Flipdaddy's

Burger #X3: Flipdaddy’s – Rise and Shine Burger – $12

Colossus burger with fries.

It’s funny; I think I am at the point where I don’t even think about eating beef anymore.  I’ve gone to pre-40 burgers quest me, where I eat a lot of chicken and now I’m into seafood so much with the sushi thing I don’t have time for it.  Onto one of the few disappointing chains I hit in my quest with one that I had to add because another went out of business. 

I lived in Newport when I hit Flipdaddy’s, so it’s a good long drive to Mariemont where you will find it.  The other is way up in Mason, and that’s way too far for me to get chain food.  This is the 32^nd burger I’ve had and wasn’t originally on the list.  I went on Wednesday, November 16^th which turns out to be trivia night.  The place was packed full of younger, single looking guys and girls, but luckily it is really big inside.  You’ll find this restaurant in a strip mall, which definitely takes away from the atmosphere.  In the summer they have a motorcycle night on Wednesday which could be cool to check out if you live in the area.  This place is a chain and has the fell of a TGI Fridays, but with a much better beer selection of 24 beers on tap and a fair amount of wine and mixed drinks.  So it’s a little less family friendly and a little younger professional types, but just a little. 

The menu is definitely more for adults.  When it says “kegs and eggs” for the breakfast menu, and they have alcohol on it, it’s definitely a classy establishment right?  They made it more of a Cincinnati thing by adding goetta at least, and they have a crush on Chuck Norris, but who doesn’t?  For app’s they have one of my favorites, beer cheese.  I am a Wisconsin native after all.  I did notice that they have a healthier section on their menu which has some really cool grilled chicken, vegetarian and fish options, like a hoisin glazed yellow fin tuna steak. 

Rise and Shine burger with grilled mac and cheese

Flipdaddy’s is a burger place and is well known for them of course.  Burgers start off with 1/3 lb patties of a “proprietary blend of ground chuck, brisket and short rib” (I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice a difference).  There is a spicy burger called the Chuck Norris burger (they have a crush, like I said).  The paesano has fresh basil, prosciutto, mozz, tomato and aioli.  Their “famous grilled macaroni and cheese” is on the Mac Daddy.  Plus some others are the black and tan (Guinness reduction and onions seared in Smithwick’s) and the oktoberfest (horse radish cheddar, sauerkraut, bacon Dijon mayo served on a pretzel bun).  I went with the rise and shine burger which is topped with a fried egg and applewood smoked bacon, plus added a second patty.  What can I say, I’m a fat kid in a skinny kids body and at this point I’ve come to realize I have an addiction for bacon.  Adding an egg makes a burger really salty, but this one didn’t drip down the edge because it was over cooked slightly.  The meat was not as awesome as I thought it would be when it said brisket and short rib was in it.  I couldn’t tell the difference between this and a normal burger.  The patty came medium and with a really good greasy level achieved, but again not much seasoning.  I did really enjoy the crisp bacon and the bun was tasty, but about average.  One of the things I really enjoyed in this meal was paying 2$ more to get the mac and cheese which the waitress said was their specialty.  It was mac and cheese covered with more cheese and grilled to a crisp and flavorful crispies always make food better.  One of my 2 friends had the colossus and the other had the jack daniel’s burger.  The problem with the giant colossus is the bbq sauce covers up the meat, otherwise he enjoyed it.  Also, the jack daniels has 2 x the bacon, which is great, but then it had  bacon bits, which are by definition gross fake little pieces of bacon.  I wouldn’t get that one if I went back. 

Overall this was a burger place I wouldn’t drive to again for the price and taste.  Go to Flipdaddy’s if you like trivia or motorcycles as it is more adult oriented, just don’t expect too much of the chain.  If you are in the area try a burger with some mac and cheese, but if it’s a drive there’s always Smash burger and five guys for better chains.