Gas Light Cafe

Burger #4: Gas Light Café – Gas Light Burger $8.50

 

Pleasant Ridge area. 
Pic borrowed from the interwebs.

The last I checked, I had about 1770 page views on my burger blog!  That’s a ridiculous amount of views since I only post it on facebook and reddit.com.  I just do this for fun, I never really imagine people read my ramblings on here.  If you haven’t been on reddit, it’s a collection of links to other sites like news stories, pictures, music, movies, art, culture, and anything at all really.  I am finding myself with an ample supply of in the next 2 weeks, partly due to school being out for winter break and partly because of my boss being out for the week.  This means I will have more reviews than normal, I mean I should at least try to catch up from being 4 months behind. 

The small menu.
Pic from yelp

This time I’ll be writing about Gas Light Café.  This one was originally #4 on the list and it is the 26^th burger I had this year.  My roommate and I went after my accounting class which ends at 9pm on August 31^st, 2011.  Gas light is located in the pleasant ridge area across the street from Molly Malone’s.  I have been to Molly Malone’s several times for drinks, live music and birthday dinners and I like the food.  It’s not authentic, but it’s got some new things to try on the menu.  On the other hand, Gas light is only a bar that I went for drinks a few years ago when I was playing rugby with the Cincinnati Kelts.  The beer on tap is dirt cheap and I think this has something to do with customer’s ratings of the food at this venue.  It’s a shady hole in the wall bar that has been around for decades.  They are a no frills kind of place, which I happen to like, but the food isn’t always too good at these establishments.  I’m going to say this up front that the service and food were sub par, and I have no idea how Gas Light made it to #4 on the list. 

My roommate and I walked in at about 9:15pm to see the place vacant.  The only other people were a table of 5 people who must have been regulars because they looked as if they’d had a burger or 2 before.  We sat down at a both to see the waitress and bartender chatting it up in the back.  As we sat down, neither of them said anything to us.  After 10 minutes of sitting around I got up and asked to shown a menu.  I wasn’t drinking that night, so I got a soda and my roommate had a beer. For 2$ for a lite draft you can’t go wrong if you are there to get drunk, which is the reason I went there the first time, so they do get points for that.  I did not get a soda refill the entire night because the waitress never came back.  We ordered the potato skins, mainly because we had such some great potato skins the week before at Anderson Township Pub.  These were not so great, and definitely not the massive pieces of potato we had at ATP either.  The menu has all of the standard pub fare: soups/chili, apps, sandwiches, and burgers. 

Gas Light Burger.  Mine did NOT look this good.
Pic from yelp

There wasn’t anything to mention except that the prices are very reasonable.  Burgers are about 6$ with chips.  Your burger choices are the basic gas light burger, a bacon cheeseburger and a double cheeseburger, like I said, no frills.  I got the gas light burger and added bacon, plus fries are 1.75$.  When the burger came it was a big burger with a great tasting patty, but it was cooked more than medium like I ordered.  They only had one slice of average tasting bacon on the entire burger…I think they forgot the rest of mine because that was some pretty weak sauce right there.  The bun was average, not toasted or warmed in any way.  Like I keep saying, all I ask is that you toast your bun, it gives the burger a much better taste and it takes 30 seconds of your time!  The fries were not cooked enough and tasted like they just got out of the freezer.  These were the worst fries I’ve ever had, so I am going to have to make a new award for Gas Light Café called the “WORST FRIES AWARD”.  I needed to put so much ketchup on these fries so I couldn’t taste them or their coldness.  WTF?  My roommate had the waffle fries, and those were better.  I honestly will give this one of my lower ratings for everything because it was just an overall unpleasant experience. 

I won’t be taking a trip out to Gas Light Café anytime soon for their food and I don’t recommend that you do either.  If you want a cheap beer in a hole in the wall bar in the neighborhood, you’ll have a much better time. 

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. 

City View Tavern

Burger #2: City View Tavern - Big Ted Deluxe $6.75

The view is second to none when compared to any other cheap, shady burger joints!

Look I can see my house!

 

Well I bet you probably thought I'd forgotten to write about my burger experience for this week, but you were wrong.  I have been told by so many people that they are living vicariously through my burger quest so I must appease the masses.  This review is more important than getting my homework done, so let's get on with it.

For the 6th burger I drove across the river from my northern Kentucky apartment up to Mt. Adams on a quiet Tuesday night to burger #2: City View Tavern - Big Ted Deluxe $6.75.  The drive was literally 5 minutes from my house and there is free live music on Tuesday nights over at the Tap and Go rugby bar, so this was a no brainer when I was asked to drive up the hill that night. City View is located at 403 Oregon Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 which is surprisingly a few blocks off of the main businesses in Mt. Adams.  When I drove up the hill and turn onto the street  where it is located I thought I turned down the wrong street because there was literally nothing on your  left side but a hill and on your right there are houses.  This bar is in the middle of a residential street with nothing else on the entire block.  Once again, it is not where you'd expect one of the top burgers in the city.  I arrived earlier than my friend who lives in Mt Adams, so I walked in by myself.  There is no huge sign to let you know about this bar, and a bar it is.  This is NOT a restaurant so don't go here expecting that.  When I walked in I was greeted by a pool table on my right with what looked like 2 workers talking.  The walls just looked like this was a corner bar anywhere else in the city.  In front of me was the bar with 2 older looking gentlemen who  were definitely into their late 60's having a beer.  The walls have lots of old pictures and sports stuff on them and there are blue christmas lights that are just out of place.  There is nothing special about City View, but the one thing that brings you there.  Walking towards the bar the left side of you opens up into a seating area with a young couple eating their burgers and staring out a window spanning the entire wall that looks out onto downtown and northern Kentucky!  I really was put off by the shear size of the window, but it was gorgeous to say the least. One more thing I just found out is that they have one of the worst websites I've ever seen.  cityviewtavern.com‎  I highly suggest checking it out.

When I went up to the bar I didn't notice a large selection of beer, but I did see Kentucky bourbon barrel, I guess it's catching on around the  city.  City View tavern isn't known for it's beer though, it's know for 3 things I read, the Big Ted deluxe, the bloody Mary's and the jukebox.  I didn't read about these until after I had visited there.  I hadn't heard any particular music when I was there so I can't tell you about the jukebox.  I loves me a bloody Mary, but I didn't have a bloody Mary, that really appeals to me more so on a Saturday or Sunday morning, not a calm Tuesday night.  The menu that was written on a chalk board behind the bar had about 3 things on it, but when I went to their website they have 5.  I guess they dumbed it down for a Tuesday night.  The big Ted deluxe was voted "best cheeseburger in paradise" by readers of Cincinnati Magazine.  It starts with a 6oz fresh, hand made burger and is topped with american cheese, brown mustard, onion, mayo, lettuce, catsup, tomato when in season, and pickle.  They also have the Teddy burger, bbq beef, Myrt's Wurst, and Silas' Really Good Chili, a Texas chili for those with good taste.  The burger took about 15 minutes to get to our table.  I ordered it medium and it was cooked perfectly on a soft bun.  This burger is 2 oz smaller than most half pound burgers on the list.  There was no distinctive seasoning in the meat and nothing from my burger was particularly great.  The burger, which was greasy and tasty,  took on the flavor of the strongest ingredient, the brown mustard.  I question as to how this burger became #2 on the list, but I guess most of the readers of Cincinnati magazine must live in Mt. Adams (oh and Mt. Lookout to get Zip's up on the list too).  I mean these burgers were voted by the readers.  The burger comes with chips, Grippo's bbq chips is what I ordered.  These are one of my favorite chips so I was very happy about the change up from fries.  For 6.75$ this is well worth every penny just for the view, but as a burger it's an average C rating, nothing else.  I will definitely recommend to people to go up and try it when the weather gets nicer.

And don't forget to get out to Tap and Go afterwards every other Tuesday night for free live music from some unknown artists.  I heard a great show after and ended up buying his cd I liked his performance so much.

Skinny Leg’s Pub and Grill

Burger #32: Skinny Leg’s Pub and Grill – Black and Bleu Burger 6.95$


This week’s review of Skinny Leg’s was number 32 on my list, but the 15^th burger I have had this year.  I hit this bar up on Saturday, April 30^th at 6pm.  Skinny Leg’s is located at 519 Fairfield Avenue, Bellevue, KY, so it is right down 6^th street from my house.  I do like burgers that are close by because this time I was able to get 3 people to come out with me for a new burger experience.  The reviews are mixed and most say the service is terrible.  We didn’t experience that because apparently 6pm is not the time to go get food at an establishment like this because there weren’t many people and it was fairly quiet except for the tv’s.  This is a hole in the wall bar if I ever saw one and it is the kind of place that I would picture where they know all the regular’s names like in Cheers.  It’s not a nice place, but it wasn’t by any means unclean in the seats we took; the bathroom is another story though.  The only place to park I street parking, but since it’s not a busy place don’t worry about that.

Skinny Leg's has some funny legs drawn on the outside that I laugh at every time I pass by.

I don’t have the menu to look at online so this’ll be short and simple.  I started off the meal with the Skinny Leg’s rolls which were recommended by the older waitress we had.  These are egg rolls with chicken, bleu cheese and a southwestern style egg roll taste to them.  I for one am a fan of this flavor, I don’t know what it is because I usually dislike the bastardization of ethnic food, but I like these kinds of egg rolls.  My burger was the black and bleu burger which was a half pound of greasy burger.  I ordered it medium and it came greasy and only slightly pink in the middle, but that’s better than a lot of other places.  The burger had a very good flavor to the seasoning, I liked it.  The bun was soft and full of grease which is always good.  I am noticing that black and blue burgers don’t come with toppings like lettuce and tomatoes.  The weird thing about this one was that there was mayo on it.  Who puts mayo on a burger with a white sauce?  Skinny Legs has a choice between fries and slaw and when I asked to have half of both I was denied, so they lose points on that.  The sides to go with the burger weren’t anything memorable, and I can say this because I honestly didn’t write notes on what I had and I don’t remember the  taste.  That’s me feeling my age! 

I didn't take any pictures this time, so I had to borrow some.

I would say overall this is an average place to stop for a burger.  I wouldn’t tell anyone to go out of their way to have their burger but if they were near there I may tell them to go try Skinny Leg’s burger. 

915 Pub and Grill

Burger #40: 915 Pub and Grill - black and bleu burger 6.75$

 

Ok, I have to admit that this writeup will NOT do 915 justice like my other reviews have done for the other burger places I've been to after it.  915 was the first burger I've had in my new year's resolution in early December.  I did not eat in, I took my burger to go.  Also, I did not know how I was doing this whole comparison between the burgers yet either.  I did not take notes like I have for every other burger place I am going to on my list.  I feel bad about the fact that this establisment will not get an equal review because it does deserve it.  Well, here goes...

You know those cold weekend nights where you just want to hang out at your own house and watch a movie, that's what started all of this.  It was a cold Friday night in early December when I was debating between cooking some thai curry or maybe something with goat cheese, because goat cheese makes everything better in life!  It was on this thought of great cheeses that my mind wandered over to the burger list.  There were tons of great cheeses on these "best of" burgers.
I decided that I'd have to find a burger in a place that no one would want to join me, so I decided to go to the farthest South I could find on the list.  915's black and bleu burger can be found about 12 minutes south of Newport by following 10th st. into Ft. Thomas.  I called my order in without a menu because I found their website wasn't up and running.  It's easy to find 915 but I there was no easily identifiable parking lot.  I'm sure locals know where to park when they get there, but I didn't, so street parking it was.   I managed to find street parking a block down.
When you see 915 on the outside and in the small area that it's in, you wouldn't think one of the best burgers in the city.  Upon walking in I was greeted by an impenetrable wall of smoke.  I am a non-smoker just to be clear, so I'm sure it's not even noticeable to the rest of you.  I'm fine smelling like the smoke from a grill, or a campfire, but not cigarettes.  It's funny that over the past few years I have gotten so used to people NOT smoking in bars and restuarants, that this is the first thing I notice when I enter a Kentucky establishment.  There was the normal bar on the wall on your right, and small, dingy looking tables pushed together for diners on your left.  At the bar there were what looked like a bunch of older regulars you'd see at 915 most nights of the week.  At the tables were younger folks there to enjoy the food.  I was there to get my burger to go.
A second reason I chose 915 was because it was in the top 10 burgers in 2010 on cincinnati.com.  When I got home with the meal that will start my heart attack, I was very pleased with my choice.  Every burger I get will be ordered to be cooked medium so that I can use that as a measurement tool.  I can say that the black and bleu burger was a half pound cooked perfectly with a little pink in the middle, and the bun was a fresh and tasty.  All that was on the burger were onions and bleu cheese sauce, plain and simple.  The blackened seasoning really made a difference on this burger, not overpowering just well balanced and it made it great.  The bleu cheese sauce was just that, a sauce.  It wasn't too salty and overpowering like when you put crumbles right on top of a burger. Also, there were reviews raving about the Asian slaw as a side, so I decided to have that with my burger.  This was one of the best slaws that I have had, since I hate creamy, white slaws.  If you love a sesame oil flavor, that this side is for you!  The price of the burger was supposed to be 6.95$ but went up to 7.95$, which still doesn't break the bank for this level of burger.  Overall, this was probably the best choice I could've made to start my 40 burgers in the next year resolution.

I didn't see a menu so I can't tell you more about this place so I will add some more info I found online.  915 actually has an italian which is like a pizza burger or the Mett which is topped with a grilled mettwurst, saurkraut and cheddar.  Wednesday's has burger mania for 5$.  Wings are 35 cents monday.  Apps are half prices sundays.  There is a cool app that is the Portabella which is crabcakes garnished with champagne horseradish cream...I want this!  Too bad I didn't get an app.

I think this is pretty good for a month late and exactly 4 words worth of notes.

Not my picture, but close enough.

The asian slaw that got me into my rant about how much white, creamy cole slaw usually sucks!

Black Sheep

Burger #38: Black Sheep - bah bah black sheep burger 7.99$

 

So I didn't expect to pack 2 burger places into 1 weekend since this is a YEAR long resolution.  I think my heart hates me today after what can only be described as a glutinous dinner last night.

Black Sheep is on the west side in Cheviot so make sure you are prepared for a hike to get there.  Make sure you have a GPS in your car or on your cell phone, because I don't want any 2am phone calls saying your lost and can't get out trying to find this behemoth of a burger.  The Black Sheep was a spacious, well lite sports bar with live music on the weekends on their stage.  The service was sub-par so expect a wait on your food.  This place gets extra points for having their own fresh made and very tastey fried pickle chips.  Also the rueben potato skins were a good app to start with.
The bah bah black sheep burger was a heart attack waiting to happen.  It was an 1/2 lb angus burger with geotta, bacon, fried egg, cheese and other toppings.  The first thing you note when it comes is that it is so tall it is held together by a knife just not to fall over.  The geotta cut almost as thick as the burger so it's ginormous with all the rest of the toppings.  The fried egg was cooked to perfection with my yoke running down onto my plate.  There was no clean way to eat this thing, so don't bring a first date here.  The bacon was very crisp and awesome.  The burger was not as fresh looking or tastey as the burger last night from 915 pub in KY.  It does get bonus points because it is truly a Cincinnati burger and there are so many distinct flavors as you eat it, they don't all over power the others.  Also, there was no healthy side item, but they had sweet potato fries which I love, so again bonus points.  This is such a massive meal that I didn't even want to drink my beer after eating.
My friends had a blue cheese burger which they said was just far too salty to enjoy, so don't get that one. I tried it and I just expected more flavor from the cheese and less salt.

My next burger will be at lunch this week somewhere around Blue Ash.  Now, I am off to the gym to work this groggy feeling off.

 

This isn't my picture but imagine this with geotta!