Mad Mike's

According to Mike Gelastopoulos, "people shouldn't have to pay $10 for a burger." Indeed, his burgers fall well below that price—they're $6.49 on average—and they still earn their gourmet title. The Rockefeller, for instance, is layered with cranberry chutney, blue-cheese crumbles, and beer-battered onion strings, whereas the Pride of Zeus is heaped with gyro meat, feta, and tzatziki sauce. Every burger is also made fresh from 100% Black Angus beef, seeing as Mike doesn't truck with freezers or patties encased in carbonite. He also offers The Codfather, a burger-sized sandwich replete with two Alaskan cod fillets, chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

But it's not just the burgers that have folks talking. When Mad Mike's was immortalized in Cincinnati.com's Burger Hall of Fame, food critic Polly Campbell wrote that "the fries are like nothing you've ever had [at] a fast-food joint." Hand-cut daily, these taters can be ordered plain, topped with cheesy bacon, or with nacho cheese and grilled onions.