10 Best Burger List

Found this on a new site on line and though this blog is pretty much in a long term hiatus, I thought I'd share. http://www.localview.co/cincinnati-oh/posts/top-10-burger-restaurants-in-cincinnati#.Uz6xYfldWMM

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

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.