Anderson Township Pub

Burger #18: Anderson Township Pub – Bloomfield Hills Burger $8.50

Outside of the Anderson Township Pub.
Pic from Urban Spoon.

Another week is down and another huge set of big changes in my life is coming up.  I have my final exams next week for my first year of grad school.  Along with that I am moving from Newport to Mt. Adams, where I’ll be a few steps away from every restaurant and bar on the hill.  I’ve been in Newport for about 2 years now and I love the area.  I think I needed a change because there are just too many young people, teenagers and parents in Newport, so my life wasn’t going exactly as planned.  I will be 2 blocks from Teak Thai in Mt. Adams and I recently discovered Bowtie café, both of which will be on my normal spots to roam soon enough. 

Anderson Township Pub was one of those Thursday night spots where I had never been to the area and I definitely couldn’t have pointed it out on a map before this trip.  After this trip, I will never forget where it is again!  I asked my roommate to grab a quick burger with me on August 18^th and it was a gorgeous day out, so we decided to drive to one of the farthest burgers I have on my list. Sadly my camera was broke, so I had to take these pics from other sites. 

We got there around dinner time, and were surprised that # 18 on this list is in the middle of nowhere.  There was literally nothing else open next to it even though it was still sunny out.  There just weren’t the kind of businesses that would have any reason to be open at that time.  It looked to be fairly empty from the looks of the parking lot and once we got in our suspicions proved true.  When you walk in, it looks like a rather large hole in the wall bar, not a restaurant as much.  There is plenty of seating; there just weren’t many people aside from the regulars at the bar.  They gave us a choice of sitting inside or outside and since we weren’t dressed right to fit in with the locals, we chose to sit outside. 

When we got our menus, we started chatting with the waitress about what’s good there and she recommended the Potato Skins as an appetizer.  These were just cheese, bacon & sour cream, but my friend and I were both starving and these were really good portions of potatoes and toppings.  The menu also includes everything you’d expect for app’s: several kinds of nachos, fried mushrooms, chicken tenders, etc.  The sandwiches include a patty melt, some “light” sandwiches, and burgers.  There is even the one odd Atkins diet “snow” carb delight (chicken, bacon, cheese, eggs). 

The normal burger, no cheese. 
Pic from Yelp

After the waitress came back with our drinks we chatted some more because she was one of the friendliest servers I’ve had.  We also found out that Thursday is half price burger night, so this is the ONLY burger place on my list that I had a half price burger this year…yes, I know that other places have them, but not on the days that I had free to go get my burgers, or they just didn’t have the specific burger I was having on their half price list.  So bonus points for all the burgers being half price.  My notes for my burger review were out and my red pen. My roommate happened to mention that I was writing a review.  I said I was doing the whole 40 burgers list…I’ve said this a million times before, but this one turned out just plain funny.  I guess there was a misinterpretation of what my review was for, I said it was FROM the Cincinnati magazine.com and she heard my review was going to be FOR the paper.  Oops!  It wasn’t until a few minutes later we found out what happened when people started coming out and talking to us.  First it was another waitress who talked about the establishment. Then it was a regular who used to work there and his friend.  They both hung around and chatted for about 30 minutes about anything from the food, the history of the building, its current state, the employees and management, the area of Anderson Township and the Cincinnati area.  Then the bartender and chef came out and talked for a while.  Everyone seemed very nice and receptive to talking about anything and everything.  I’d say this was one of the best experiences I’ve had with locals that far outside of downtown in the 4 years I’ve lived here. 

The burger list isn’t extensive since it’s just a local joint, nothing fancy.  There is the Telegraph Hill and the Federal hill, which are your standard burger and cheeseburger.  Plus the Chateau Hill with sautéed onions, mushrooms and Swiss.  There are no frills here except that the burger is charbroiled and on a Servatii bun brought in fresh daily.  My burger Bloomfield Hills Burger for $8.50, but since it was half price, 4.25$!  This is a half pound patty that felt bigger than normal.  It was just greasy enough to have that juiciness that doesn’t make your bun fall apart.  The meat wasn’t seasoned much, but when you charbroil or cook it over a fire, you get this nice charred flavor around the edges that make an average burger into a stellar one.  I opted into having the horseradish cheddar, which came in a thick cut and very noticeable tanginess that really added to the burger more than the normal cheeses available at most restaurants.  The bacon was good, not great.   All together I’d say that if you make out on a Thursday night you will be pleasantly surprised by a place you wouldn’t otherwise go into for a burger at a very cheap price. 

I think this will be one of the most memorable stops on my trip to 40 burgers this year.  If you are out in the Anderson Township area on a Thursday, try something new and get out there, even if only to have a story to tell.