The Cincy Burger Club
Find out who we are, what we are doing, and why we are doing it.
WELCOME
We are four friends on a journey to taste all the best burgers that Cincinnati has to offer.
Quick disclaimer: we are not from Cincinnati. Through the twists and turns of life we have each found ourselves here, and to be honest, we love it. It is a diamond in the rough — a great city in which to live, raise a family, have fun, and find a great burger. We figured we would chronicle our journey so if you happen to find yourself in Cincy, you can benefit from our experience and find the right burger for you.
Our names are Josh, Mike, Nick, and Steve.
Nice to meet you.
LETTUCE TRY YOUR BURGER!
Loosely we have identified 50 burger joints we want to try, but there are plenty more. The list will likely increase.
One of our members is a die hard purist who believes a good burger can only be enjoyed with fries. So sue us. If you don’t serve fries, you can keep your burger (sorry Tickle Pickle).
We discussed requiring the presence of beer as well, but ultimately decided that will factor into the rankings, so we’ll try your burger even if you don’t have beer. One of our members doesn’t even drink beer (I know, right?), so this is best. But don’t be surprised if your beerlessness drops you in the rankings.
Now, if you serve a burger because you are in America and believe you must, but you haven’t given more thought to it than sourcing some frozen patties, throwing one between some bread and sticking it on a plate — no thank you. We won’t try your burger (I’m looking at you [enter Generic Chain Restaurant here]).
When we are able to get together (hopefully twice a month — right babe?) one member, chosen randomly, will select a location. That person will also decide what we are eating - can everyone order their own burger or do we all have to try the same burger?
Then… dig in.
OUR METHODOLOGY
At each joint we will first enjoy their burger. (Or at least try to… quick side note: Cincinnati is notorious for enjoying things that don’t get a lot of enjoyment outside of Cincinnati. I don’t want to name names — Skyline, LaRosa’s, Grippo’s — but some of Cincy’s famous burgers are quite frankly disappointing. Frisch’s isn’t on our list of burger joints for good reason. One can argue it is a terrible burger and a terrible burger experience. Yes, I know you love it. But if you enjoy those other Cincy establishments, consider yourself blissfully ignorant and feel free to keep enjoying your lamentable burger. Ever wonder why some of your hometown brands don’t stray far from your hometown? That should be a clue… still love you! )
We will rate our experience from 1 to 10 (yes, we will use decimals to the tenth place — this is science. No, we won’t go to the hundredth place — we’re not monsters) in the following categories:
Meat (texture, taste, size, etc.)
Bun (quality, style, taste, etc.)
Fixin’s (creativity, quality, how it complements, etc.)
Fries (style, taste, quantity, etc.)
Environment (decor, music, seating, etc.)
Menu (options, alternatives, creativity, etc.)
Value (price point, size, relative quality, etc.)
Enjoyment (overall, service, big picture, etc.)
Then after rating everything, we will state what we expect our average rating should be, from 1 to 10. This will 1) help make sure our rating system isn’t out of whack, 2) nudge the rating in the right direction, like a corrective, and 3) let us see how good we are at guessing our rating.
Average our four ratings to get the burger joint’s score for that category. Then average those together to get your overall score!
THE BURGERS
Here is the current list of burger joints — any we’ve missed and should add to the list?
Red Feather
Nation
Delwood
Goose & Elder
Arthur's
The E
Zips
Bones Burger
Roney's
Fifty West Burger Bar
Kruegger's
Sacred Beast
Bard's Burgers
Nine Giant
Good Plates
Stellar Street Eats
Taste of Belgium
Mad Mike's
Quatmans
Chandlers
Arnold's
Bru Burger Bar
Morton's Steakhouse
Prime Cincinnati
Spoon & Cellar
Red Roost Tavern
Salazar
Boca
Crown Republic Gastropub
Woodburn
Hangover Easy
Elusive Cow
City Goat
Incline Public House
Agave & Rye
Bebo's
Americano
Frenchie Fresh
Hangry Omar's
LouVino
Well we are off! Enjoy going on this journey with us.
Looking forward to following your journey and to glean burger wisdom so that I won’t ever have to have a bad burger again. Thank you for your public service!
So excited for this club and to see the reviews! I showed this list to a coworker and they suggested adding City View Tavern. Keep up the good work!