CINCINNATI - The Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati has been hyped quite a bit, and has all the pieces to make for a great night out. So for its first weekend in operation, we here at WCPO Digital went to check it all out.
I drove to the casino with high hopes and exaggerated expectations with two fellow team members from WCPO Digital at 6 p.m. on Friday.
We all took separate cars and all parked without hassle or paying for it. Definitely a big plus in my book.
We walked in without having to wait in line and were quickly asked for ID by friendly staff.
First impression: The lights were bright, the slots were calling me and the people were varied.
We decided on first venturing to Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace to review/stuff our faces with some of his signature burgers.
It was 6:22 p.m. when we started in line, and a staff member (that seemed too busy to accept my jokes) was taking our order exactly 20 minutes later. Maybe the jokes weren’t as funny as I thought.
A word of warning: As the night rolls on and casino guests grow hungrier, the lines get longer. Around 8 p.m., the line winded longer and patrons grew in size significantly.
The sleek design of the restaurant seemed straight out of a Jetsons cartoon, while the background music hummed tunes from the Rolling Stones. Not bad.
We sat down at a long, thin, winding table that made conversation somewhat awkward.
I decided on the Bobby Blue Burger, sweet potato fries and the vanilla caramel bourbon milkshake.
WCPO Digital reporter Kevin Osborne, member No. 2 of the casino review team, ordered the Crunch Burger, regular fries and the mocha Kahlua vodka milkshake.
And member No. 3 of our review team, WCPO Digital web editor and local A&E expert Emily Maxwell, ordered the L.A. Burger and a cactus pear margarita.
We may have waited only five to 10 minutes after sitting down until we were brought our order. Just keep that in mind if you’re waiting in a long line to get in, you won't be waiting long at all for your food.
To be clear, I am a black and blue burger enthusiast and order them whenever a restaurant claims to have good burgers. When I was brought my plate, I was immediately excited by what I saw: Lots of blue cheese and lots of bacon (See picture above). It was juicy, flavorful and did I mention it had a lot of bacon? I loved Bobby Flay’s version and would definitely order it again.
Vanilla caramel bourbon milkshake, mocha
Kahlua vodka milkshake, Cactus pear margarita
The caramel bourbon milkshake was delicious, but because I am more of a vodka fan, I decided to steal Kevin's instead. I could drink one of the mocha Kahlua vodka milkshakes every hour of every day if it wouldn’t land me in rehab. Absolutely amazing.
My favorite part of the meal was the sweet potato fries. I order them from time to time when I go out, but I have never had better sweet potato fries than these. Yes, I know that is a very bold statement, especially from a fry lover, but it’s the truth. They were crunchy, sweet and the dipping sauce complemented them perfectly.
Crunch burger
Kevin said his Crunch Burger consisted of a high-quality meat, but he loved the spiked milkshakes the most. The bourbon in the vanilla milkshake cut some of the sweetness and was surprisingly strong without being overpowering.
Kevin said he isn't a big fan of fries but as far as fries go, the regular fries he ordered were OK.
Emily said her burger, which had avocado relish in it, was delicious. Emily was impressed by the fast turnaround at the restaurant for a quick bite to eat at the casino, rather than a calm sit down, with the whole waiting experience only lasting 25 minutes.
After Emily allowed the group to down some of her bright pink cactus pear margarita (which looked like it could glow in the dark), we had to order our own. For reviewing’s sake, of course.
To me, the margarita tasted like and had a similar consistency to apple sauce. If you want a lighter, fruity and strong drink, without it being overpowering, I would go for this one.
After we finished our meals and ran out of things to say to each other, we all realized that we weren’t given the option to add a tip on our receipts when we ordered with our credit cards. This, of course, was a huge issue because who carries cash these days? I don’t.
I pulled a waitress aside (who, by the way, was an incredibly funny and nice woman), and asked her the awkward question about tipping. She told us that they only really accept cash, which wasn't made obvious until that point.
Luckily, Emily saved the day with a few bucks and we didn’t have to leave the table without tipping our wonderful waitress. Keep that in mind: If you go to Bobby’s, bring some cash and save yourself from the uncomfortable conversation with your waiter/waitress.
We left the burger joint stuffed to the point of bursting, but happy, and ready to explore Jack Binion’s Steak House.
Next page: Jack Binion's and some gambling
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