Tickle Pickle

Our 83rd Review

Official Review #83

Tickle Pickle

4176 Hamilton Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio  45223

513.954.4003

UPDATE! Someone from the Tickle Pickle left us a reply about our Comments on their Burgers Possibly not begin real Beef due to their Uniform Shape and about whether or not they have any spices in the Beef, here is most of their reply about it.

We just wanted to clarify that the beef is from Whole Foods in Rookwood and that we do in fact patty them onsite. One of our owners manufactured a press so that the beef can be placed in a cookie sheet and pressed to make each burger the same size (this is why there is a square shape to it). Our beef is also seasoned. We appreciate the feedback from all and will take all comments into consideration. Happy burger eating! 

Thank You Tickle Pickle for clearing this up for us, my reply also back to them was, that it does not change our review any of their Burger,  except for the grill marks on the meat, it's almost tasteless to be real Beef, and it does not help their very poor Bun, get a good Brioche Bun, I bought some cheap ones at Walmart one day that actually was very good,  and try a taste test with some other really good burgers in town and see if you can use what you find out to spice up your Burgers some, otherwise we really can't recommend your Burgers with so many other Excellent ones in town and N. Ky.

We met one of the 3 original Cincinnati Burgerguys here for this burger during Cincinnati Burger week 2018, and he was kind enough to send me his own review on the burger we had for Lunch, his review is next, the review from my Wife & I are just below it, but all 3 of us basically agree on it, thanks again Freddie for this excellent review.

Hi there - It’s Freddie - one of the original Cincinnati Burger Guys. Although I haven’t written a burger review in some time, I know I’m up to this task. After all, I still like a good burger and I regularly write at my blog of eclectic topics, A Frank Angle. https://afrankangle.wordpress.com/

Since the last time we posted, Wolfy moved to Chicago and my good friend Bucky is in a memory care facility. So, when the host here invited me to join him and his wife to celebrate Cincinnati Burger Week, I couldn’t turn that down! Besides, I got to pick the venue!!!

On name alone, Tickle Pickle in Northside has always intrigued me. Another factor was the  Tickle Pickle’s Cincinnati Burger Week offering was a standard burger - not a specialty flavor based on bacon, blue cheese, barbeque, tacos, or another specialty. After all, back in the day, I controlled my variables by standardizing my order as much as possible. Besides, the original Cincinnati Burger Guys based ratings on the burger - not the place. Oh, how I recall Bucky squirming at a few places.

I initially mentally pictured a bar - na baby na - Tickle Pickle is a casual eatery where customers order at the register. I ordered a Bread Zeppelin - a beef burger with lettuce, tomato, onion (nope for me), pickle, and spicy ketchup.

Once the burger arrived, I gave it the Freddie once-over - overall looks ok, a medium thickness at best, and a basic bun. Because a good burger should be primarily about the meat, a Freddie tradition is to pinch off a portion of the pattie. Yum! - a pronounced flavor of the grill (a good thing) but nothing seems to be added to the meat (a negative). I also know Wolfie would say the beef was OK - but not exceptional.

With the first bite, Bucky’s spirit resonated with me to think about the sandwich as a whole. (More on that later.) As previously mentioned, the bun was standard. Nothing special - but it did not dominate the sandwich and it maintained its integrity through the final bite.

Conclusion

Carrying the flavor of the grill made this burger very acceptable. Although the trimmings and bun were basic, they worked well together - but nothing spectacular. I, Freddie, recommend the Bread Zeppelin at the Tickle Pickle - but keep your expectations in check because it won’t knock your socks off. However, it’s still a better burger than Zips (the most overrated burger in the city).

Final Rating - Acceptable, but nothing special.  

Now the Review of the same Burger from my Wife & I.

We came here for Cincinnati Burger week 2018 on a Saturday for Lunch, we had the BREAD ZEPPELIN   $10.00   A Beef burger, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayo, ketchup, it was a good looking Burger & a pretty good size,  but it was a very plain tasting Patty, no spices detected on it, the only flavor was the burn from the grill, really not much flavor other than that to speak of,  the pattie clearly was square-shaped, giving the appearance that it came frozen from a box & not Hand-made on-site, and it tasted like it, since we did not ask about this, the Jury is out on exactly what or where the Beef is or where it comes from.

The toppings, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickle were all good and seemed fresh, toppings all tasted good, the mayo, ketchup, everything was fine.

The Bun looked good, but overall a bit hard & dry, no taste in it at all, it definitely needs a better bun, maybe even a brioche.

 We tried the Mac 'n' Cheese and it was excellent 10x better than the burger was, it was the 1st Mac 'n' Cheese I've had with Bowtie Pasta, I definitely  recommend trying it, it was better than most other places I've tried that were known for their Mac 'n' Cheese,  but there are way too many better Burgers in the City to waste time at this location, if your in the area or passing by, run in and get a mac to go, it was a decent overall burger, but that was due to the toppings & cheese mostly, definitely nothing to do with the tasteless, square, with a possibly frozen patty, 

I've read some pretty good reviews on this place, & 1 person told me it was excellent, but there were 3 of us for this review & all 3 pretty much had the same opinion on it.  We Met Freddie here for Lunch, he was one of the original 3 Cincinnati Burger Guys from the early 2000s that ran a Famous blog by the same name, it was very popular & they hit all the best places at that time, it was an excellent blog & I followed them religiously, it was well written & great reviews,  Freddie does an excellent job reviewing Burgers, like us, his heart & tummy and soul, are really into the love of Burgers, but I suggest finding a much better rated & reviewed burger, as there are at least 25 or more potentially better ones in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Parking is a bit difficult at busy times, you have to park on the street, meters on both sides & there is a City lot around the corner & a little bit of free parking on the street near the lot and by the United Dairy Farmer across from the Parking lot.

I've read some pretty decent reviews on the burgers here, how I don't know, I can only guess people are not getting out and trying better ones, or maybe the locals are giving it inflated reviews, who knows for sure, the toppings helped mask, a not so good beef patty.

Final Thoughts: Definitely not a good piece of beef, just barely acceptable, overall it was a decent burger, but with all of the great burgers in Cincinnati & Northern, Kentucky, I would never want to eat this one again, no reason to pay $10 for it, I would rather have a Big boy or something, and again, our guess is it's not real Beef, but if it is, it's a poor selection, it's definitely not hand-made on site.

Go here, get the Mac 'N" cheese & forget about the burgers, they look better than they are, and the toppings mask the plain flavor of the meat.

Final Rating:       6.4* (Avg/Nothing Special

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                                                                   HOURS:

Monday - Sunday | 11:00am - 10:00pm