gordo's pub & grill

gordo's is a great little bar and grill on montgomery rd. with a fantastic atmosphere. it's perfect for a dinner date or to watch a game

hidden gem in the hidden gem. overall taste (1-10) "the magic"

10: unassuming place that should be on your map...fantastic!

beef (1-10) quality, juiciness, preparation, size
10: juicy meat, over the top fresh, size of filet mignon (thick and round)...super tall and fat burgers!

bun (1-5) freshness, appearance, texture, taste
5: toasted and gourmet looking, bet from a local bakery

toppings (1-5) variety, freshness, cheese quality

5: oh the creativity! grape compote & goat cheese, roasted pablanos, boursin cheese and roasted pineapple! and all the norms, too.

atmosphere (1-5) cleanliness, service, speed, chairs, music
4: impressive/historic bar, sweet lighting, plasma tvs, but no music & slightly stale air

burger value (1-5) what you get for what you pay
5: $7 to taste 5 star creativity. would have paid $27! :-) great steak fries and awesome ketchup. think it's homemade? something special about the ketchup, folks.

total score (40 perfect)
39.

additional comments:

the best around! jean-robert burger is tasty unique and the gordo burger is my next pic. all the burgers sounded amazing. this place is a hidden gem and to think it's right across from the norwood public library....wow. 45212 is rocking the burgers.

hot, but not in a good way!. my first visit was friday evening, 5/28/10. our server was fantastic, but everyone should have been told that the air conditioning was not working at all. it was extremely hot & humid outside, about 89 degrees, and it was hotter than blue blazes inside the restaurant. i had checked the internet for info on gordo's before we went. they only had four entrees listed, which i thought was a little strange. my husband and i decided to go with the short ribs. when we ordered, we were told they didn't have the short ribs, however, they were still on their web site and still listed on the menu. that left three items: a chicken dish, a salmon dish and a basa fish dish. we weren't thrilled with any of these, however, we chose the basa fish. the fish itself was okay, but it was on a bed of red cabbage, which i normally like, but this red cabbage was extremely sour tasting. it was covered with a poblano cream sauce, which was good. anything else was ala carte. no bread or butter served, etc. they do have an extensive list of gourmet burgers, but we are not burger lovers. to conclude, i would give this restaurant, out of 10, a 2. more entrees are needed, some with beef, pork, etc. and, for god sakes, put a sign on the door if the air isn't working. persons with breathing problems should not go in. the heat and humidity on friday was horrible.

i’ve been wanting to stop by and give gordo’s a try. greeted by a friendly waitress we were seated immediately. inside was a basic pub, with a bar up front and tables towards the back.
they have a great beer menu,but i couldn’t indulge as i was on a work break.
so i can’t tell you if their beer is ice cold as i like it.
i had to try their burgers as this was the only reason for stopping
i order the korean burger cooked mr. i’ll say it was huge. the ground beef burger was an inch and a half thick.
it was delicious needless to say.
i would recommend ordering mr as any more here it would be much less juicy.
also gave the hot wings a try. equally delicious, no breading just deep fried goodness.
the only negative i have is that it is $$$. i had a $23.00 minus the tip.
can’t do this place every day.

gordo’s pub & grill is an often overlooked spot in the heart of norwood, at least it has been by yours truly. located less than 10 minutes from our house, my family finally stopped in for dinner after living in the area for the last five years. don’t let the small street-front building deter you from stopping in, there is plenty of room in the long and shotgun style building. a large bar is the first thing you seen when entering the front door, but gordo’s is truly family friendly and has a handful of items on a kids menu.

on the quest for the best burger in cincinnati, gordo's made  my list number three:

walking in the door early 11:00 am, sat at the bar and told them build me the best burger you can, it was the gordo's burger it was delicious, you can weight the difference between the top 10, this will always be there, we will be back for more, the staff was great.

recommended.

i have been to gordo's several times, and while this is a place i really want to like, it just doesn't make the cut when it comes to the food quality

if you're going to go here and have not been here before, be mindful that it is kinda of hard to spot, in a building that is not very wide in the front, with less than obvious unlit signage.  inside and out, it looks quite a bit more like a dive bar that happens to serve food rather than a restaurant trying to also be a dive bar

they have a random daily soup, some appetizers and salads, some hot and cold sandwiches, and two types of seafood tacos, but the specialty here is the burger menu, and these are in my opinion the best things they make here

the burgers - about a dozen or so configurations - are thick pub style burgers.  they do offer to cook to requested degree of doneness, and to their credit they have hit the right mark in this sense (i prefer mr) 4 out of the 5 times i have ordered a burger here.  i don't know what they cook on - i dont see grill marks so i'd think griddled but then there is a certain backyard-bbq smokiness to these burgers that suggests they are cooked over a charcoal or wood grill.   they are very tasty and filling and served on a good quality bun, but my one issue is that they aren't as juicy as they should be for this style of burger, particularly at this price level ($10+)

i've tried several of the sides but none have been worth the 2 dollar upcharge to substitute for the unremarkable steak fries included with every sandwich.  from pictures i have seen online, it looks like they use to broil cheese atop the mac and cheese, but unfortunately they dont do that anymore

several other menu items i have tried that weren't a burger - the baked mushrooms in a thin and bland cream sauce, the pork bbq that wasn't really bbqed, the nanay egg rolls filled with unseasoned (possible boiled) hamburger - were all things i'd steer you away from
 
the one non-burger item that i can sorta kinda get behind is the pork belly nachos.  they use good fresh chips, plenty of cheese, and bonus they toss the dish in a salamander so the top gets melted and even lightly browned, like any good nachos plate should be.  the one failing is the main event - the pork belly.  there just isn't nearly enough of it to make its presence known and what there is is cut into tiny pieces about the size of half of the eraser on a typical brand-new pencil. i dont know if they'll honor a request for extra meat on this dish, but if you order this, i recommend that you at least request it

bottom line - stick with the burgers here

have been here twice for lunch and loved it. admittedly, i had the surf and turf burger both times-excellent both times. my date recently had the jean-robert and said that it was very good and completely different from what he expected. the beer list is outstanding. (it is listed by greatest to least alcohol content, if you were wondering).

looking forward to returning and maybe watching some football in this great place.

best brew and burger in the city!. i really didn't want to say anything about gordo's...i want to keep it all to myself! it was our first time visiting today for lunch and i was very impressed by the place. housed in an historic building, gordos has maintained the original art-deco period bar updated with craft beers on tap...a large selection. now, i moved to cincinnati from new york fifteen years ago and must say that this was the best burger i have had in the city and my companion agreed. my only suggestion might be to remove the 1970's drop ceiling and restore the embossed tin one which i am willing to bet, is up there. the burger btw is made all fresh so takes a while to cook, don't be in a hurry; it's worth it! deano

love gordo's!!. we have been here several times and have had great food every time. the mushroom appetizer is fantastic - can't get enough of that cheesy goodness. the burgers are great! sorry for the people who get sucky service, but we have had great service and food each time. their drinks are made well too!

i had ordered the "gordo", and opted for the mac and cheese instead of the fries. let's just say i should've just ordered the mac and cheese. i had asked for my burger to be cooked to medium well, and it was completely raw in the middle. not medium, not rare, but raw. i guess it's hard to cook to order a huge "ball" of meat. after sending it back (my mom sent hers back too, it was also raw), we got our orders back after a good while and they were raw again. it would've been a bit better had the toppings actually been grilled like the menu stated and the buns toasted. the buns weren't even warm. it's a damn shame because the mac and cheese was se of the best i've ever tasted. i edible burgers and rude servers.

big buns are no fun. burgers are great but the buns are way too large to actually eat.

bad burger and service. there are too many restaurants out there competing for business to put up with this one.

my friend and i went for dinner before the theatre as she said the burgers were good. on this night, however, we were served very pink, practically raw burgers which we sent back. they returned several minutes later, but no better. neither one of us felt it was safe (nor appetizing) to eat them. i think we would have chalked it up to just one bad cook night had there been any acknowledgment. we were not offered anything for the inconvenience or even an apology. we both were charged for our one beer and an order of green beans (not the dinner we were hoping for). when i asked to speak with a manager so i could share my disappointment (the waitress clearly did not care), she informed me there wasn't one. the only way she could change my bill was to try to call someone. no thanks! i didn't care as much about the bill as i did my missed chance at dinner and their clear disinterest in us. we both agreed we would not return.
bad news: no dinner and bad service
good news: i saved some calories, the play was awesome.

went here with my husband for some drinks and appetizers. the beer here is always good, nice selection. the burgers are very good as well. this time we had the wings, nachos, and spring rolls. the wings and nachos were very good but the spring rolls were not. and the dipping sauce was inedible. it tasted like old frying oil. service is not great either. the girls working basically seat you, take your order and you never see them again. i watched a guy sit with his burger in front of him for 10 min waiting for someone to cone around to flag them down so he could tell them his order was wrong. i feel like the waitresses are trying to ignore you so that they aren't bothered. they spend all their time standing at the bar.
i like the food for the most part and the beer is great, but the service needs major improvement.

great for burgers & beer. i went with a group before going to a xu basketball game. we ordered a few rounds of beer, and the beer selection was great. we shared the loaded cheese fries appetizer, and it was pretty good. i ordered the sunrise burger, and it was great. it had a fried egg and pork belly. i was really impressed.

i'll definitely go back again.