Smashburger

Burger #X 1: Added burger 1: Smashburger – The BBQ, Bacon and Cheese Burger 6.99$ 

The inside of Smash Burger.  Not my picture.

It’s been a week and a half again and I seem to be great at procrastinating.  It’s not that that I have just been putting it off.  I have been busy, I swear. I mean what with school starting this week for my second semester of grad school I have been putting in as much time as I can at being social, looking for a new job and interviewing, getting outside in the warm weather, training for my half marathon, cooking, reading my own book I haven’t finished, and trying not to be single I may have gone on a date or 20.  I have no idea where I’m going to fit grad school and homework into my social life…I think I have to borrow a quote from someone I met this summer…damn my first world problems!  

It has a diner feel to the inside.  Not my picture.

Ok onto the review.  If you have been bored enough to follow me this far, I really feel bad for you, I mean, you’re following a mechanical engineer writing a food blog.  I guess you could just really be fond of burgers…yup, I’ll go with hoping that’s the case, so let’s do this!  We are up to burger #20 of the year and my declining health.  Smashburger has done two things for me during my quest.  I’ve added my first burger place to fill up the 5 that have gone out of business this last year and it’s the first great burger that is a chain I’ve had.  I added Smashburger onto the list because I’ve heard good things about it and they recently opened a new one in Blue Ash.  It was busy the day I went for lunch with 5 of the most random gathering of people in my party.  I had 2 fellow mechanical engineers, a gourmet food sales person, and a pediatrics doctor.  Tell me that isn’t a weird group?!  Like I’ve said before my burger quest has inspired countless others to join me or do something similar and get out of their element. 

The menu at Smashburger changes depending which location you go to, usually based on sports teams like the buckeye burger with fried pepper rings, haystack onions and cheese.  I’m sure it’s the same burger anywhere else just with a different name.  Our party went for a try one of everything option and share, which is the best way to do any meal, except maybe a first date, that could be creepy.  Our appetizers/sides, which there are plenty of options for a chain restaurant, were fried pickle chips, veggies frites, and smash fries, we had both regular and sweet potato fries.  I love fried pickles so that was a plus.  The veggie frites were original for a chain and surprisingly tasty, I mean have you ever had flash fried asparagus, carrots and green beans?  The last thing we had were both versions of the smash fries which are coated with olive oil, rosemary and garlic.  These were phenomenal!  If you go there, you have to get the smash fries.  I will say as much as I rave about sweet potato fries, this time regular fries won.  

My burger was pretty awesome!

The burger I tried was the bbq, bacon and cheese burger.  I know, I know, my motto is if it needs ketchup, it’s a bad burger.  I will say that I just wanted the bacon, so I had them put the bbq sauce on the side and ordered a side of the smash sauce just to try it on my fries.  First I have to say that the smash sauce is just a weird colored tartar sauce, so I didn’t like it, but have at it Cincinnati, I know you love that stuff on your Big Boy burgers.  The meat for the burger is fresh beef that isn’t frozen like the crap restaurants/chains that won’t make it on this list.  Also, you don’t get a choice of how it’s cooked, it’s coming cooked thru well, but the meat is moist and well flavored and not too greasy.  The bacon was one of the better ones you will have at a chain too. 

Overall I will put this as my second favorite chain burger joint under Culver’s in Wisconsin.  I won’t compare it to the Culver’s in Cincy because that’s NOT what I remember from home.  I wish I had traveled to the West coast to try some of those chains we’ve all heard of like Big Kahuna Burger in Pulp Fiction and In-and-Out burger in Big Lebowski.  Make sure you try the smash fries as well.  It’s busy during lunch so make sure you have enough time.  For your amusement, I added my favorite burger conversation in a movie. 

http://youtu.be/x6TjN5cmEaA 

Jules: Big Kahuna Burger. That's that Hawaiian burger joint. I hear they got some tasty burgers. I ain't never had one myself. How are they? 
Brett: They're good. 
Jules: Mind if I try one of yours? This is yours here, right? 
[Picks up burger and takes a bite] 
Jules: Mmm-mmmm. That is a tasty burger. Vincent, ever have a Big Kahuna Burger? 
[Vincent shakes his head] 
Jules: Wanna bite? They're real tasty. 
Vincent: Ain't hungry. 
Jules: Well, if you like burgers give 'em a try sometime. I can't usually get 'em myself because my girlfriend's a vegitarian which pretty much makes me a vegitarian. But I do love the taste of a good burger. Mm-mm-mm. You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France? 
Brett: No. 
Jules: Tell 'em, Vincent. 
Vincent: A Royale with cheese. 
Jules: A Royale with cheese! You know why they call it that? 
Brett: Because of the metric system? 
Jules: Check out the big brain on Brett! You're a smart motherfucker. That's right. The metric system. What's in this? 
Brett: Sprite. 
Jules: Sprite, good. You mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down? 
Brett: Go right ahead. 
Jules: Ah, hit the spot. 

The Rookwood

Burger #19: Rookwood – Barnsdale Burger   12 to 14$

Rookwood.  Not my picture.

Sitting down and writing a review seems to be the hardest thing for me when there is awesome weather out like today.  I just got in from walking around Newport on the levee and caught some awesome funk music from Leroy Ellington and the E Funk band.  There were two singers, one guy and one lady, and I will say that the female vocals were just amazing!  You should check them out sometime if you are into great music outdoors during the summer.  Also, if you weren't in Newport this weekend, you missed the seafood festival.  It isn't my favorite thing to have 50 kinds of fried seafood since it isn't likely to be anything but frozen so I didn't grab any food, but I do like walking through the crowd people watching and the watching a good band.  I think people watching has got to be one of my favorite things ever!  Does that make me a creeper?  Don't judge me!  You are probably reading this while having "reality" tv on in the background.  People watching is reality in it's best. 


This week we will be talking about the Rookwood's burger in Mt Adams.  My burger was the 19th I've had this year and "the list" has it as number 15 and I made it out there on Tuesday, June 21, 2011.  I don't know if you've been there but it's a gigantic place up on the hill that is actually an old, historic pottery company. 

The outdoor area is huge.  Not my picture.

The "world-renown" Rookwood Pottery Co. was a manufacturing facility for ceramics that started in the 1870's and closed in 1967.  There is ample outdoor seating, as well as some unique seats inside the actual kiln that used to fire the ceramics.  It kind of makes me feel like I'm in a horror movie when I think of being in a kiln, but they really are nice, secluded areas for a date.  The ceiling has an industrial feel to it with big vents running up the walls and along the ceiling.  This is an upscale place that is still within a reasonable price range. They use local foods on the menu that changes often. 

Very cool industrial look.  Not my picture.

This was supposed to be a friend's going away celebration at the same time as a burger.  She is a doctor and got a job in Chicago where she is from.  I was told there would be several coworkers there and I asked if they were all doctors.  She said they are all doctors and nurses and not trying to make waves, I told my friend I would lie and tell them I was a doctor too, and see how long I could go with that.  So when I got there, I arrived with another friend, a girl also, and it turns out there was a table of no less than 12 FEMALE only coworkers quite a bit older than me.  :-/  So as I sit down someone mentions, "oh, is this the burger guy", like my life story had already been told.  The entire conversation stops and I have 12 female doctors all looking at ME for entertaining stories.  Well, I knocked the conversation out of the ballpark and normal conversation continued.  Into the meal, I was asked what I did for a living, so I mentioned my initial plan to pretend to be a doctor and how awkward it was for me to be at a table full of female doctors.  After that, I guess they liked me, because this is where my name for my blog came from.  I was told that I could just go by "Burger Doctor" since I am so studied on the subject and I'll be needing a real doctor soon enough once my heart fails from cholesterol!  Hahaha, I couldn't help but laugh it up with that and now I have my official title. 

As I look at the Rookwood's menu I notice that this is not your average offerings.  I kind of want to go back just to try one of the appetizers.  There is a chicken fried bacon with jalapeno honey for 6$ that sounds like it's right up my alley!  Also, I am interested in the sweet breads and waffles with honeycomb butter and pickled blueberry syrup.  I'm not sure what to expect with pickled blueberries because my mind was blown by pickled tomatoes texture.  Another app is the hanky panky which is goetta, beef, jalapeno cheese sauce, giardiniera, and jewish rye.  I know cincy loves it's goetta and this combo sounds scrumptious. One sandwich that sounds deliciously, deadly is the pork belly with smoked bacon, fontina, watercress, pickled red onions, mayo and fried egg.  Yup, heart attack is on the way!  This is the second place that I have found in Cincinnati that has house-made andouille, along with Virgil's, but they use it in a unique way, a creole paella with blue prawns, sausage and tomato broth. 

Tasty burger and fries.  Not my picture.

There is one other burger that I would like to try, the Rook Melt – burger, house mustard, caramelized onions, purple cabbage, swiss, fry sauce, caraway rye.  I don't even know what fry sauce is, but I'm sure it's amazing.  This is one of the better burgers I've had during this quest.  I had the Barnsdale burger which was topped with carmelized onions, fontina cheese, pickles and thyme aioli.  It's by no means the best but I'd go back for it definitely.  The thyme aioli is not as strong flavored as I'd like, but the delectable seasoning in the burger more than made up for it.  My burger came cooked medium well, not really pink in the middle like it should and it wasn't greasy.  The bun was fresh and soft.  I paid 2$ more to get my side upgrade from regular fries to grippo's fries...yes you heard me, mother!@#$%^* grippo's fries!!!  You know that smile you get on  your face when you see a bag of these chips right?  Well they take Grippo's bbq potato chips, grind them up into a powder and cover their fries with it and holy s#@$ was it amazing!  I'd go back just for these fries.  It's like crack I'm serious.  This is the first time I have ever heard of  something so ingenious. 

After dinner my friend forced me to eat dessert, which I normally don't do.  But never try to put your hand between a girl and some chocolate. We had a hot brownie, with caramel, salt, cream, berry jam, and fried bananas and wow was it one of the best desserts I've had!  Fried bananas are one of my favorite things after that night.  The other ladies had some of Jeni's Splendid ice cream, which they have a wall of flavors writen in chalk on a wall. 

I have been to the Rookwood before and I'll definitely go again.  I'd recommend getting their burger and their grippo's fries, as well as some dessert if you have room.  This is high up on the list of burgers for me. 

Daveed's at 934

Burger #18: Daveed's at 934 – House Burger   16$

Daveed's in Mt. Adams.  Not my picture.

Daveed's is the 18th burger I have had this year and #11 on the "list".  I am only a month and a half behind in my reviews now because it was on June 16th.  You have to hit it on a Thursday between 6 to 9 pm if you want a burger because they don't have burgers any other day of the week, or are open half of the week.  The first thing I noticed was that it has the worst hours I have seen from a restaurant so far, but it must work for the Mt. Adams demographic which goes from an older, chill crowd during the week to a very young party crowd at night.   

I have to start this one off by apologizing for only taking one picture because, well...this was a damn fine burger and it will end in the top 5 at least.  I expected to go with 3 people and ended up with 6 of us in one of the smaller establishments in Mt. Adams.  I felt like an ass just taking pictures with all the wait staff and 5 friends staring at me writing comments on the "list"  for the burger.  I have friends that I go out for burger with that are used to my burger snobbery by now, but these were new people.

6 of us sat next to the fireplace.  Fancy!
Not my picture.

Daveed's is by no means a cheap place and their food shows it.  The entrees range between 20 to 30$, but it is a very limited menu, which happens so that they can get the best quality with the few things on the menu.  The menu included a cheese plate with Brie/Chaumes/Manchego/Roquefort.  Personally, I like the Manchego and Roquefort and would happily devour the entire plate of cheese myself minus the Brie.  They also have a seared and grilled Foie Gras that appears to be on a "Taste of Belgium" waffle with strawberries and vanilla creme.  I think anything on one of those waffles is going to be amazing!  I think everybody I know loves those waffles.  The pan seared duck breast with truffle, wild mushrooms, white cheddar and garganelli (pasta similar to penne) sounds tasty also.

Look at the presentation on this burger! 

You won't find my burger on their menu, but when you look it up in google you'll see that they have a burger special on Thursdays.  You can get a delectable burger, as shown above, with crisp, seasoned truffle fries and bud light for 16$.  You don't get a choice in toppings and they don't have weird things to take away from the flavor of the burger.  This is by far the cheapest item on the menu and I highly recommend going to just have this culinary experience.  What you get on this one is bbq onions, which are more like carmelized onions and by no means taste like bbq you would think of anywhere else, cheese, bacon and an aioli.  All of these flavors worked so well with the fresh onion roll they put it on.  They get bonus points for using the often forgotten onion roll, which is my favorite way to get a greasy burger into my mouth!  The meat came medium, just a little pink in the middle, well seasoned and was greasy but not falling apart in your hands greasy.  I heard a complaint in my party that the burger wasn't cooked enough and had a texture she just couldn't get into.  I disagree, but I had to throw that in there for good measure.  So my burger quest has gotten so popular that we had 6 people sitting at one table ALL getting the burger!  Hahaha, that kind of cuts down on what other things I get to try, but it gives everyone the feeling like they are a part of the quest too, which is fun for everyone. 

I am just going to end this by saying go there tomorrow, because it's Thursday!  This is almost tied for first with Senate at the moment for me and you all know how much I love Senate's food and atmosphere.  You can't go anywhere else and get a burger, truffle fries and a beer for 16$.  Plus, you need to get out of your comfort zone, we all do, that's what this burger quest is all about.