Lavomatic

Burger #14: Lavomatic – Lavo Burger $13.50

Once again Thanksgiving has come and gone and you’d think that I could’ve fit a burger review into the week off…and you’d be wrong of course!  I spent my time in downtown Chicago either hanging out with friends, at a coffee shop studying, getting great new foods, having drinks with friends my friends and I just met, and just plain partying/dancing the nights away.  You wouldn’t really want to ask me to stop all of that for a Thanksgiving burger review would you?  

I have to start by saying my phone camera wasn't working this day and I had to use the pictures from the nice people of the internets.   

Extensive bar area.

It’s been a while since I hit Lavomatic, but I remember it being busy for the Thursday night of August 11^th.  I have been to Lavomatic a few times because I have season tickets to Ensemble Theatre right around the corner.  It was restaurant week in Cincinnati and that explained the business of the area.  I chose Lavomatic because my date for the night had never been to Over The Rhine, and I was actually trying to get to a place called stuffed on Vine which was recommended to me but it turns out it has been closed for.  While Lavomatic isn’t my favorite place to go in the area it was one of the closest to where Stuffed on Vine was located.  After the burger I showed my friend around the area from Lackman’s to Japp’s to Neon’s and then MOTR, which is a must see walk and is impressive to people who aren’t familiar with the area.  

The upstairs outside seating area.
Lavomatic has a groupon.

I will add that anyone not from this area who hasn’t heard of Over The Rhine or someone who’s heard BAD rumors about the OTR area needs to check this area out.  I have heard some ridiculous statements made by coworkers or people whose parents warned them never to go down there.  The rumors are outdated and tenuous at best.  The area has gotten rid of a lot of crime.  There are great restaurants / wine bars (like Senate, Abigail Street, Lavomatic, Lucy Blue pizza, and A Tavola), bars (Neon’s (my favorite because they have life size Jenga!!! Great date idea), Lackman, Below Zero Lounge, Japps, Drinkery), live music (MOTR (my favorite music place, Mr. Pitiful’s, Neon’s), places to lounge, coffee shops (Iris).  It is just a great up and coming area with art’s and culture that accepts all lifestyles.  I think the problem here is that most people in Cincinnati are stuck in front of their tv hearing bad news about OTR instead of getting the hell out of their house and trying something new. 

Alright that’s it for my rant, and now back to your regularly scheduled program.  What was I talking about again?... oh, Lavomatic!  Lavomatic is one of the upscale comfort food restaurants that are using “local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.”  The menu changes so be sure to check it out online.  They have an excellent beer and wine selection and the place can be full of older people during a certain hour of the day and young people during the later hours.  Their beer selection does include rated beers from around the country such as rogue double chocolate stout, a bison brewing organic IPA and north peak ‘hooligan’ hoppy pumpkin ale.   From the menu I noticed some app’s including lavo bean spread (acorn squash and artichoke), fish tacos, and shiitake mushroom tartlet.  The entrees include one preparation of each meat and veggie dishes of course, like shrimp orecchiette, maple chicken breast, and beer braised short ribs. 

As far as the burgers go, it turns out they aren’t on the dinner menu, and we had to order off of the lunch menu.  My burger was supposed to be the Green Acres burger, but it wasn’t on the list, so I substituted for the Lavo burger $11.95, then added bacon, just to get this heart attack of mine a kick start.  The menu shows a different burger right now then what I had because it says this burger comes with candied pork belly, which sounds incredible, and I can assure you I didn’t have pork belly.  My burger came with the normal toppings you get with a burger, lettuce, tomato, and cheese + bacon.  It was definitely an above average meat seasoning.  The burger was cooked pink and juicy but not a bit greasy.  The bun came fresh from a local bakery as did the extra red tomato and side salad that came with the burger.  The bacon was normal cut, very smoky, also an above average taste.  On my list of burgers this one was good, so I put it in the middle of my rankings due to the high price.  There were others that were less expensive and had quality ingredients as well (gordo’s). My friend had the burger with mushroom and swiss and said she really enjoyed it but hasn’t been to enough burger places to rank it. 

That’s all for now.  The lesson of the day:  I hope you get yourself or someone you know out of your house and get to OTR soon!