Johnny Rocket's

There used to be several locations of Johnny Rocket's around the city but now the only one that exists is at The Banks. We have eaten at a couple of now closed locations (Kenwood and Newport) as well as the original which opened in 1986 on Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. The restaurant was set up as a throwback to those '50s and early '60s diners, all chrome and rock and roll. Today there are 300 restaurants in 30 states and 16 different countries all sporting this feel of nostalgia and early rock music attitude.

In keeping with our usual criteria we ordered up one of their basic 1/3 pound, fresh, never frozen, cheeseburgers and our choice of garden. The burgers were made and, yes, cooked to order while we sat in a booth listening to Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

The burgers were as we remembered and as advertised. They were juicy and carried a nice full meaty flavor that was enhanced by the cheddar cheese, the soft functional bun and our garden and condiments. There was even that little bit of flattop char that can make a burger even more tasty.

Still, as we were enjoying these burgers there was something nagging at both of us and Josh finally pointed out that, yes this was a decent burger but it was still a chain burger. That got us talking about whether or not we have an inner prejudice against the chains. There are plenty of chains that we do like but quite a few where we haven't really thought the burger up to speed. There have also been some local joints where we weren't all that over the top about the burgers.

What we ultimately decided was that Johnny Rocket's makes up a very good burger. Yes it is a chain but so are both Five Guys and In-And-Out Burger and they can put a pretty tasty burger in front of you. Is Johnny Rocket's one of the top burgers we've ever had? No. Is it better than most? Probably.

No, this wasn't our favorite burger of all time, not even our favorite chain burger of all time but it does rate up there. This is a burger that, if you haven't already, you owe it to yourself and your taste buds to check out.

Sports Page

The Sports Page is a downtown tradition, a neighborhood place that looks like nothing fancy. It's a basic sports type bar with some televisions, some places to sit and the smell of good food being fried up on the grill.

Located at 823 Main St. downtown, The Sports Page is one of those places that folks who work in the neighborhood will hit up once every week or so and may very well stop in after work for a nice cold drink. The atmosphere has always been warm and friendly and while it's not the biggest joint in town, there generally isn't much of a wait.

There is lots of Reds memorabilia for fans to look at but what would you expect from a place called The Sports Page. You ain't getting stock quotes in this joint.

The burgers are 1/3 pound fresh ground beef fried up to perfection on a well seasoned flat top. It came out hot and juicy and bursting with flavor. With good cheese and a fresh garden, this is a good burger. Unfortunately the fries are pretty much your standard frozen crinkle cuts and lack any real appeal.

What is appealing is the fact that this place is inexpensive. If you get a burger, fries and a soda you can come out for about the same as heading to McWendy Kings. Yeah, if you're downtown this is a tasty deal to eat up.

Knockback Nats

The place at 10 W. 7th St. downtown has been Knockback Nats for at least three years now but for some reason it's still hard to think of it by this name. It is set up like so many other pubs and bars, a place with plenty of televisions tuned to sports.

While a number of people have recently complained about the service being rude, we didn't find it that way. Indifferent might be a better description. It was as if the bartender didn't care whether we ate, drank, came or went. There was no hurry about getting us menus or even drink orders but they came. Now, you expect to wait a few minutes in a more upscale place but this is a neighborhood joint and it wasn't busy and yet we waited longer to get our drinks than we did to get our food.

Before we get to the burgers it's important to point out that Knockback Nats has a reputation for some very, very good wings. They are tasty and worth the trip. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the burgers.

They did not taste as though they came from fresh meat. These patties had spent some time on ice. They were cooked medium well on a flattop which generally leaves a nice little char around the edges from the fat cooking down. No real char this time. And the flavor was pretty bland.

The buns were nice, doing their job of holding things together but it would have been nice to have some juices coming from the burgers for the buns to soak up. The garden wasn't bad, nor was the cheese. But nothing could save this burger for us.

Maybe Knockback Nats needs to knock back to the days when it was Rockin' Robin. From Mark's memory the burgers there were pretty decent; better than these.

Rock Bottom Brewery

The brew house pub has been a trend for a number of years now and the Rock Bottom Brewery, located on Fountain Square (and on line at http://www.rockbottom.com/), has been doing it for over 20 years. First opened in Denver, there are now almost 40 locations nationwide.

Mark has been going to this location almost since it opened. It was a favorite lunch spot for a couple of his day job clients. Both of us have eaten here numerous times and thought it was about time to put up a post.

The place is large enough to accommodate a good sized business luncheon crowd. The bar side offers the typical sports channels on hanging flat screens. The sizable dining room is more traditional. On both sides you can see and, yes, smell the area where the craft beers are made. But we weren't here to drink, we were here to have a burger.

Burgers

The menu is rather substantial, catering to just about every taste. Even burger lovers have options. Nine different burgers are available. We each chose the Classic Burger, at least a third pound of sirloin, cooked to our taste and covered with a bold cheddar cheese. The burgers are lean and juicy with the taste of a good seasoned flattop. The bun was lightly toasted and the garden was fresh and crisp. 

Because it was a week day when we visited for the blog, we had a bit of a wait. Oh, we were seated right away, even if it was way in the back, but sat and waited to be "discovered" by our server. Once she got to us she was friendly and worked hard to keep things moving. The kitchen, being lunch time, was a bit slow but that allowed us time to chat about our favorite sports teams, the Reds, the Bengals mini-camp, and, of course, our Australian Rules Football team the Collingwood Magpies who are struggling this year to stay in playoff contention. 

When the burgers did arrive they and our fries were hot. Our server making sure they didn't sit around and cool, waiting to be delivered.

We wouldn't say this burger is in our top 10 but for a chain burger it is very good. We've been here when it wasn't as crowded and the service is much quicker. We strongly recommend that, if you haven't already, you give this place a try. Maybe go at dinner and sample one or five of the craft beers.

Terry's Turf Club

To be honest we've kind of been putting off doing Terry's Turf Club. What can you say about a place that has consistently been voted the best burger in town and even in the state. The place has appeared on numerous television shows, including Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We just felt that there wasn't a whole lot we could add to it.

If you haven't been to Terry's you owe it to yourself to go. The place, located at 4618 Eastern Ave., is very much a dichotomy in terms of it's kitschy look and gourmet style food. Take the reason we went for example. Their burger is, on the menu, called Burger. But it contains some of the best quality meat and the most tasty (and exotically expensive rub; come on, saffron? Really?) components out there. This is a burger that costs $8.50. Sure, you can add all sorts of expensive extras ranging from crab or shrimp to Stilton cheese or an onion Cabernet sauce but to be honest, there's no real reason. These are perfectly executed burgers.

We really weren't going to do a post about Terry's. But people have asked us when we would over and over again and, what the hell, it was a chance to eat one of, if not the, best burgers around.

If you like a good burger you owe it to yourself and your taste buds to head over to the east side and check out Terry's Turf Club.

Thirsty's Oasis

Very large and with so many televisions that it's impossible not to watch a sporting event, Thirsty's Oasis in Mason near Kings Island is a relatively new, very large sports bar and grill that features two bars and an outdoor patio. Located at 5579 South State Route 741 in Mason and on the web at http://www.thirstysoasis.com/, the place hypes itself as not your typical sports bar. But the truth is that it is pretty much the same as anyplace else.

It is large and roomy and offers up what is most likely a very friendly atmosphere during game days and evenings (we went during lunch and it was pretty dead). The menu is very typical and not very lengthy. All of the basic bar and grill staples are available but where they get some added brownie points is in the number of beers they have on tap. When asked we were told over 30 so a nice selection is available.

Burgers

Sticking with tradition we ordered up the Big Big, a half pound of beef that was actually grilled to our specifications and served on a Kaiser roll. For eight bucks you get the burger and two toppings of your choice. One is eaten up with cheese so if you don't want to pay even more you have to decide on the one bit of garden or other goodie you want to include. This did not make either of us happy.

Then the burgers came out and proved to be rather pedestrian. Yes the beef tasted fresh and it was juicy. Both of us had buns that were just a touch old and probably shouldn't have been used. The cheese was basically there and neither added nor subtracted from the burger. Don't misunderstand, there weren't bad burgers. They weren't good either. They were about as middle of the road as you can imagine, in fact, maybe a little below average.

There may have been any number of reasons for the quality not being up to our hopes and expectations. Who knows. What we do know is that for the cost, this is a place we cannot recommend. Make your own decisions, though. If you're out near Kings Island then by all means check this place out. If you have a better experience then let us know.

Longhorn Steak House

We like going to a steakhouse for a lunch time burger. Generally speaking a decent steakhouse, even a chain, is going to offer up a good quality piece of beef out of which they make their burger. So when the opportunity presented itself, we stopped in and grabbed a table at Longhorn Steak House.

Founded in 1981 in Atlanta as Longhorn Steaks Restaurant and Saloon, Longhorn now has over 435 locations throughout the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. In fact, there are seven in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton area. To find the one nearest to you, go to their website at http://www.longhornsteakhouse.com/. Just don't be surprised if that little music loop that plays doesn't drive you crazy before you can find out where you want to go.

This isn't a fast food joint, it gives off the air of a mid-scale family restaurant, a true steakhouse. In addition to the steaks they offer up a full menu of meals for every member of the family. But we were there at lunch and we wanted one thing: burgers.

Burgers

We each ordered the basic Steakhouse Burger which is a half pound of Angus beef cooked to the chef's specifications (as though we, the consumers, didn't know how we wanted it fixed) and served on a fresh brioche bun.

As is the case with all steak houses, the burger is a bit expensive, some might say even over priced. That holds with Longhorn. But to their credit, the quality of meat they use is very, very good and though we weren't allowed to decide on how rare or well done it was, came out close to what we would have probably chosen. 

The bottom line on any burger is the taste and this one tasted good. No, it isn't up there with our favorites but it is one of the better chain burgers we've had in a while. If you're curious and have never had a Longhorn burger, and you don't mind paying for the privileged, you should check them out some time for lunch. If you're going for dinner, we suggest that you dive into one of those Porterhouse beauties.