The Thurman Cafe

Jeff H.

Joined 9 months ago

My son and I heard all the hype about thurmans, so we took a 90 minute trek to be taken by there delights. Well it was Sat night 08/11/12 and we found utter dissappointment! The staff were friendly, and the quaint atmosphere was relaxing, thats the only reason we gave it 2 stars. There was a wait at 930 so we ordered to go and ate the food in our car. I ordered the spicy salsa burger, and my son ordered the bacon burger. We ordered both med rare, and they were both med well, the salsa burger was more of a soup soggy mess then a burger, and the bacon burger was mammoth, yet have found more flavor at Burger King, and I don't like Burger King. The french fries were cold and saturated with oil, and again, no flavor. I ordered wings, yet truthfully threw them out after the disappointment of the rest of the food, so I can't rate the wings honestly. Portions are large across the board, yet I would have sacrificed quantity for quality

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adam r.

Joined 1 year ago

hidden gem. simply amazing burgers. worth the wait..GO!

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macdonaldgregory1

Joined 2 years ago

Huge Burger With Huge Flavor. Thurman Cafe is known for its delightful and huge burgers. Not only burgers are huge but the flavors of those burgers are huge too. That's the reason why I'm addicted to Thurman's Burger. It's simply scrumptious!

Among my favorites are the Thurman burger and the Jonnie burger. Both burgers are crazy good. I can't live without those burgers. TC is my life!

Other food I liked at TC are their onion rings, chicken cordon bleu sandwich and steak cut fries. Those 3 food I mentioned are food you must order and eat at TC.

Their attendants are very warmth and approachable. That makes Thurman Cafe's customer service world class!

TC is a must go to place!

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CraigGr

Joined 3 years ago

The best!. Okay, I have now been there 7 times now, and there is no discussion about, these burgers are the best! Huge patties cooked the way you want it. The Macedonian, the Big TC, and the Jonnie burgers are just a few of the exclusive line of unique burgers only to be had at Thurmans. Yes, some burgers do not come with fries, but that's probably a good thing, because you may not have room for them! And if do order them, then come in a huge basket at a great price. And yes there is a wait. Why do you think that is? Its because its that good! Service may be a little slow too but that's because of the size of the flat top. The cook can only cook so many burgers at one time. But even with the delays, I have never had bad service or a cold burger...always piping hot. The pizza and subs are excellent too. So in a nutshell, if you are too anal to chill out and a have a drink while you wait, this place may not be for you, but if you like great burgers, you cant go wrong here.

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ohioguy

Joined 7 years ago

What is the fuss all about?. I had waited a few years to make the trip to the famed Thurman Cafe. I'd heard mixed reviews from my co-workers about the place, but after the Man vs Food episode at the Thurman, I figured it it would surely be worth a try.

First of all, we were told the wait was going to be an hour; on a Saturday at 5 PM. This is to be expected, given the popularity and the size of the restaurant, so we decided to wait.

We got lucky and found some seats at the bar; so our wait was only about 30 minutes between entering and ordering. It' a super crowded little bar, but the staff was friendly and it's a fun place to have a drink. We did not have any surly-staff experiences like some other reviewers seem to have encountered.

But then we got our food, served at the bar. I ordered a Thurman Burger ($10), my wife ordered the Fish Dinner ($9), and we got an order of onion rings ($4).

The famous Thurman Burger? In summary, it's huge, sloppy, and boring. Most of the taste of this burger comes from the slathering of cheeses, mayo, sauted onions+mushrooms, and the ham - not the burger itself. Honestly, I've had tastier ground beef from many other chain restaurants, as well as my own grill. It's not bad; but surely it's not worth waiting for over an hour for such mediocrity?

The fish dinner on the other hand, was a major thumbs down. Greasy, dark limp breading that slid off the codfish; "fries" that were similarly greasy and limp. To me this is sort of the litmus test of a bar and grill; the fried food, and this was disappointing.

On the bright side the onion rings were pretty good, very crisp and flavorful batter. Overall not a bad onion ring.

I won't be rushing back anytime soon to the Thurman, I can't imagine waiting over an hour for food this average. After this meal, I really don't understand all the hype about this place.

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GamerMuzz

Joined 2 years ago

Best Burger in the city!. Look folks, if you want to be seated immediately and are expecting a fine dining experience....go somewhere else.

But, If you want a pub dining experience the likes of which you will not encounter again, then the Thurman is for you.

First off, this place gets slammed! the wait can be quite long. But that's a testament to how much people love it. Unfortunately the city will not allow them to expand their seating (parking restraints).

My advice? If you don't want to wait too long, come during non dinner hours and try to visit on a week day. (earlier than 5pm.)

The Food: What can I say? I've been eating at the Thurman for over 20 years now and I love it. The burgers are not only huge. but have wonderful flavor. Each of their burgers offer something different and unique for every pallet. If you don't like burgers, not to worry! The subs are great and I've been known to Jump on the delicious Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich a few times myself. (Their Ruben is something else too!)

The steak cut fries are great. We get ours with cheese over them (melted cheddar, not canned cheese)

The servers are normally quite busy, but they're super friendly and will do their best to help as much as they can while running between tables. That's not to say I've never walked up to the bar to get a refill. But the Pros FAR outweigh the cons.

Summary: Don't go to the Thurman if you're in a hurry and don't go if you're looking for health food. this is the quintessential Pub experience with novelty sized food that also happens to taste like a dream come true.

It is and will always be one of my favorite places ever

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vdb2010

Joined 3 years ago

GREATEST FOOD ON THE PLANET. Simply GREAT service! This is the best place on earth for a home cooked burger!

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jayboy316

Joined 3 years ago

Great time and Great food.. I went to Thurman Cafe on a sunday afternoon and it was very busy. Football was on all the televisions. After being seated at the bar the the service was excellent and the food was great. I got the Thurmanator which is hugh and I could not eat it all. My girlfriend got the Western burger. We both love the food and the enviroment. I would go back today.

Doesn't Recommend

wahoochuck2

Joined 3 years ago

I totally agree-STAY AWAY!!. I have to say, as a newcomer to Columbus, I was very excited about trying the Thurman Cafe. Boy was I disappointed!!! LONG wait, greasy, overcooked average burger. Not to mention terrible service. If this is the best Columbus has to offer in the burger catagory, you people are VERY unlucky. I know employee/shill chris1961 will make some nasty comment, so bring it on. BTW chris, why is your response to all the unhappy people the same? Columbus has SOOO many great restaurants, why would anyone waste a second trip after such shitty experiences?? Youve been defending this place for over a year as far as I see, so you must work there. Even though its a chain, Teds is WAY better. Plus fries COME WITH the burger. What a novel idea!!!!!

When almost a third of your reviews are average or worse, somethings not right.

Doesn't Recommend

flamingorose

Joined 5 years ago

Ignore the Man vs. Food hype.. Went here for my son's birthday since we had all heard all the hype about it, primarily from Man vs. Food. Must say though, I was not impressed. It was very hot, they said their air was not working. The service was not good, took forever to get drink refills. After we ordered it took about 45 minutes to get our food. We all got burgers. I really couldn't figure out what made these "special". I can make a much, much better burger than this one. I ordered mine well-done, it wasn't. The tomatoes were soggy, the bun was soggy and falling apart. My husband's burger didn't even have a bottom bun. The "onion straws" they serve with the bacon cheddar burger were not "straws" and they were gross. I had a stomach ache the rest of the night. It was a fun atmosphere, but I need more than that when I go out to EAT. I won't go back.