Hello, my home state is Ohio and wanted to put together something people could use to plan a trip for Root Beer. I've discovered Ohio is a great state for Root Beer, several bottled brands and a whole bunch of old-school stands still operating. If I've been there, there is a review. I'll get some pictures organized and added soon. Please post of anywhere you know that I'm not listing.

Starting from the Southwest corner of the state (cincinnati) moving Northeast to the border.

1)The Root Beer Stand www.therootbeerstand.com
11566 Reading Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45241
(513) 769-4349

This is actually in Sharonville, off 275, a few miles from 75.

I get why people still go here, it's one of those places you grow up with because your parents took you there and hey, nostalgia tastes great. But I didn't grow up with this place and found it to be terrible. The root beer is ok, but I don't know if I got a bad batch because it tasted thin, soapy, and lacking anything distinctly good. Yeah it had a creaminess and vanilla notes, but I haven't had too many Tap root beers that didn't. We ordered two root beers ($2 a glass) 1 foot long hot dog and a single burger. The hot dog...if you didnt know there was supposed to be something in there you wouldn't of. The chili was ok, similar to what a Detroit coney tastes like, as opposed to Cincy chile like Skyline. But the dog itself was almost white and had no snap, and was closer to tofu than a hot dog. The hambuger was just a rip-off. It was a single, had mayo dripping out, a couple pickles and some very tired lettuce. After going to Dog N Suds in Indy, where I got a huge double burger with fresh tomatopickleonion and cheese for the same price, and better Root Beer, this place was a resounding dissapointment.

2) Jungle Jims http://www.junglejims.com
5440 Dixie Highway
Fairfield, Ohio 45014
Phone: 513-674-6000

This is a place that stocks 20 different brands of root beer. It also is just a massive supermarket with an incredible selection of fresh and ethnic foods.

3)J & E Rootbeer Stand
6301 Germantown
Middletown, OH 45042
(513) 422-8149

haven't been here yet, just found a listing for it yesterday.

4). The Root Beer Stande
1727 Woodman Dr. P.O. Box 272
Dayton, Ohio 45420

Went here, the food is good, I ended up getting mine in a paper cup, so I guess ask for a glass if you want it. Very A&W like.

5).Centerville City Barbeque http://cityqbbq.com/locations.html
5 E Franklin Street
Centerville, OH
(937) 312-1350

They have something called Yesterdays Soda Pop. It has the name of JL Geene Distributors on the bottle. This site lists two brands: "Greene" and "JL Greene" in the Ohio list of brands. City BBQ has several locations, this is the closest to me, can't say the other locations will also carry it. The BBQ is pretty good, they try to blend the major regional styles so you get Kansas City style ribs or South Carolina pulled pork with Texas, and Tennesee represented as well. I've been to several places in KC and it's not in that class but we do like going to the local one as it's closest to the real thing we've had.

The root beer isn't anything standout, but good and goes great with the food.

6). Route 41 Root Beer Stand
3659 S Charleston Pike
Springfield, OH 45502
(937) 324-8102

also just found a listing for this place while getting info for this post.
OUT OF BIZ

7). Winking Lizard www.winkinglizard.com
1380 Bethel Rd.
Columbus, OH 43220-2685
Phone: 614.451-2647

They have several locations through Cleveland and a few in C-Bus. I went to this location. Really good pizza here, the happy hour specials are great, and the root beer on tap. The brew itself is very sweet, has that medicinal flavor to it that some people like. I drank some Sparkys root beer recently and that is the one brand I could compare Winking Lizard to.

8 ). Hopocan Gardens www.hopocangardens.com
4396 Hopocan Avenue Ext
Norton, OH 44203
330-825-9923


9). Belgrade Gardens
3476 Massillon Rd
Uniontown, OH 44685
330.896.3396

(Just North of Rt. 77 & Rt.241)

Both of these places are famous for a style of chicken called Barberton Chicken. It is some of the best fried chicken in the world, wikipedia has a great article on it. We've been to Belgrade, Hopocan, and another place called Miliches...Hopocan was our favorite. The chicken is incredible, the root beer not so much. There is a bottling plant in Ohio that does private label and bottles a root beer for these two places, Flat Iron Cafe, and Sokolowskis and from the looks of the bottle, the Presidential Museum as well.

9). Mug N' Bun
2050 N. Ridge Rd.
Elyria, OH.

One of the original locations, since you're out here anyways....


10)The Flat Iron Cafe
1114 Center Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
216-696-6968

We went here before a Browns game recently. It's an old-school Irish Pub, kinda hard to find but well worth the search. Really good food, prices beyond reasonable for the portion you get.


11)Presidential Museum
5269 State Route 534
Hartsgrove, Ohio 44085
Phone: 440-474-5369

the listing in the brands by state list is still good.

12). White Turkey Drive-In
388 E. Main Road.
Conneut, OH. 44030
(440)593-2209

This places serves Richardson Root Beer and is apparently one of two stands remaining that still serves this brand, the other being Macs Drive In in Waterloo, NY. (about 4 hours away).


That's the list of places I know of. If I'm missing any that YOU know of post here and I'll add them to the list. I didn't find any that were in the Northwest portion of the state...Toledo, Sandusky, Bowling Green area...gotta be something up there.

Thanks for the update. If you can send photos of the brands that are missing, I'll add them to this site.
_________________
Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

So heres a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails. --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002

I'm still getting it all together, but should have some more info soon.

Today when I googled "Root Beer, Dayton"...5 more listings popped up that weren't listed last time I posted.

Went to this place today:

Brown's Rootbeer
6068 W 3rd St
Dayton, OH 45427

(937) 268-6192

This is a great Root Beer, reminded me of Sycamore Drive-In in CT and Mac's Drive-In in NY. More like Mac's the more I thought about it. Rich, creamy, filling. Nice vanilla tones. They don't serve in glass at all, they go S, M, L in those paper cups, $1.50 for a large, also 1/4 and half gallons. I asked the waitress if it was an original recipe or if they buy the mix, she said it's thier own original, they make it there...don't buy a mix from anywhere else. I'm very happy I found this place, they have a full menu that is still really cheap even compared to other root beer stands.

Unfortunately there was a for sale sign out front, the place is a little run down and in an area of Dayton that is a depressed. The girl said they were trying to sell it but didn't think they had gotten any offers. Really hope this place can stick around. Pictures coming eventually.

I've add some of the brand that weren't already listed (and noted your contributions, of course! ).

Question - does Jungle Jim's have their own brands, or do they only resell other brands?

thanks

Jungle Jims does not have thier own brand, just stocks what I listed in the other thread.