Mayberry

So I have been sitting on this review for quite sometime now. I went to Mayberry about 2 or 3 months ago with the normal group I do lunches with on Thursdays. We went because we heard great things about it and had high hopes for their burger. Well I am sad to report, that I did not like their burger at all. Granted, I did not get it with the pouched egg on top, which might have put me over the top to possibly liking it, BUT the reason I didn't like it is because I am not a huge fan of meatloaf. That is the best way I can describe the taste of their burger, way too meatloafy. But if you do enjoy yourself a nice meatloaf, then I bet you will absolutely love their burger.

Since then I have heard of other good items on their menu (like their sloppy joe or as they call it the sloppy josh) and have not had a chance to go back. To me, if you can't make a good burger, you probably can't make anything I would like. Don't get me wrong, half of the group seemed to enjoy the burger (since we all got one), but it just wasn't for me.

I felt like I had to do a review because so many people were singing their praises and I felt like people needed to hear the other side. So there, I said it and you can't make me take it back!

Cafe De Wheels

Today at lunch me and two co-workers embarked on a journey to try a new place to eat downtown called Senor Roy's, but after not being able to find it because it was not where it said it would be, we settled for Cafe de Wheels. Both of these places are just trucks that move from place to place downtown and they post on their sites or on twitter or facebook, where they will be at any given time of day. We were very disappointed that Senor Roy decided to not show up today, we were all craving some tacos.

So we got to Cafe de Wheels and the first thing I notice is that it is slim pickings. They obviously can't have much to choose from since it is a pretty small truck. I just got the typical cheeseburger and fries. I was shocked that the side of fries cost $2 and the burger was $5. I think it would have been better priced for both for a total of $5. The burger was OK, it came on a bun that was a bit different and not so much in a good way. The fries came in a small cup, which is why I don't think they should have been so expensive even though they were good. It took them over 20 minutes to make our food, mine of course being the last one done, they blamed it on the fries.

All in all it was a decent meal and I am definitely full, but I won't be going back there because I could spend $7 on a much better meal downtown. I would not recommend it to anyone, especially for the burger. If I wanted to pay that much for a burger, I'd go to Paula's Cafe for there 7 minute burger and then grab slice of their homemade carrot cake to bring home to Joanna.

Keystone Bar and Grill

Today I went to Keystone Bar and Grill for lunch. It is located in Covington right across the river in a nice little area with a bunch of bar/restaurants around. It has a nice bar feel to it and I could tell it would be a fun place to be at night. They had drink specials all over the place, so I could tell it was my kind of place : D ... We got seated in a back room with a small TV in the corner of one of the rooms with the Big East tournament on in HD even.

I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wrap while my dad got the BBQ, Bacon Burger and the other two who were with us got their Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. My meal was VERY good, but VERY spicy. If you know me, I love spicy food, but my body think that I am on fire while eating, so it decides to drench me. I was definitely dripping and drinking a whole pitcher of water. The best part of my meal, I would have to say, was the Saratoga chips and BBQ sauce. I love that combination and will go anywhere who has them. The Boat House has some awesome ones as well as Rock Bottom. I need to learn how to make Saratoga chips and maybe even my own BBQ sauce, but the BBQ sauce sounds much more challenging.



Tonight they have a beer special of 5 domestic bottles for $5. Supposedly all the bars in the area have that same special on Thursday nights from 9PM - Close. I think Joanna would like this place too, so when the kids get better, I might have to bring her down.

Hamburger Mary's

Some of my co-workers and myself went to Hamburger Mary's for lunch today. I had never been there but had seen it many times while walking downtown. I had heard that it "reopened" not too long ago with new ownership. I had never heard of it before a few months ago so I can't compare it to how it use to be.



They use a lot of bright colors and have a lot of girlie features around the restaurant. Such as the movies that were playing (Hairspray and something about a Ghost of girlfriends past or something), the pictures on the wall (mainly of women) and then of course the Mary statue up front and the high heeled shoe that you get your check in.







They are obviously known for there burgers, and that is just what my two co-workers got. They both enjoyed theirs and were ready for naps once we got back to the office because of how full they were. I, being the great Catholic that I am, got a cod sandwich. It was very large and quite good. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was also served with Mary's seasoned fries, which had a pretty good kick to them, but were very good fries. I am not sure if they were doing a Lenten special, but I got my fish sandwich and fries for only $7, when I could have sworn the menu said $10. If so, that is definitely a good reason to go there to try their fish.





I hope to be back soon to try their Bacon, BBQ Burger topped with onion rings. It just sounds like my type of burger. All in all it was a great experience, friendly service, good atmosphere and good food.


Urbanspoon rocks

Murray's Wings Pub and Grill / Louisiana Fish Bar

It wasn't my first time at Murray's Wings Pub and Grill, but it has been quite awhile. Most people I know that are my age have been there at least once in their life. It isn't in the nicest neighborhood, but they do serve some great bar food. I thought it was funny reading a review on Urbanspoon about this place. The guy said the food was too greasy. It's a bar! Bar food is suppose to be greasy hahaha. The greasier the better, I say.




Today I had the burger and saratoga chips. It was very good. The burgers are very large and juicy. I added some of their wing sauce that they kept on the table to my chips and I couldn't have asked for more. If it wasn't a work lunch, I would have loved to include a nice tall beer with the meal. I would have enjoyed the wing sauce even more.




Not sure how long ago they combined, but the Louisiana Fish Bar is apart of Murray's now. They have one of the best fish sandwiches I have ever had and one of the few fish sandwiches I would recommend to someone.



They have a nice little bar and a good amount of TVs. I was disappointed to not see any in HD though, not a place I would really go to watch a sporting event. Although they do have a nice sand volleyball court out back which I have played on during some volleyball leagues.

All in all it is a nice little place with affordable food and drinks.

Arnold's Bar & Grill

Arnold's Bar & Grill is one of my favorite places downtown. It is always links to OTR and Christian Moerlein (one of my favorite breweries). It has old time pub feel and theme and you can sit out back where the walls are very old brick that seem to go up for days and they can open up the roof so you are outside. They have a small stage in the back of that room for bands to play some good ol' folk music.

About a month ago we tried going down for an event they were having which entailed a full menu of Christian Moerlein inspired foods. They also were giving away pint glasses and serving beer specials all night. Sadly we got there "late" at around 7 or 8 and it was PACKED! So We had to settle for Nicholson's.

Yesterday I had lunch there. They just rolled out their $4.99 lunch menu, where everything on the menu is only $4.99! For Downtown, that is an amazing deal. With tax and tip it comes to about $6.31 which still isn't too bad for a full meal. I got a Cheddar, Bacon and BBQ Burger. Sounds delicious right? It was OK, nothing special. The burger was a little on the burnt side and the BBQ sauce had a STRONG hint of mustard. I HATE mustard! Mustard can ruin any burger for me. I can taste it from a mile away. The fries were too potatoey, they just weren't cooked enough for my liking.



It still was a great experience, I would love to go back and try more of their large $4.99 menu. The person I was with got the tilapia and really enjoyed it. He also got their Irish stew earlier in the week and really enjoyed that as well. I will hopefully be back down there this weekend for Bock Fest.

Noce's Pizzaria

I first just wanted to comment on Noce's Pizza. We had it a few days ago and I think I really hyped it up too much in my mind. It was nothing special. Granted, we did just get a regular pepperoni pizza, nothing fancy, but it wasn't that great. I would probably rank it close to a Dominos type pizza, I would definitely rank it below Papa John's. I guess everyone has their own taste when it comes to pizza, but I have never really had a "bad" pizza. Pizza is pizza, but after having Giordano's, any pizza is going to have a hard time living up to "the best". If Noce's was closer by and was a little cheaper in price (I paid $15 for a large pepperoni), then I would think about getting it more. It definitely has a freshness about it and it has fresh hand tossed crust, but it just didn't wow me.



We did get some Garlic knots though, and you can't go wrong with garlic, butter and bread. It is tough to screw up.



I would say that you have to try it, but don't go into it like I did thinking it is going to be the best pizza in Cincinnati. But let me know what you think about it!

Bard's Burgers

Ever since I went to Chicago, I have been wanting to try new things. Any time I go on vacation or on a trip, I want to try different off the wall places instead of just the normal chain restaurants. So I went on Urbanspoon, made an account and started to make a wishlist of all the places around Cincinnati that I have never been to, to try out.

That leads me today. Everything Thursday, my dad so generously takes me out to lunch (thanks dad!). But the past few months our whole development team have been going out on road trips to different places. We go anywhere from, Zips, to Quatmans, to Montoyays, to Paula's Cafe (who according to Joanna makes the best Carrot Cake) and so on. So I figured it would be a good idea to try and conquer some of these places I have never been to, with our Thursday crew. Mike Taylor (a co-worker of mine) heard of a place called Bard's Burgers in Covington. So we headed there for lunch.

It is deep in the heart of Covington and took about 15 minutes from downtown to get there. It was a regular old greasy spoon type restaurant an wasn't very big at all, in fact I think there was just one waitress.



Three of us got the special which was a double bacon burger, fries and a drink for $7.95. The burger reminded me of a larger versions of Steak and Shake burgers. It was 1/3 pound per burger. It was served with a basket of fries, and when I say a basket, I mean a BASKET. They were similar to Penn Stations fries, and I could not eat them all.



Mike, the bold one of the group, had a deep fried hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard (they call it the "Ripper"). He also got their basket of fries but with cheese and some sort of sauce.



They also had fried twinkies, zingers and oreo cookies you could get for dessert, but we didn't have any room for that. One thing I did want that I didn't get (I will probably have to go back for) was a handcrafted milk shake. Milk shakes from those types of places usually are delicious.

We will definitely be going back there and would recommend it to anyone.