Cheap eats: Mt. Adams Bar and Grill

A house salad with grilled chicken served at Mt. Adams Bar and Grill, with a watermelon martini and a Stella Artois. (Credit: Michael E. Keating | Metromix)

Secluded from the city, the historic Mt. Adams Bar and Grill offers an extensive menu all day and night with burgers averaging in the six-dollar range and half the menu being "heart healthy."

(Quick history lesson: The bar claims its location obtained the first liquor license in Ohio after Prohibition and it has a backbar reputedly from infamous bootlegger George Remus, who murdered his soon-to-be ex-wife in nearby Eden Park.)

The best time to visit Mount Adams and the restaurant is on a languid, weekday summer afternoon when the area's basically deserted, and gasp, there's ample street parking.

The mood: The boyfriend and I stopped by the bar and grill during the lull between lunch and happy hour and picked a booth. Pictures of former presidents, like Reagan, grace the bar area, as do a couple of small TVs broadcasting news. Quiet and practically empty except for an elderly couple drinking beers, the most noise comes from the chatty wait staff and the TVs. Taxidermied animal heads, Zippo lighters, a sign that reads "No Sniveling," vintage gumball machines, framed cases of Winchester bullets and pinball backglasses reveal the bar's shady past, while the soundtrack of modern indie rockers Phoenix, Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT and Coldplay circa early '00s - back when they were good - yank us back to the present.

The food: There's everything from burgers and salads to grilled fish on the menu, but their "best new item" entrée, the Southwestern black bean veggie burger ($6.50), piqued my interest. Oats, tofu, wheat germ, black beans and sesame seeds are mashed into a grilled patty that's placed on an onion roll smeared with avocado, pepper jack cheese and salsa. The burger comes sliced in half, which is a rather nice surprise. Biting into it, I received a bit of a kick, so if you don't like spicy food, avoid it. Unlike a lot of pubs, Mount Adams seems to make their veggie burgers from scratch.

The boyfriend orders the Broadcaster Burger ($6.25): ground beef with onions, green olives and cheese on grilled rye bread. The sandwiches come with potato chips but a la carte sides like fries, cottage cheese and a 3 Bean Salad ($2.25) are also available. The boyfriend tries the 3 Bean (kidney, yellow wax and green). The beans are obviously from a can, but it's still palatable.

The drinks: I promptly ordered a freshly brewed iced tea ($2.25). The waitress thankfully refills it once without me having to ask. They offer several tantalizing kinds of hot drinks, but with the $7 price tag and the fact these drinks would be better on a cold winter's night, we opt to split a non-alcoholic, dessert-esque Mokka Cappuccino ($3) instead. The frothy beverage comes in a small coffee cup with a single sugar cube mixed with espresso, steamed milk and layered with chocolate syrup. The syrup's a bit of an overkill as it coats the bottom of the cup. Besides their signature coffee drinks, the bar offers a few beers on draft (but no local brews), Malibu Rum cocktails and other spirits.

The verdict: Mt. Adams Bar and Grill works equally well as a thrifty place to grab a bite and as a bar to throw back a few. Afterwards, visit their sister bar, the adjacent The Blind Lemon (a plaque on the side announces Carrot Top's been there!), or start your own bar crawl with any of the other bars within walking distance.