Ever since I started this blog (and divulged that Terry and I really like a good burger), I’ve heard the same thing over and over again: “You have to try Cityview!” Located in Mt. Adams, City View Tavern is known for a couple of things: Bloody Marys and burgers.
I’ll be honest– I hadn’t even wandered into that particular nook of Mt. Adams until I did the Cinciditarod a couple of months ago (and we all toyed with the idea of stopping at City View instead of continuing on with the race). Terry suggested it a week or two ago, and we stopped by on a Saturday afternoon.
The place is small, and everyone was out on the porch– except for us. We couldn’t get a table outside, so we stayed inside, near the bar, and among a ton of Cincinnati memorabilia I’d forgotten about– I distinctly remember a bunch of the Bengals stuff, in particular, from when I was a kid. I felt a little bit like I was in my grandparents’ basement.
Their menu is simple: burgers, beef barbecue (I really feel like I’m in my grandparent’s basement with that one), a grilled cheese sandwich, mettwurst, and soup. We both got burgers– Terry got the Big Ted Deluxe and I got the Teddy. The menu in the restaurant wasn’t clear about what the difference was– I assumed with the diminutive form of “Ted”, that it would be smaller. Nope– just no lettuce or tomato. Your choice of chips were plain or Grippo’s– we got a bag of each.
See a difference between those burgers? Yup, same size– just no vegetables on mine. As far as the burgers– are they best in the city? I don’t think so– I still like Terry’s better. They make a good burger– well-done (which is not my preference) but still a little juicy, but the flavor, to me, came more from the condiments than from well-seasoned meat. Terry enjoyed his a little more than I did, but Terry is usually happier with a basic burger than I am– I tend towards the non-American cheese and atypical condiments. We both left satisfied, but it wasn’t as transcendent an experience as I had been led to believe.
(An entire post is forthcoming on Grippo’s.)
One big criticism– their website. I don’t like “fun” websites when I’m just trying to get information– it’s a site done in Flash that has a buzzing bee as a cursor, and it’s very difficult to get past the landing page, much less find the menu for reference. Restaurants: can you please make your sites simple, not made entirely in flash, and provide menus in HTML instead of PDF? Please?
