s, but with plenty of flavor. Add in the quaint atmosphere while ignoring the strip mall location and it’s well worth the effort to head over to the northwest side to check out Dena’s Diner.

The Mound Cafe

                The Mound Café (or Indian Mound Café if you will) is one of those old style neighborhood joints sitting in an old style neighborhood. Located at 5226 Montgomery Rd. in the heart of Norwood, at the corner of Indian-Mound Ave., this is one of those places that will make you feel right at home even if it’s the first time you’ve ever visited. On the day I visited (Josh was in school) there were only a handful of people in the place but the guy behind the bar who doubled as the server knew about half of them by their first name. In fact, one woman walked in and as he said “hi” he asked if she wanted her usual or something else. She ordered something else but didn’t have to look at the menu in order to choose.

                While the menu is mostly sandwiches and bar food staples, the smell coming from the kitchen’s flat top grill testified that many a local had eaten here before me. The place is large, with two dining rooms flanking the large bar area offering up plenty of seating. One of those dining areas features some bar room game favorites such as shuffleboard. The place is also rather bright with large windows across the west side letting in plenty of light.

The Burger

                It’s easy to choose what you want to have when you’re writing up a burger blog and the menu is this simple. I ordered up the ½ pound cheeseburger. Costing all of $4.50 this was quite a deal even when I tossed in the extra $1.50 to make it a sandwich basket; basically adding fries.

                The burger was run through the garden though I asked for no onions. And the garden was fine. The tomato was fresh and plump, adding to the natural juices that dripped into my basket from the burger. They didn’t pile in too much lettuce. I don’t understand why some restaurants insist on putting a half a head of lettuce on a burger when most people pick the excess off before eating. Also, there were plenty of pickle slices.

                Biting into the burger was delightful. The bun was soft and helped soak up some of the juices (though plenty dripped into the basket). The burger itself tasted like a burger. I’m not sure what type of meat they used but it was fresh and tasted like ground chuck.

                The fries that came as the result of my ordering a basket were crispy shoestrings. I haven't had shoestrings in a while and these were done up right. I think because shoestrings are so much thinner that they can often be overcooked. But these were done just right and in what had to be very fresh oil. Good stuff. Nothing great but good. Just like the burger.

                It wouldn’t be fair to compare this burger with The Mound Café’s neighbor just a little further north at the corner of Montgomery and Quatman. That burger is one of the all-time favorites of local burger fair having won a well-deserved reputation. Just keep in mind that Floyd Mayweather may not be a heavyweight but he still can throw a knockout punch. The same holds true for the burgers of The Mound Café. The next time you’re around Norwood, forgo the more famous burger in that neighborhood and give this one a try.