Cincinnati Magazine’s Top 40 Burgers: Part IV: THE TOP 10 BURGERS IN TOWN

#10 Senate

OV ER RAT ED! I really like Senate as a restaurant too. The burger is a paint-by-numbers attempt at a fancy burger, but all the elements are lacking. It should taste awesome, and i know it should taste awesome, but it just doesnt. The total is less than the sum of its parts.

#9 Keystone Bar & Grill

I actually think this is a pretty fair placement on the list. I used to really not like Keystone all that much, but in the last few months, it’s become one of my favorite spots. Oh, and doesn’t that photo below look kinda familiar?

#8 Paula’s Cafe

This is another spot that I think has more hype than it deserves, the burger is pretty good, but I don’t think it belongs in the top 10. Plus the service is terrible, almost always.

#7 Oakley Pub & Grill

Originally part of the 915/skinnylegs/zola group (i think it’s since been sold) they do have the soul burger at those other establishments. I think this proves that all 4 of these places serve up consistently the best burgers in town. this might as well be 915.

#6 Virgil’s Cafe

You may be familiar with this place from a certain chipmunk-lookin’ tv host and their etouffé but apparently they also have a pretty good burger. I’ve eaten here but haven’t gotten around to the burger. For whatever reason I dont dig the vibe of the place even though everyone raves about it. It’s right up the street from me so sometime I’ll make a point to brave all the BMW’s and 50+ year olds and try it.

#5 VanZandt Restaurant & Tavern

Havent been here but by most accounts is pretty solid. I’ll make a trip for it, even if the name does automatically conjure up images of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

#4 Gas Light Cafe

Haven’t even heard of this place, let alone tried it. Sounds like a solid basic diner burger. I’ll give it a go at some point.

#3 Terry’s Turf Club

Once you get into the top 5 of most lists, the listed items become pretty much interchangable and unless you have some sort of bias, most people should feel pretty good about stuff. Terry’s most deservedly belongs in here. I like to keep mine simple rather than get crazy with all the sauces.

#2 City View Tavern

Definitely a solid burger, but #2 in town? no way. this one slides in on charm and location. put this bad boy in the 6-10 range.

#1 The Wildflower Cafe

Kind of a shocker for #1, but i cant judge at this point, as i’ve never been there. a co-worker and fellow burger aficianado has recommended the wildflower, so I do believe i’ll have to make a trip, especially for “the best burger in town”

There’s been mad hype surrounding this place growing for a while, so I made my way over to the East End for some Burger Questin’ (note: this is an update to an earlier trip, when i wasn’t so happy with how things turned out. let’s just say things went a little better this time.)

Burger – $6.50

Cooking Style/Temp: medium-rare, griddled

Additions/Subtractions: 1 slice of american instead of two, added bacon

Burger: 4.5

Good, fresh ground meat, hand formed and cooked on the griddle to a perfect medium rare. It had that light fluffy texture that you only get from meat ground that day, and cooked right

Bun: 4

fresh-made bun from shadeau bakery (not that that should make a difference, but noteworthy) lightly lightly toasted. good taste, and held up decently. 

Toppings: 4

bacon was crunchy, fresh lettuce and (too thick) tomato, krinkle cut pickles (my fav) lots of onion. They have a variety of interesting toppings and sauces. The temptation here is to go crazy with all the gourmet toppings, but your best bet is to go basic, with maybe one silly topping. If you go with american cheese, ask for one slice instead of two. The cheese is sliced thick enough, you won’t miss the second slice and the one you do have will melt perfectly into gooey goodness.

Accoutrements: 4

Plenty of good beers, comes with regular Mike-Sells rippled chips. You can get decent hand cut fries on the side, they’re similar to penn station’s fries but not quite as good. plus free peanuts. only cans of coke which is a bummer. nothing like an ice cold fountain coke to go with a burger. they have some tasty appetizers too. Try the Haloumi cheese, it’s a salty greek style cheese that tastes similar to mozzarella but not as melty, the griddle it and it’s addictively fantastic. 

Atmosphere: 4

In what amounts to basically a roadside burger stand this place stands out in what is otherwise a drab neighborhood, The light blue exterior serves as a perfect canvas for all the crazy vintage neon signs inside and out. The small place and big reputation ensures a consistently lively atmosphere. our servers were pretty good. If you’re cool and not an uppity dickback your experience here will be lovely. Now that guy fieri visited, dont even bother going on a friday evening before 10 or a saturday or sunday during peak hours. 

To sum it up “a bunch of crazy glowing shit on the walls”. 

Overall: 4.1

Definitely an good place to get a burger. The size of the whole ordeal makes it quite an adventure. Some are saying “best burger in town”. It’s up there but it just depends on what kind of burger you prefer. If you like a giant burger, this is definitely your place. I know 2 visits is a small sample size, but they’re too inconsistent. Sometimes the burger will be a giant grease bomb(all those burgers cooking on the griddle at the same time just makes it a giant grease pool), sometimes it will be amazing. I guess if you’re careful about when you go things should turn out all right, but should the best burger in town really be so reliant on how busy it is? People can get a bit fanatic in their burger choices and Terry’s is a victim of its own fans. All that being said you need to at least have been to Terry’s to even have “a best burger in town” conversation, which says a lot, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the place to a fellow burger enthusiast.