We ventured out to Columbus, OH in mid-November to see the Iowa Hawkeyes play the Ohio State Buckeyes in football. Cindy and I have been out to Columbus a couple times prior to this visit to see Iowa play Ohio State, but both times we went out on a bus with a large group of people from around the Quad Cities area. We really didn't get to see or do much other than just hang around the hotel and stadium area. This time we went out with our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder, along with Dave and Pat Heusmann in a rented SUV so we were able to go try out some places while we were there.
Marcia had told us that Adam Richman had visited a couple of interesting places when he was in Columbus for a "Man Vs. Food" episode he shot there a couple years back. One of the places that looked very interesting was The Thurman Cafe, a long-time Columbus tradition known for their burgers. We decided to head there for lunch before the game.
The Thurman Cafe has been around since 1942 when a Macedonian immigrant Nancho "Nick" Suclescy opened the small restaurant on Thurman Street in the heart of Columbus' German Village (see map). The Suclescy family has been in control of The Thurman Cafe ever since. Nick's grandchildren - Mike, Paul and Donna - took control of the business in the early 1980's. Donna DeVol runs the day to day operation while Mike and Paul sort of work in the background.
The Thurman Cafe doesn't open until 11:00 a.m., but we'd heard it was a rather small place and we wanted to get there early so we could get in and out as quick as possible. We got there around 10:30 and were literally the first people in line. Scott and I initially sat on one of the benches out front while the rest of the group walked around the quaint old German neighborhood to pass the time. Before long, more people showed up and the crowd in front of the place grew to about 25 to 30 people just before The Thurman Cafe opened up. We're glad we got there early because had we come when it opened up, we probably wouldn't have been seated. It's that small on the inside.
As we were waiting, a couple came out of the restaurant and the lady said, "Oh, people from Iowa! We love it when you folks come out to see us!" It turned out the couple was Mike Suclescy and his wife (right). Mike didn't talk much, but his wife was filling us in on the history of The Thurman Cafe, how Adam Richman still wears a "Thurman Cafe" t-shirt when he does his show, and how Ohio State grads come back nearly every year when they're back for a game. She said, "We go through over 1500 pounds of beef in a week. And that's just for our hamburgers!"
The front door of The Thurman Cafe soon opened and we were suddenly inside a small waiting area where a waitress greeted us. She said, "Oh, we have some Hawkeyes in our place! Well, let's get you guys seated back here." She took us to a pretty good sized booth toward the back of the very small bar/restaurant. I would say that The Thurman Cafe would seat, probably, 50 to 55 people.
The interior of The Thurman Cafe was rather interesting. There was all types of memorabilia, kitsch and other busy stuff on the walls. There was a bar that went nearly the length of the west wall of the dining room and those seat were the first to fill up when we were seated in the booth.
The waitress had dropped off menus for us to look over and she took drink orders. I asked if they had good Bloody Mary's and she said, "I think they're pretty darn good." Five of the six in our group ordered up Bloody Mary's. I got mine spicy and ordered up a Bud Light to chase it back.
The big draw at The Thurman Cafe is their signature burger - The Thurmanator. This is how a Thurmanator is made from the bottom up: Bottom homemade bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, hot pepper cheese, 12 ounce burger, bacon, cheddar, another 12 oz burger, sautéed onion, mushroom, ham, American and provolone cheese, then a top bun and served with fries. It's truly for the very hungry. Many people try it, and while we were there two people ordered a Thurmanator. One of them - a younger guy in his 20's - devoured the burger and fries in less than 20 minutes! I went over to him and asked him if he was still hungry after eating all that and he said, "Not now! But I was before." He said he hadn't eaten in over 24 hours just anticipating getting a Thurmanator on Saturday morning before going to the game.
A Thurmanator wasn't quite what I was looking for, but I did want to try one of The Thurman Cafe's burgers. They have 20 different types of burgers to choose from on the menu including some interesting ones like the Johnnie Burger - topped with blue cheese, bacon and horseradish cheese. While they grill the burger, they pour a splash of Cuervo 1800 tequila on the burger. Yow! They also have something called the Jaeger - an open-faced burger topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, then topped with their homemade onion dip. One thing that I almost got was their "Rad Shroom" burger - loads of sauteed mushrooms on top of the burger, then covered with horseradish cheese. Man, my stomach was just growling!
I decided to go with The Thurman Burger - a burger topped with ham, mozzarella, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, onions, pickles, hot peppers and mayo. I figured that would be more than enough to tide me over for the rest of the day until we had dinner later that evening.
The waitress had dropped off our drinks and took our orders. Everyone ordered burgers even though The Thurman Cafe also has sub sandwiches, hot or cold conventional sandwiches, chicken breast sandwiches, chicken wings and something called "pizza thins" that they tout as an appetizer. It's basically a very thin crust pizza that they top with different toppings. It got my interest, but I was there for a burger.
My Bloody Mary went down pretty quickly. The waitress came back and said, "So, how do you all like your Bloody Mary's?" She looked down at my glass that was empty, save for the ice and my pickle spear, and she said, "Well, it's obvious HE liked the Bloody Mary!"
She left and about two minutes later she came back with a shaker with more of the spicy Bloody Mary in it. She said, "I had some more of the spicy mix left over when I was making these up for you. May as well not let it go to waste!" And she poured some more in my glass, filling it to the top.
The place was packed and the kitchen was obviously overwhelmed as it took us nearly 30 minutes after we ordered to get our burgers. We didn't mind, though. The waitress was friendly, attentive and took good care of us on our drinks. She even brought back more of the spicy Bloody Mary to pour into other people's glasses. Cindy suddenly found herself with a full glass and she said, "My God! I'll be plowed before we get to the game!" She couldn't drink all of her second one, so I helped her out.
Our burgers finally showed up at the table and this is what my Thurman Burger looked like. The bun was very light and not very chewy. It was a freshly baked bun, probably baked overnight at a bakery and brought to The Thurman Cafe. The burger was juicy and flavorful. Very flavorful. The toppings didn't detract from the taste of the beef. It's a griddle grilled burger and I'm sure the same griddle has been in use for over 65 years. That helps make the taste of the burger, I always say.
The others in our group all declared their burgers to be good to excellent. Actually, I was probably the one who declared mine to be in the excellent category. It was, hands down, one of the best burgers I've ever had.
The Thurman Cafe was a fun place to get a burger. The crowd of people waiting in the small lobby waiting area was a testament to how good their burgers really are. I am now going to have to revise my Top Ten Burgers list because The Thurman Cafe has just made it. No question. And I hope to get back there someday to try the "Rad Shroom" burger. It's too bad that Columbus isn't part of my territory. But I'd go back to Columbus just to get a burger from The Thurman Cafe.
This is one of my all-time favorite spots. I used to live nearby in the Brewery District, and this was a frequent gathering spot after work on Friday nights. Love that you were there!
Posted by: Kristin | February 01, 2010 at 10:07 PM
On the Thurman Cafe write-up; that is not "Mike" Suclescy. That is Paul Suclescy with his now Ex-wife "Rosie" (who was not affiliate with TC) in that picture. Paul is now retired and his brother and sister (Mike and Donna) solely run that shit dump. Paul created their "famous" Thurmanator hamburger.
Posted by: Jeff | June 16, 2017 at 01:32 PM