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

J. Alexander

Founded in 1971 in Nashville with a nationwide expansion plan that is rather selective, J. Alexander's is an upscale casual restaurant that now has over 30 locations in large cities in 12 different states. With more of the trappings of a high end restaurant rather than the "neighborhood" casual places that dot the landscape, J. Alexander's prides itself on using wood fires to cook fresh, high quality food. That's the company line.

We ventured to the one location here in the Tri-State located in Rookwood Commons (you can find them on line at http://www.jalexanders.com/index.php and while the site is smooth and stylish it doesn't really tell much about the restaurant). But we didn't go to check out the web site, we went to try a burger.

We each had an Old Fashioned Cheeseburger that is made from fresh chuck that is ground daily and then hand patted into a thick burger. They brag about their food being wood cooked and as we do the vast majority of our grilling using wood (and different types of wood for different types of food, we know something about the subject.

One bite and you can taste the wood smoke that has cooked into the meat. The burger is fresh and juicy and was cooked to our tastes. The flavor of the fresh chuck was enhanced by the use of Tillamook cheddar, an Oregon cheese that pairs very nicely with the burger. In fact, the entire burger is very, very good.

But this isn't the kind of place most people will want to make their regular neighborhood burger joint. Though the burgers are very tasty they come at a price; and that price is high. Our burgers were $12 each and the fries added another $5.

If you want a good smokey burger then you might want to make a visit to J. Alexander's. Just bring a lot of money. If, like us, you want a good, fresh, wood smoked burger, just run to Jungle Jim's for some fresh 80-20 Angus chuck and fire up the grill with some hickory wood.

Wild Mike's

With three locations on the west side, if you live over there or, as we were, just passing through, you can probably find one near to where you are. We ventured to the one in Green Township (4498 Harrison Ave. at Race) but there are also locations in Delhi (5043 Delhi Pike) and in Miami Heights (7587 Bridgetown Rd.). You can also find them on line at http://www.wildmikeswings.com/.

This was the first visit to any of the Wild Mike's for either of us so we can only speak to the one location. But if the others are as fun and friendly as this one then they should be must stops for folks in the area.

The restaurant is small and when we went in for lunch was pretty crowded. Still, it didn't feel cramped as there was room to move around among the booths and tables. There were a number of TVs hung on each of the walls and, with the possible exception of where Josh was sitting, anyone could see several without really having to turn their head very much.

Service was prompt and extremely friendly. Our server chatted with us, joked and even laughed at an exchange we had concerning how it was going to be many, many years before Josh ever picked up the tab.

We each ordered the half pound burger (yeah, we were hungry) that was run through the garden. Josh chose American cheese, Mark provolone. For mid-September the garden wasn't terribly bad. The tomato wasn't a tasty as those coming out of our garden but then again, few are. The burger, chargrilled, had the scent and the flavor of that flattop with edges seared just right. The burgers were cooked a little more done than we prefer but the overall flavor was there.

The Kaiser roll on which it was served was firm but not hard the way some can get. We weren't sure but it seemed to be something that was made this morning.

Along with the burgers we each ordered up a small curly fry. Big mistake. We could have easily split one order, especially with the size of those burgers (they didn't shrink very much from their original half pound). The fries were nothing special, pretty much standard frozen restaurant curly fries but they were cooked properly and, without a doubt, they were plentiful.

Wild Mike's is primarily a wings joint though they have a pretty complete menu with a number of burgers, sandwiches and even complete dinners. The place is filled with the perfume of a tasty wing sauce. We were almost tempted to order those wings and will probably stop back to give them a try. In the mean time we did enjoy the burger. No, not the best and not going to make our Best Of list but still a good substantial burger at a heck of a price. And the people were friendly, too.

If you live on the West Side you've probably already visited one of Wild Mike's locations. If you don't, toss caution to the wind and drive up Harrison Ave. one day and aim for one of the three locations. You're bound to be glad you did.

Augie's Tavern

Sometimes we go looking for a place and sometimes the place just seems to find us. We were off on a fool's errand when the stereo grumbling of our stomachs made us realize that it was half past hamburger time. As fate would have it we were wandering through Reading and a misguided turn down a residential street led us to 201 Walnut St. led us to Augie's Tavern.

Augie's is the picture of a neighborhood place. Nestled actually in a neighborhood. This is the kind of place that is filled with regulars all the time. And from the looks of the place and their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Augies-Tavern/115427431812392), this group of regulars seem to do as much away from the place as they do inside and on the patio. Well, maybe not as much but there does seem to be a lot of events and activities sponsored and organized by Augie's in which people can get involved.

Being wandering tourists that day we seemed to stick out like that proverbial sore hitching digit and yet we were greeted by friendly folks all around; and not just those who were on the tavern's payroll, either.  A couple of the regulars went out of their way to say hi and ask what brought us in. We figured if they were that friendly to a couple of "foreigners" then this place was already elevated in our book.

That is all well and good but we hadn't stopped in for some friendly chat (though that never hurts) or to see who won this year's golf outing (it wasn't either of us). We were there for burgers. And so we ordered up a pair as we sipped a nice cool drink of the soft variety.

As friendly as the service its speed, at least with our food, wasn't about to break any sound barrier. Don't misunderstand, it wasn't slow. In fact it took just the right amount of time. You see, they cooked up our burgers fresh and brought them out to us just about the time we were hearing what happened on the seventh tee during the recent golf outing.

The burgers were everything you look for in that form of hand held cuisine. The meat was fresh and cooked just the way we like it. The bun was sturdy and did its job. The cheese and other goodies were there to compliment rather than get in the way. Was this one of the best burgers we'd ever eaten, not quite. But it was good enough (and the rating probably elevated by the tremendously friendly atmosphere) to perhaps drag us off the beaten path again in the future to have another go at Augie's. And who knows, maybe we'll bring our golf clubs.

Lana's Family Restaurant

We love little hole in the wall, neighborhood restaurants. They are usually oozing with atmosphere and more often then not they serve up some pretty tasty food. What makes one of these places even better is when hardly anyone but the locals know about it.

That seems to be the case with Lana's Family Restaurant located at 819 Monmouth St. in Newport. There is very little about this place on line. Even Urbanspoon doesn't seem to acknowledge their existence. One of the few comments we discovered about it on Yelp seemed to sum it up best, stating that the reason for this dearth of on-line coverage is probably because no one under 60 goes there.

The day we went there were plenty of people under 60 but it seemed as though just about everybody knew each other. Sometimes that can be a problem (we've experienced it in similar places) because the non-regulars can be treated as "second-class citizens" by the servers while they attend to the folks they know.

That wasn't the case for us at Lana's. We were greeted with smiling "hellos" and our server gave us menus and got our drink orders before out butts had time to warm the booth cushion. Ordering for us wasn't difficult. Their standard fare is a quarter pound burger but since we were both very hungry we opted for the double with two patties of meat.

Right up front it must be said that when you order a burger you get just that, the burger. For us our doubles came with a slice of American cheese. If we wanted it through the garden it cost an extra fifty cents. Now that may seem like a pretty crappy way to do business but consider this, our burgers, made with fresh, never frozen pure beef patties on buns that were bakes daily that were run through the garden cost us each $4.25. Yeah, you read that correctly.

And the flavor was delicious. There was that tell tale flat top char around the edges that's a mark of a really well cooked burger (not a well done burger). It was juicy and packed with true, 100% burger flavor. And the garden was worth the fifty cents. The lettuce and tomato tasted as though it had been bought from a farmer's market that morning.

While the sandwich comes with chips you could order fries for an additional buck and a quarter. Mark stuck with the chips, which pretty much tasted like fresh Husman's while Josh got the fries which were your basic restaurant service variety but they were nicely cooked, crisp on the outside and soft and tender in the middle.

Like most great hole in the wall joints Lana's isn't known for their burgers. They advertise serving breakfast all day and even at lunch time when we went there were a lot of people finishing up and ordering from the breakfast portion of the menu. Everything that we saw looked and smelled delicious. It was to the point that we almost didn't order burgers at all. But we made a mental not to head back and try some of their breakfast items.

All the while we were there we were soaking up the quaint charm of this Newport joint. People were all saying hello and talking about things that happened to them earlier that week. This is one of the precious commodities that everyone needs to check out at some time or another, the local neighborhood restaurant. You owe it to yourself to head toward Newport and hit up Lana's.