gordo's pub & grill

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

10: unassumingplacethat 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. thisplaceis a hidden gem and to think it's right across from the norwood public library....wow. 45212 is rocking the burgers.

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 thisplaceevery day.

i have been to gordo's several times, and while this is aplacei 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

gordos was pretty good when i went the first few times and ever since it's been very inconsistent. the burgers tend to be absolute raw and when you send it back the burger comes right back the same way you sent it.

service is another issue. it just feels like the waiters/waitresses don't care about the customer or the food. the inconsistency of thisplaceis more than enough to keep me from coming back.

horrible service (stacy). okay here are my comments about the time/money i wasted at gordos. i went expecting a nice evening with friends for a going away dinner and came away aggravated with the service. we had a large party (about 12 people), but theplacewas dead when we walked in so we didn’t think this was going to be an issue. stacy our bartender/waitress was the only person in the front of the house and there was one guy in the kitchen. she brought out our drinks in a timely manner, but the food was another story. our table was clearly above her competency level. our soups trickled onto the tables no earlier than half an hour later, but she forgot three orders. our burgers came another hour after that. the fries were cold and soggy by that time. once we got our food stacy didn’t come back once. we felt like we were bothering her conversation with the greasy guy in the kitchen to ask for refills. here’s the worst part!!!!!!! my friend tried to explain how the check should be split up when we were finishing, but she said threw the bill at her and said you guys figure this out! after sitting there with a pen and paper for 20 minutes we got it all straightened out (or so we thought) a girl from my party had to physically go behind the bar to ring it to where no one had to front a $250 bill by themselves. after a half hour of guiding stacy through her computer program like a blind mule we discovered she did the exact same thing with all the drinks so we had to do the same process over again! everyone was so frustrated at this girl’s rude unhelpful attitude. i felt like since she already added the gratuity she didn’t care that her service was subpar to say it nicely. she told us when everything was done and over she made an expectation for us because they were so dead, and that next we’d all have to sit at different tables to get split checks. thanks but i will not be returning to theplaceand stacy needs a course in customer service or a different career path. it was so hard to remain calm when we were getting nothing, but nasty attitude thrown in our face for spending our money at their establishment. we spent half the night trying to fix stacy’s mistakes when all we really wanted was a night dedicated to our friend who was leaving. thisplacejust lost 12 potential return customers because of the horrible service.

first time i went it was very good, but then.......... i decided to tell a number of people about thisplaceand the group of us went. not only did it take over an hour to get three medium burgers (it was 1:30 & not busy) but the fries were ice cold. at this point they offered to give us fresh ones which was the least they could do. now i was looking forward to my burger since the last time i got the same thing and it was quite good. to my dismay it was so over done, dry and flavorless that i simply put it down and was done. what's worse is that the people i brought had burgers that were worse than mine. three, collective bites taken and no fries eaten and all after waiting over an hour and they didn't offer to take anything off of the bill. after this experience neither myself or anyone from our firehouse will ever return to gordo's.

excellent all round, great burgers and sercvice. firstly this is the kind ofplacethat should be titled " dont judge a book by its cover" . i would have normally driven past thisplaceand given it a wide berth, it really doesnt look that inviting from outside, once inside though i was really surpised, nice bar area and plesant decor, nothing over fancy, but from outside to in, there was no comparison.
my friends has eaten at the other location near jungle jims and had not been impressed, they were told to try this one as its much better and has better food, i had never heard of theplaceand will give anything a once. we all had burgers, including the bpj, gordo's and jean robert. all were excellent, cooked exactly as requested and no one had any complaints. the peanut butter and jelly would have been the last thing i woudl ever have chosen, my friend had it though and that will be my next choice next time i visit, it was so tasty, a great combo of salty and sweet.
our server was excellent, gave great advise and suggestions and was very attentive. the beer list was excellent and they had one of my fave drinks of all time, magners irish cider...i was in heaven. my husband tried several different beers they had on special and loved them all, especially the smutty nose ale. i will be back again, i really enjoyed the evening, food and service.

and for the person who said in their review that if you like thisplaceyou are either 1 ...an idiot or 2...never eaten burgers, i can state that i am neither i just had a great night and great food !!!

great burgers and beer. gordo's is a very cool bar in norwood with great food, particularly the burgers and saratoga chips, and great beer. the burgers could be classified as "gourmet" in the sense that you can go and get unique items, such as grape compote or lump crab, on your burger. the beer selection is great, and they always have a huge selection both on draft and in bottles. it's a very coolplaceto watch a game.

bad burgers!. i never really write reviews but was so disappointed! my standards aren't even that high- if i'm not cooking it, i'm usually not complaining, cuz hey- i didn't have to cook. our burgers were over cooked, too spherical to eat comfortably, and bland. they were dry and tasteless and there weren't enough toppings or condiments to even begin to compensate, probably because there's no room to balance toppings on a spherical burger! isn't most of the point of thisplacethe burgers? jean robert should try to disassociate himself with thisplace(a burger is named after him and gordo apparently (allegedly) cooked at his restaurant). it was just so sad since i was excited to have what seemed like a coolplaceto eat in norwood. i almost forgot to mention: the wings? gross and dry and tasteless. the fries? gross and dry and tasteless. let me reiterate; i really don't have high standards, this was just bad.

the fact that so many people like thisplacemeans one of 2 things, 1 people are idiots or 2 they have never had a hamburger before. this was one of the worst burger joints i have ever been in. to start whenever someone left the bathroom you could catch the amazing scent of toilet bowl cleaner. on top of that it was hot enough to make you sweat. this was also true for the cooking staff who used their arms to get the sweat off their face. if that was not enough, the heat warmed my beer up in only a few minutes. now for the food, the surf and turf burger was nothing but a small lump of crab meat with a poor excuse for bearnaise sauce, it was most likely just butter and salt, the gordo burger was a bit better but it was still not as good as it could have been had it been made some where else. both burgers were cooked exactly as i ordered so i have to give them credit there. their "loaded" cheese fries were just not good and that is a hard thing to mess up. infact gordo's may be the onlyplacein the world to do so. they were made just like a kid would make them only the kid would have loaded it with toppings. their mac and cheese was the best part of this entire place, i wish i could have just got a large bowl of that instead of being disapointed in the rest of their food. to sum up what i thought of gordo's i say this, i would not eat here again if it were free and they had a sexy nude waiting staff who fed the food to me. i wouldgive thisplacethumbs down but i am afraid i do not have enough thumbs.

good, but not over the top great. i was going to be in norwood on a recent friday night so i thought i'd get to the area a little early so i could finally check thisplaceout. i've heard good things about it. i've passed it while driving down montgomery rd, but let me tell you that the outside does not resemble the appearance on the inside. the inside looks great with some interesting artwork on the wall, and a great looking bar. i arrived around 6:15 and i'm glad i was (a) by myself, and (b) didn't get there a few minutes later. after talking with some people at the door, i found out that this type of crowd where you have to wait for a table is normal. i ended up getting the last seat at the very end of the bar. ordered up a quality draft beer and ordered the blackened burger. about 25 minutes later my burger arrived. i asked for it to be cooked medium, and it was a little overcooked in comparison to how i like it, but not that bad really. some really good flavors on that burger. french fries were fair but nothing over the top.
the major flaw with the burger is the shape. while it is a 1/2 lb burger, it is a very thick burger so basically in order to get eat it, you have to cut it but then it is just a messy burger since it slides out of the bun. if the patty was made thinner and wider, it would be top notch in my eyes.
the staff seemed friendly. the 2 bartenders were slammed, and it took a while for me to get their attention to get a water and my bill, but not the end of the world.
i'm not sure if i'll go out of my way to get here, but if i am in the neighborhood i wouldn't hesitate to get some beers and try a different burger on the menu.

good burgers, crappy customer service. if you enjoy a substantial beer list and good burgers then gordo's is potentially theplaceyou'd want to spend your friday or saturday night, but wait. . . not so fast. if you have lots of time to kill waiting for a table, enjoy being cramped like a sardine, and you don'tplaceany value on even moderately good customer service, then gordo's is definitely theplacefor you! while the food is good, the restaurant is disorganized; the waitresses are all over the place, the bartender takes his sweet time getting to you to ask what you'd like to drink, and there is no discernible hostess and no sign indicating you need to see someone to be seated. i went with my husband and after waiting for 50 minutes we finally asked the "hostess" when we would be seated (as she indicated we'd wait only 20-30 min. for a table), and she didn't even have our names written down (even though she asked for it when we arrived after we sought her out to take it down). later she said, "oh sorry, i accidentally crossed your name out." we will not be going back; while we were there, i couldn't help but feel that mr. gorgo has developed a reputation in norwood and his arrogance is getting in the way of valuing the very customers that helped make a name for him. flip daddy's in mariemont has excellent customer service, a comprehensive beer list and burgers that give gordo's a run for their money--we will be going there next time we are in the mood for great beer, burgers, and a well-run establishment.

i had heard so many good things about their burgers that i had to try them out for myself. first of all, we probably shouldn't have brought the kids, don't get me wrong i don't remember anything going wrong or it not being kid friendly, but it was more of an adultplaceand more of a bar than say a bdubs or willies or something of that nat

thisplaceis down right irritating. i've tried it three times, i have never liked it, and this time it took them 30 minutes to cook a simple burger... and they even managed to get that wrong!


-----25 feb, 2009-----

the "ball of meat" is good. presentation needs help. i like my burger in a patty, not a ball. besides that, i'd say it's an average burger at an average price

great burger, comfortable pub. gordo's was a great deal more welcoming than i had imagined. i went by myself, sitting at the bar to eat my food, and i must say - it wasn't nearly as awkward as i had anticipated. the bartender, andy i believe, was polite and friendly. he greeted each guest promptly and paid attention to the people he was waiting on.
i got the gordo's burger, which was pretty good. not the best in the city, but hey, for pub food this was fantastic. i really appreciate them taking bar food to the next level. when comparing it to its peers (such as arthur's), i think gordo's has outdone the competition.
i will say that my burger was a little more pink than i was comfortable with. an earlier poster kind of left an elephant in the room here that i had to address and hopefully gordo's will as well. i ordered my burger as medium and the center was definitely a medium-rare pink. however, it was done enough to eat and i found that the toppings were fantastic and made up for the cooking error.
not my typicalplace(bar) and i doubt i'll be back, but for a bar i was really impressed with the food and service.