Episode 9- Street City Pub: 8.5
The twists and turns of life can lead to unexpected experiences that delight the taste buds and surprise the senses. Join us as we stumble across one of our new favorite burgers...
I like to plan.
When my wife and I travel, we are constantly researching options to consider. I’ll create spreadsheets and evaluate ratings. Why spend all that time and money getting away for a few nights and waste it on a mediocre meal or a lame outing? (Maybe that local Shakespeare troupe is local for a reason…)
It comes down to the opportunity cost of time. If we are spending our time doing one thing, we are saying “NO” to everything else. Everyone had a friend in college who would never commit to anything. They were always worried something better might come along. (“Sorry, I’m skipping your game night because that cute girl from Chi Lambda is now going to Jane’s party.” “Well how will we find a fourth person for Settlers of Catan!”). I may not have been that person, but I understand the sentiment.
What this means is within reason, I want to control how surprised I am by life (yes there is likely some deep-seated issues requiring extensive counseling). My goal is to maximize the likelihood of enjoyment by making sure I don’t waste precious time on something unexpected that may be terrible.
That being said, I may have to reconsider making space for spontaneity because Street City Pub will go down in the history books as a phenomenally good surprise.
We had an ominous start to our Burger Night. The first place we selected wasn’t open on Tuesdays, so we shifted to Prime Cincinnati near the Aronoff downtown. There were three big problems right out of the gate:
They didn’t have a burger on their menu (apparently there is a secret menu offering what they call the Jack Burger, so give it a try if you are there)
The vibe at Prime wasn’t working for us—we had left our tuxes at home and wanted something more casual
One of our members was late, it was already 8:20, and most of the restaurants in the area close at 9pm
The host at Prime informed us if we were looking for a burger, the restaurant next door was theirs and serves a great burger called Peter’s Burger Roll. They used the cut-offs from their steak to form their burger patties, it’s good and something about cheese. Unconvinced, we looked around for other options (Of course you’d say your sister restaurant has a great burger. It’s like the publicist saying the latest offering from the band is their best album yet. Sorry, but U2’s Songs of Innocence doesn’t hold a candle to Joshua Tree, and forcing it onto every iPhone was invasive and offensive).
Across the street, Boca had just revamped their menu and no longer has a burger – Strike One. Beneath Boca, Sotto doesn’t believe in burgers (Italians apparently aren’t willing to appropriate beef in any form except steak) – Strike Two. Next door was a very cool cocktail lounge called Igby’s… maybe we can hang there after our burger? It’s a hit but the ball lands foul. No worries, keeping the count alive.
Finally, we are back in front of the Street City Pub. We can grab Peter’s Burger Roll (don’t think too hard about that statement) and then have a cocktail at Igby’s. Street City Pub looks empty, but then it does close in 30 minutes. Let’s give it a try. It’s a hit! We start running the bases. Let’s see how far we get.
As soon as you walk in, you notice sincere effort has gone into making this a comfortable but upscale pub experience. Dark wood, black tablecloths, exposed brick, leather chair cushions, cozy booths, and dim lighting. The place actually was empty. However there were approximately 1,000 black and orange balloons, leading one to believe their Bengals playoff business was bonkers.
Other than the seclusion, this was the vibe we were looking for. Wondering why no one else thought eating here was a good idea, we decided to go for it. Let’s be honest, as fun as Cincinnati is, Tuesday night at 8:30pm is not a very happening place downtown (wherever the cool kids hang at that time, they haven’t told us). This place looked enjoyable and would be energetic with a crowd (they have live music many evening nights, but alas not this night… no worries. Steve will take care of it).
Bravely, we sat down and opened the menu. Their logo is a seal with “Street City Pub.” Then printed on top of the seal is the cursive word, “Unexpected”. I should have seen that for the sign it was: the theme of our night.
Street City Pub offers a variety of options, including steak, salmon, chicken, and… quesadillas. I don’t care. We are there for the burgers. Three burgers are on the menu. A normal (a.k.a. boring) burger (my dad literally tells servers, “I would like a boring burger, do you have that?” Street City Pub would say, “Yes”). They also have a Swiss melt on rye. Then, Peter’s Burger Roll.
Our Restaurant Picker decreed that we would all have the burger roll, no exceptions. Fair enough. However, this was not the plan. We were not supposed to be at Street City Pub. We were not supposed to get kicked out at 9pm and go to a cocktail lounge. We were not supposed to be trying a burger roll, whatever that is.
Mother Teresa may have said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” (I know it wasn’t her, but you can’t expect me to look up every quote I half remember). Yet sometimes plans fail. And when your plans go awry, there may be an opening for something even better to come along and sweep you off your feet. Peter and his Burger Roll did that to us one cold Burger Night in February of 2022.
Still to come: 1) When your hot dog is a burger, 2) Josh takes his shirt off, 3) Meeting Peter, 4) Fireside cocktails.
Stay tuned!
Let’s go to our panel of Certified Burger Tasters to hear more:
DEEP THOUGHTS
Jack Handey: If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
The role of a Burger Taster in the Cincy Burger Club is important (no, there aren’t any other roles in our club… stuff it). We are but normal people, humble servants willing to try the burgers of this great city and rate them for you. It is a job we take seriously. Well, some of us do. Others show up without their Official Cincy Burger Club (TM) shirt. So what do we do? We make them disrobe right there so they can get into uniform. We recorded this for you. You are welcome:
So not all that exciting. He’s also not taking requests yet, but give it time.
Our club’s deepest desire is to ensure when you step out to try a burger, you know what to expect. Yet part of the reason we rated this burger highly was we didn’t expect it.
If you would like to share the same wonder we experienced, step away from this blog, run downtown, eat a burger roll, and then come back. Were you also blown away? Let us know in the comments!
Speaking of comments, here are the one-liner comments from our Tasters, in honor of the great one-liner humorist Jack Handey (if you are going to get all literal about what constitutes a “one-liner” then get your burger reviews somewhere else):
Steve: Of all the burgers we've had, this one is the most memorable and the one I’d most likely go back for.
Nick: I would have thought the pretzel bun or the cheese would have overwhelmed the meat — but they didn’t. That is really impressive.
Josh: So wait, what is the difference between this and an all beef hotdog?
Mike: Do we have to leave?
THE RATINGS
What, do you ask, is a burger roll? I’m glad you inquired. I’m pretty sure it is not a thing. I assume Peter invented the phrase, so don’t feel bad for your ignorance (Luckily this is the only obscure item on the menu. Reading the menu is not like reading Jabberwocky with its “Vorpal Blades” and “Slithy Toves”).
Apparently (at least in Peter’s world), a burger roll is a certified Angus beef patty stuffed with UrbanStead cheese curds, rolled into the shape of a hot dog, topped with sautéed onions, bacon, sriracha mayo, and fried jalapeños, presented on a pretzel hot dog bun.
Ah. That is what constitutes a burger roll. But what IS a burger roll? It is: Amazing. Delectable. Unexpected.
Meat: 8.8
As we alluded to in the quotes, the meat is front and center with this burger. It does not get upstaged by the cheese or the bun as though they were overzealous bass players. (Yes, there is a story there. No, I’m not going to tell it.)
The actual meat is tasty and juicy. It’s hard to tell if I would have independently identified the meat as higher quality than other places. Knowing the meat was freshly ground from high quality steaks convinced me I was enjoying something special.
This had a very high burger score because we were tasting a quality meat experience, not just a well-constructed burger.
Bun: 9.0
We have seen many great buns on our journey thus far. Even for those of our group who consider ourselves bun men, it’s not like we are looking for any one particular set of buns (I’m not trying to make it sound like that. It just comes out that way!). There are lots of great options: brioche, kaiser, sesame seed, challah, etc. However, this was the first time we had a chance to rate a pretzel bun.
I believe the reason this bun received far and away the highest rating we’ve awarded is: the long profile. The long bun ensured you had a consistent amount of bun with every bite. Many buns are thinner on the outside and thicker in the middle (seriously, now it’s you doing that. Your mind is going there, not mine). So you have that halfway point where you are really slogging through to get past the bun and get back to the burger.
However, with the hot dog approach, you never have that problem. Great for holding, the bun also stands up well to the juicy meat and abundance of toppings, so you don’t have to put it down (it’s the Netflix of buns – great for binging from beginning to end).
Fixin’s: 9.4
Another very high score – this one comes from the right balance of interesting options perfectly prepared. Sautéed onions? Check. Bacon? Check. Cheese? Check. But not just cheese—cheese curds! A delightfully stringy, absorbing cheese.
And for the pièce de résistance, fried jalapeño peppers. I like some heat in my burger, and between the peppers and the sriracha mayo, this burger delivered.
Burger (Meat, Bun & Fixin’s): 9.0
Make way, burger joints, there’s a new king in town! Peter’s Burger Roll has taken the crown as the best burger we’ve rated thus far. It is hard to separate how different this score would have been if we were expecting this delightful burger roll when we set out at the beginning of the night. The world may never know (absent a parallel universe experiment that I would LOVE to set up if you have a way to do that…).
We do know we can highly recommend this unique entry to the Cincy burger menu to all burger lovers near and far.
Fries: 6.8
I believe Josh said, “This is the exact same french fry as the Local Post.” I would have to agree. Not the same type of fry—the exact same fry. As in we believe they were sourced from the same fry manufacturer. What is interesting is that we rated it lower than the Local Post. The reason? We knew what the alternative was.
We were informed by the staff that next door, mere feet away, Prime serves a shoestring truffle fry that sounded amazing. While I enjoyed these fries, the wedge fry is a specific taste. Even curled and seasoned, it has a strong sense of potato. Some of us love ‘em, some don’t.
Shoestring truffle fries, on the other hand, are universally beloved by our crew. Every single one of us rated these fries lower than we did the Local Post’s fries, but not because the fries were different. Rather, it was because we knew there was an alternative, and we were not able to have it. It is an interesting study in the psychology of loss aversion.
Environment: 8.3
This was a tough category to score because the whole place was completely empty. We almost felt like intruders, except the staff did a great job making us feel at home.
Ultimately, we decided we all enjoyed the overall aesthetic of “upscale pub” and could easily see this being a desirable destination for sportsball games and live music. As it was, we felt appropriately refined without being out of place in matching t-shirts. (I almost docked them a point for playing “Cupid Shuffle” but the song selection was strong overall, and very diverse in terms of styles and genres. I let it slide [to the left]… this time.)
Creativity: 9.1
Finally we have removed the category “menu” and instead have opted to score these restaurants on creativity. You gain points by going above and beyond the boring burger or the BBQ bacon burger, and you also gain points for sheer variety. Here, the high score reflects the fact that we encountered something we have never seen before. It’s not a hot dog. It’s not a hamburger. It’s not a hoagie roll. It’s something new!
Originally constructed for Burger Week, the burger roll was the brainchild of sous chef, Peter Beroes. Recently up from Miami, and working under the head chef at Prime, Shawn Heine, Peter leads the kitchen for Street City Pub. It is actually his family behind both restaurants. A musician in the evening and a chef… also in the evening… Peter is a man of vision and talent.
To excite the burger lovers of this fair city, Peter wanted to do something different. His creation incorporated elements already on the menu (the Angus Beef smashburger, cheese curds from the appetizers, etc.), but then gave it that special twist that makes it stand out.
Value: 7.7
Street City Pub is located downtown, and it is upscale. They serve rowdy football fans and couples getting ready to go across the street to the theater. It is therefore not surprising that it is a bit pricey (even given the inflation we are seeing on menus across the city). However, the value is certainly there if every one of us left saying, “I’ve got to go back.”
Enjoyment: 9.1
How did I know Peter was recently up from Miami and was a musician? Well when he heard that a table had come in late on a Tuesday and ordered not one, not two, not three, but four Peter’s Burger Rolls, he had to go and see what was up.
We had a great time chatting with Peter and hearing about his history, his life, and how he came up with the burger roll. We even learned that, in the sincerest form of flattery, his burger roll is getting imitated elsewhere in the city.
Don’t settle for an imitation, go to Street City Pub and get the real thing!
The staff let us stay late chatting with Peter, taking our picture, and generally not shooing us out the door. When you close at 9:00pm, and very few people are in your restaurant, I know that can be a hassle. Thank you!
Rating Guesstimate: 8.6
Overall this burger experience is going to be hard to beat. First you’ve got the element of surprise. Then you’ve got an entertaining 15 minute chat with the chef. Finally you’ve got a unique burger format unlikely to be replicated.
Our clean plates speak for themselves:
Overall: 8.5
Living up to its mantra of being “unexpected”, Street City Pub has a truly distinctive burger offering in Peter’s Burger Roll. Quality meat, delicious cheese curds, and a pretzel bun make this hot-dog-looking burger one of our top-rated options in Cincinnati. Served in an upscale pub environment that hosts everything from trivia to live music, Peter’s Burger Roll comes with our highest endorsement and recommendation. Go get you one!
The only downside is they do close at 9pm. No fear. Across the street is a lovely lounge called Igby’s where you can enjoy creative cocktails and a fireside chat. The perfect way to cap off an unexpected evening.
More About Street City Pub: