May 6, 2013

LonnieBurger Baskets: Bobby's Burger Palace

I don't think I promised that I was ever fully retiring the LonnieBurger Basket tag, just putting it on a bit of a hiatus until something interesting showed up. We'd tried pretty much every well-regarded burger in the Cincy area, and nothing seemed to be challenging the top burgers in my rating.

Would the arrival of celebrity chef Bobby Flay in town do anything to rattle the rankings?

Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace in the new Horseshoe Casino drew The Girl and me down into Cincinnati on Reds opening day - not to the ballpark, though.

Let's see how the Flayer did...



Burger
  • Bobby does make a tasty enough burger. They're 1/2lb burgers - a little big for my preference - but certainly generous at the price. The burgers had a little spice to them and were nicely juicy. They did lack, however, the dark, crusty bits that are the mark of a great burger to me. Burger - 7 

Toppings
  • I went with the bacon cheeseburger, lettuce, onion, and tomato. The Girl went for the Santa Fe Burger - queso sauce, pickled jalapenos, and blue corn chips. The bacon was crisp and flavorful; the onion, lettuce, and tomato were solid for being way out of summer time. The queso was slimy and tasty. The pickled jalapenos were sharp but not painful. Topping a very solid offering. Th five custom sauces on the table, though, weren't very good.  Toppings - 7


Fries
  • The Girl and I split an order of fries. They were slightly salty and nicely crisp. They were, however, short and kinda stubby, no big, long fries in the tin. They were also served with a weirdo, flavored mayonnaise. It's supposed to be chipotle, but it's mostly just blah-flavored. Fries - 7 






 Ambiance
  • The color scheme - gold, browns, rich warm tones - works nicely. The communal, serpentine tables don't work for me. The sharp lighting also not so good. And the music fights with the casino's sounds, which is a little weird. Ambiance - 6 
Cost
  • $7.75 for my burger...$3 for fries (we split, so I'll take half the cost)...$2 for Diet Coke...That's $11.25 for burger, fries, and a drink...Cost - 4
Other Stuff
  • It's in a frickin' casino. -2 
  • You have to pay for parking  at the casino.  -1 
  • On our way into the parking garage - where rates were posted as being $10 per car because it was Reds Opening Day when we visited the casino - we asked the parking lot attendant if there was any on-street parking nearby because we're cheapskates. Immediately the manager leaned over and told us that we could park for free because we were welcome. Seriously, outstanding customer service is an easy way to earn points in this competition. +2
  • Seriously, we had to go to a casino and walk through the gambling floor to get to the restaurant. I'm not a big fan of casinos. -1 
  • The restaurant has a full bar. +1
  • Weirdly, alcohol from the restaurant bar cannot be taken out of the restaurant and into the casino. Apparently the casino's liquor outranks the restaurant's liquor. That's weird. -1
  • I do generally like Bobby Flay when I catch him on television. Since this is a celebrity-branded restaurant, and I like the celebrity, I'm giving him a point. +1
Other reviews
 Overall point values...
at 7:57 AM
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