a good burger and a good beer...... well, another stop on the "10 best burgers in cincinnati" 2010 tour with my daughter. this time it was a late sunday afternoon lunch, with the restaurant being relatively uncrowded on this particular day. there were perhaps a total of two people at the bar, with four tables occupied throughout the remaining divided dining area. we seated ourselves at a table by one of the large picture windows on the bar side, and grabbed a couple of menus. as we looked over the menu, we both commented that the interior seemed very open and airy. earth tones dominate the room, and there is what i would describe as very comfortable lighting. there is nice stone work surrounding the back bar. the place has a very classy, casual feel to it. my daughter remarked that this would be an awesome design for either a family room or basement hangout. i thought it would make an awesome bedroom scheme.
we were greeted promptly by our server, and immediately went about ordering our drinks. my daughter asked for a coke, while i started perusing the beer menu. i asked the server about other dark beers that they had, and was a little surprised that she was relatively unfamiliar with porters and stouts, and dark beers in general. i settled on a "21st amendment back in black", a very hoppy black ipa. while our drinks were coming, we discussed the burger options, as they are many and they are varied. my daughter settled on a medium rare "asian fusion burger" with pineapple, red and yellow peppers, all in a teriyaki sauce. she chose the sweet potato fries as her side. i had the chili and jalapeno covered "chuck norris burger", with onion rings as my side. as we waited, we noticed that while the nfl game on the tv's around the room was not the bengals (blackout?), the room was filled with a radio broadcast of the hometown team. i found that to be a nice touch for the local patrons. i don't know if they have an nfl package here, as many places like this do (think incahoots in blue ash). if not, i might suggest that for next year, as it would have been nice to have a few different games showing on the screens on an nfl sunday afternoon such as this.
the food arrived quickly, as would be expected considering the lack of other patrons. my daughter thought that her burger was very good, cooked perfectly to order, and with nice flavors in the teriyaki toppings. the sweet potato fries were cooked perfectly, and had a taste that reminds you of a thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. dip one in the accompanying warm cinnamon sauce, and you have dessert on a plate. a little sweet for my taste to go with a burger, but my daughter loved them. my burger was cooked a little past medium rare, more in the medium to medium-well range, but it was still very juicy and flavorful. the patty was not overly huge, but it was patted out thick, had a nice texture, and was seasoned well. the chili and jalapeno toppings were good, not too hot, but still having a spicy kick. the onion rings that came with my "cn burger" were fantastic. i found them to be large, hot and very tasty. they were accompanied by a mildly spicy southwestern dipping sauce, which actually might have been a spread intended to go with my burger, but it went very well with the onion rings. the buns on both were soft and fresh.
we both found our meals to be very good, the service good and the atmosphere nice. i would have liked a little more knowledge from our server regarding the available beers in stock, as they advertise themselves to be beer specialists and tout their beer menu (remember it is "flipdaddy's burgers and beer") . i appreciate the fact that she was young and probably not a beer connoisseur, but it is a little uncomfortable when the patron has to correct the server about beer fundamentals in an establishment like this. flipdaddy's is a nice addition to the area, and a place that i would definitely come back to to try some of the other burgers, and to sample some more of their beers.